Sunday, December 4, 2022

Dwindling Hours of Daylight

 

Dwindling hours of daylight were the theme this past week. On Tuesday, I'd waited until noon for temperatures to warmup before getting out on the Sudbury River in Wayland, MA.  Only a few hours later at around 3pm it seemed to me the sun began rapidly falling towards the horizon and some giddy-up paddling was required to reach the takeout before dark.    

A beaver family just beyond the Greenways has built a long-running dam helping to ensure their lodge stays surrounded by water...


Somebody's vintage kitchen chair ended up being riverside...


One unusual thing I came upon between the Pelham Island Bridge and the Greenways was a cluster of 17 bright red and yellow spent shotgun shells.  Many of them were floating in the river.  I believe most responsible hunters would've picked up their spent shells.


On Friday I got out on the Nashua River heading downriver from the Oxbow NWR at Still River in Harvard, MA...

...and later encountered the same situation with the sun seemingly racing for the door.

With the leaves now gone from the shrubbery, deer having eyes upon me are revealed...


One of the Nashua's more serene spots on Friday afternoon...
...was the above slough with a thin layer of ice away from the river's flow.


The week's trash:

Tuesday's which included 14 nip bottles and an empty bottle of Guarana Antarctica Soda...


Friday's trash included 81 nip bottles and a dozen plastic cigarette lighters...


Driving away from the Nashua River valley I took a last look at Wachusett from Prospect Hill...

...and found myself hoping the winter solstice gets here asap so we can start adding minutes rather than subtracting them.


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