Simply Damp and Raw

The weather for the week reads as follows:
Today - Partly Cloudy - 48 degrees
Wednesday - Chance of Rain - 46 degrees
Thursday - Light Rain - 45 degrees
Friday - Rain - 52 degrees
Saturday - Chance of Rain - 53 degrees

Great week to be a duck!

Simply Damp and Raw

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Simply Wild Geese

Wild Geese
by Mary Oliver

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting —
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

Simply Wild Geese

C_A_B

Simply Key West

My family and I took a small vacation down to Key West, Florida just to remember what warm weather is all about. Winter seems to have had more of an effect on people this year so perhaps these pictures will help you look forward to our summer.

This first picture has Paul Allen's smaller boat in it. The Tatoosh is merely 303 feet long.

This next picture is of the Key West Bight Marina. Hang on there, folks. Our boating season is coming.

This final picture is for Joey of GoodMorningGloucester fame. I think some of your homies went south for the winter!

Feel free to stop by Simply Key West to see more images from our excursion.

Simply Key West!

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Simply The Back Shore

In his book entitled The Gloucester Guide: A Stroll Through Place And Time, Joseph E. Garland wrote this description of the Back Shore of Gloucester.

The whole of what the settlers called Eastern Point appears to have been a forest when they found it. After it was cut over, most of the Point from Brace Cove to Bass Rocks --- the Back Shore --- went to common pasture and seems never again to have reverted to timber. ... Before that the Back Shore was all wild and moorish and useless except for fowling, berrying, fishing for striped bass, taking stones for ballast and watching the seas, and now and then a vessel, crash on the rocks.

It doesn't look like much has changed!

For a copy of Mr. Garland's book, please visit your local bookstore and request a copy. One of my favorites is The Bookstore of Gloucester.

Simply The Back Shore

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Simply Splashing!

The tide was coming in and the waves were putting on a splash show. A couple of surfers were out but didn't appear to be catching much.

One of the most often photographed spots in Gloucester.

I managed to catch this splash.

Simply Splashing!

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Simply A Gem

The calendar says it's springtime, yet we have a few more weeks to wait before the weather warms. Although it was still a little chilly, you just cannot beat the beauty of Good Harbor.

One Twin Light, all by itself.

Maybe we should rename it "Blue Harbor".

Reflections on Good Harbor.

Simply a Gem!

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Simply Almost Spring, Doggone It!

It may be snowy today, but this weekend gave Cape Ann a taste of what's to come. The beach at Good Harbor was almost crowded with barely places to park along Nautilus Road.

People were out enjoying the beach with their dogs.

Obviously, one happy customer!

It's simply almost spring, doggone it!

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