Respite from Winter

 

Nathaniel Hawthorne in his short story The Old Manse described the bottom mile or so of the Assabet River in Concord as follows: "It is sheltered from the breeze by woods and a hillside; so that elsewhere there might be a hurricane, and here scarcely a ripple across the shady water."  While there wasn't a hurricane yesterday afternoon, there was a stiff 20 mph breeze out of the west/southwest which occasionally blustered to 30 mph.  Without the shelter Nashawtuc Hill provided the wind-chill factor would have spoiled the 42 degrees F. of relatively warm temperature. 

So protected, I worked my way upriver passing the snow-covered Egg Rock Inscription...

   ...and further along found Dove Rock looking sofa-like...

At my turnaround point, while taking a break, a winter stonefly paid me a visit...

Then it was back downriver under sunny skies...

A brief venture was made beyond Nashawtuc Hill's protection from the wind down to the Old North Bridge...

...with a nod to the Minuteman statue...

A quick retreat to Egg Rock...

Very little trash...

It was good to get out on the water again, especially with more snow and cold in the forecast.

For some reason the Blood, Sweat, and Tears song "Sometimes in Winter" came to mind.