I decided to take a ride up to an old quarry I know of in Surry. I haven't ridden up there for a while, so I wanted to see if there had been more junk thrown in there. Everything has been thrown in this quarry, refrigerators, cars, plastic snowmen. Today though, I found a grisly sight.
A carcass. This carcass was large, and I'm guessing it is a deer. How the deer found its way into the quarry? Maybe it ran off the top edge which is about 20' off the water. Maybe someone tossed it? Dunno. I stood at the top edge just above this thing floating below. The smell was nasty, even from so far away. So Hal, no I wasn't going to get real close up to check it out. What if I fell in? Yuuuuuucccccck I don't have a problem with dead things, and trauma, but the smell tends to linger in ones nostrils for hours after the initial sniff. I did find this sight interesting. Things like this always make me ask myself, "What happened here?". It would be neat to just press the rewind button and see exactly what did occur.
The second picture is the same quarry from a more pleasant angle. I have no idea how deep this place is, or what many things lie at the bottom. I thought it would be cool to drain the whole thing, check out the debris, then haul it all away. This quarry could be a lovely place, at the moment though.....not so much.
So do you know where this anchor is located? Not in my front yard, and not at the lake.
I've been wanting to head for the coast for the last few months, but never got around to it until today. A perfect day for a motorcycle ride. I rode through the Northwood area where a tornado devestated several homes a couple weeks ago. You can get a bird's eye view even just passing Harvey Lake. Very eerie. You can see the swath of downed trees, and destruction. Much of it has been cleared near Rte. 4, but you can see what happened.
I drove through Portsmouth and made a stop at the Wentworth-Coolidge mansion. Clearly a yankee built creation. I tried to imagine how many additions had been completed on this house. I counted at least five. The house is opened to the public on Wednesdays, so unfortunately I could not go in. But I am really curious as to the strange tall peak in the middle of the house. It looks weird to be flat on one side like that. This side of the house faces the bay, where you can see the Portsmouth Naval shipyard. The large anchor is right next to the water. There was no plaque or information about it, or the ship it came from. In fact I didn't find any information about the house either! But I did enjoy sitting by the salt water again. I have never gotten enough of that ocean air. It IS one of my favorite things. On the way home I had to make a stop at Johnsons along Rte 4, because they have the largest small ice cream cones next to Kimball's in Jaffrey. With temps in the high 80's today, I had to get a dish to catch all the melting ice cream. The flavor? Chocolate Chip...Yum.
With all the rain we've been having, there have been myriad mushrooms all over the place. The beautiful clusters of orange shrooms were along the roadside on a Maple stump. At first I thought they were "Big Laughing Gyms" Gymnospilus spectablilis, but now looking closer I'm not so sure. At any rate, I'M not trying them for affect. BLG's a.k.a. Waraitake, allegedly cause laughter and hallucinations. The downside, they're bitter and will make you sick. I'm going to guess that these specimens are a type of Pleurotus, but I'd love to hear what other folks think they are.
The purple shrooms? Well, they remind me of the beautiful Pipe Corals I saw in Curacao several years ago. I couldn't find this particular fungi in my book, but I think it is from the Clavariaceae(coral fungi). There is a bright orange version of this called Clavicorona pyxidata. These fungi are short barely 3" tall, but they do catch your eye because they contrast the leaf litter.
I noticed the Blackberries have burst forth within the last day or so. While I walked my charges at the Humane Society, I made sure we stopped at the plentiful bushes. I think I ate at least two cupfuls! I'll have to make a pie for sure.
I have managed to squeak in a few mountain bike rides before, during and after the rains. I have seen MANY deer, in different spots. All does, some with their little skippers. They all look healthy and vigorous. The Moose are loose too, but I've only come across their tracks. I'm disappointed that I've not seen any bear sign this year. Not only that, they haven't bothered with my birdfeeder.
