About Face

 Today my journey makes an about face. My trip to Rhode Island is over. I have 3200 on my odometer. I should head west but instead I am heading north for a couple of days before going west. My homeward bound passenger is in Boston. We have tickets for the holiday Boston Pops concert on Thursday. After the concert we will head west toward home. I really want to explore Delaware on our journey. I enjoy traveling with a fluid itinerary following whim after whim. After navigating all the way here it will be really wonderful to have a co-pilot. I may get lost but I enjoy getting lost to some extent. My navigation skills have improved considerably. Today is a turning point. I will head toward the sun set instead of the sun rise.

Brenton Point

 Today marks a full month I have lived in Fort Adams State Park. I decided to walk over to another state park, Brenton Point State Park, today just for the heck of it and because the weather wasn't very windy today.

Along the way I passed a resort and supper club with a building near the entrance with a very colorful tile roof.

Brenton Point is a former estate and offers great views of the Narraganset Bay and the Atlantic Ocean.

Coming back into Fort Adams state park two hours later I encountered this flock of Canadian Geese (or as granddaughter loves to say in the most endearing voice, "Candadian Geese.")

Project Feeder Watch

 Cardinal-2, House sparrows-15, Mourning doves-12, Carolina Wren-1, Black capped Chickadee-4, Downy woodpecker-2, Red breasted nuthatch-1, House finch-1

Our main observer left the house today to get a haircut so I and another secondary observer came up with the idea of seeing a peacock or flamingo and taking a picture to show our main observer when she got home. No peacocks or flamingoes showed up. So the other secondary observer suggested we draw a peacock and take a picture of the peacock picture to prove our observation. Brilliant idea. Too bad I won't be here to put that plan in action next week. Also it's too bad her very loud whispered plan was overheard by the entire family.

Roger Williams

 

 Today we went to Providence, Rhode Island which is less than an hour north of Fort Adams State Park. We stopped at Roger Williams National Park. We learned that Roger Williams was a rebellious fellow who believed the immigrants from England should not take land away from the Native Americans. He also believed in separation of church and state. In Massachusetts, at that time, a man could not vote unless he owned land and belonged to a church. People in Massachusetts jailed Roger Williams for his outspoken beliefs. He fled in the cold of February and lived in the woods with the help of his native friends. Eventually he went to England and tried to get a charter to start a new state of Rhode Island. He was allowed to settle in Rhode Island and start the town of Providence. Roger's outlandish idea about the separation of church and state caught on and were latter written into the first amendment of our constitution. The children completed a workbook and were sworn in as junior rangers again. After visiting the national park and walking around Providence for an hour and watching the children jump in leaf piles for a half hour we moved on to Roger Williams Park. Inside this huge park we toured the museum of natural history. I took the photo of the black bear from the second story landing. The museum  had an abundance of stuffed bears and birds. Upstairs we went to the 1 o'clock show at the planetarium. We sat in a round dark room and looked up at the stars while the constellations were explained. The planetarium show was interesting but after being outside in the cold much of the morning, the comfortable seat, the relaxing atmosphere and the darkness, I felt myself moving beyond relaxing towards sleep. If the show had been longer than thirty minutes I might have taken a nap.

Coyote

 Today for lunch we had turkey, cornbread stuffing, sweet potatoes, green beans, corn, biscuits, wild rice hot dish, cranberries, and a choice of pumpkin, pecan, or cherry pie. After eating all that we drove to Middletown for a nature walk. We walked until it was too dark to walk anymore. We saw red bellied woodpeckers, robins, blue jays, sparrows and a white throated sparrow. We walked through fields and forest. Luckily I found a magic wand. With my magic goldenrod wand and saying, "Bippity Boppity Boo!" I changed the children into different animals including cheetahs, stink bugs, Komodo dragons, T Rex, wild horses, coyotes, manatees and hawks. Later, as we walked near a thicket, we almost stepped in some manure left by tame horses. Still later we saw something moving in the thicket. The animal crouched low to ground but looked at us curious to see what kind of creatures were making as much noise as we were. We saw a coyote and the coyote saw us. I always say you are lucky on a day that a coyote deigns to allow you to see it.

Project Feederwatch

 

House sparrow-18, Mourning doves-13, black capped chickadee-3, Blue jay-1, Caroline wren-2

Sail to Prevail

 

Although I have walked by this spot many times before, this was the first time I noticed the Sail to Prevail program. Established in 1982, this is the first therapeutic sailing program for individuals with disabilities. Sailing season is over for now. This program serves both adults and children.

Pictures From The Norman Bird Sanctuary

Holly

Big Rock/Small Pond

Chickens

Reflecting On Reflections

 

Snow Bunting

 

Today after lunch I went on an hour long quick walk around the fort at an adult pace. This means not stopping to pick up every wooly bear catepillar we see. What is that bird? Is it a salt marsh sparrow?

Is it a Lapland longspur?

It's a snow bunting even though we have no snow.

Clifton Burying Ground

This morning we explored a cemetery close to the Newport public library.

The cemetery is on a narrow road and some yards open right up to the burial grounds.

These two mayors served in the mid 1600's.

Most of the gravestones are too weathered and covered with lichen to read.

 

A Hard Woman

 

We pulled the wagon around Fort Adams with our picnic lunch today. "Take a picture of me on the rock," she says. "And I will take a picture of you on the rock."

I must be a hard, hard woman. Grandma is a rock.

Pell

 

Today I drove by grand girl #1's school where she attends first grade. When my kids were small community members were encouraged to visit and volunteer and even attend grandparent's day but those days are over. I just drove by trying not to act like a creep. This school is named after Clairborne Pell, a politician and writer who died in 2009. In 1972 he authored some legislation that resulted in the financial aid named the Pell grant. I think I might have taken advantage of a Pell grant back in the day. The famous Newport bridge which is just north of us was renamed in his honor. My granddaughter's classroom is upstairs. She said the lower level is for kindergarten and pre-K.

Civil War

 Living in a state park such as Fort Adams state park seems like a peaceful neighborhood. Yesterday morning, after breakfast, we heard cannon fire and musket fire. Civil war reenactors were crawling through the grass only a few yards from the fence in the back yard. A woman in civil war era clothing stood on top of a fort hill. We put on our shoes and started walking to the parking lot. We saw a man in a red and blue military outfit walk by. He told us they were reenacting the civil war. I asked who was winning. He said the score was tied one to one.  A grand daughter asked who's side we were on. Many thoughts raced through my mind. How to explain the civil war to a 6 year old within her attention span. Do I talk about greed or cotton or wealth or civil rights? I resorted to the lesson I learned in school. One side wanted the black people to be slaves and the other side wanted the black people to be free. Grand daughter said she wanted to be on the side of free black people. Next thing a lady with glasses, long hair, and a blue uniform crawled by us in the tall grass. She shot her gun. Bang! She laid down in the grass on her back sprawled out. Someone asked Sargent Major if Sargent Major was dead. Sargent Major replied not yet. The war continued. The lady rolled over onto her stomach and fired her rifle again before laying on her back again. I thought the Civil war was over but evidently it continues. How odd they continue it here at Fort Adams which was never attacked and not involved in the civil war and was far away from any Civil war battles.

Bittersweet

Today we had a picnic lunch at Sauchest Point Nature Preserve. We saw cormorants and ring billed gulls and Harlequin ducks and song sparrows. We were looking for bunnies and snakes and deer but we didn't see any of those. We saw an over abundance of oriental bittersweet vines. The invasive vines were so thick deer couldn't get through it. Some of this property is managed with fire and chemicals and machinery. The managed part of the salt water sanctuary is rife with ragweed and goldenrod and other plants. The less managed parts are thick with bittersweet. This oriental bittersweet is so cunning the plant changes the chemistry of the soil so that the soil benefits them and not the native species.

 

Eisenhower

This house is called the Eisenhower house because Dwight and Mamie came here to get away from the White House during his presidency. This mansion is just a few blocks from where I am staying. The house is available to rent for events. If you pay extra, you can have cannons shot off at your event. The First Couple used to stay at the War College but moved to this house because it is closer to the country club and Dwight liked to play golf. I can just picture Dwight on the veranda puzzling over the French Indo-Chinese situation. I wish I could go up to Dwight and tell him the stories of a couple of men I know who went to war in Vietnam. I think if Dwight knew the future he would have made better decisions.

 

Newport Art Museum

The four year old I was with said, "I want to live here."

Here is the beautiful wood inlay floor in what I call the oak room. I wore blue shoes.

This sculpture is about being deaf.

 

Fall

 Let's think about fall. Not the sudden downward movement of someone or something that has lost balance. I am thinking about the season between the end of summer and the beginning of winter. 2021 feels like the longest fall season of my life. I left my home just a week after peak fall color. I experienced peak fall colors in Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Massachusetts. Now here it is nearly mid-November and Rhode Island is still pretty. Fall colors are somewhat muted by the sea but some maples and oaks are gorgeous. Yesterday we drove north for an hour and a half. Although the beech and birch trees were bare, that left more room for the oaks to show off their bronze, gold, orange and scarlet colors. The grass is still green and lush. Leaves fell as we walked through the town of Sturbridge. When I was a child I enjoyed running up and down our road trying to land each foot on a leaf. My hips hurt just thinking about all the jumping I did. I tried to catch some Massachusetts leaves in my hand as they fell. Some leaves were huge. I carried one maple leaf because it was pretty and large enough for me to wear as a hat. One lady who was watching the firing of the cannon-ball cannon with us remarked on the beauty of my leaf. Spring is my favorite season but fall is also nice. At the beach sand fleas bite my legs if I am bare legged but I prefer sand fleas over deer ticks.

Fort Adams

Since I am staying in Fort Adams State Park I decided to take a guided tour of Fort Adams. Here, at the tip of the Newport Island, is the iconic Newport Bridge in the distance ($5 toll to go over the bridge). 

This fort was never attacked probably because it was so well designed and fortified with grassy bluffs. Most people don't even see the fort when they drive by it. The place I am staying has a backyard patio that is right up against the fence that surrounds the fort.

In 1812 the fort was redesigned by Simon Bernard who was an aid to Napoleon Bonaparte until Bonepart was sentenced to exile on an island. This Bernard fellow was a genius. He included composting toilets and natural vents to clear the air of gun smoke after a cannon was fired. The steps are angled to repel rain and snow.

The walls are thick stone with granite archways. Brick surrounds the areas where the guns are shot because shards of raw brick are softer than shards of granite. The listening tunnels were the first thing to be installed. In the listening tunnel I could clearly hear my guide talking and he was 600 feet away. The incredible planning of this fort meant that any attacks would be suicidal. Maybe that is why Fort Adams was never attacked.

 

Cooler Than Snakes

 Yesterday we went on a nature walk at Sauchest Point. We stopped to look inside at the nature center which I recognized because I came here years ago when Offspring #1 graduated from officer candidate school. We walked along the rocky beach to the point. We were hoping to see a seal but no luck on seeing seals. We found five snakes. One was, I was positive, a stick. After watching a stick for 30 seconds it bent in half and slithered away. We guessed it was a worm snake. As we watched the snake crawl into a hole, a man said he saw other snakes warming themselves on the gravel path. He added that he also saw harlequin ducks on the point. We hurried to the point. We saw a raft of 30 dark ducks and two whiter ducks out in the bay. We figured out the whiter ducks were Eider ducks. I have never seen an eider duck before I starting caring about birds. So yeah! An eider duck (from which eider down is made) was added to my list. Closer to shore were two diving ducks. As they dived they shoved their bodies upward before descending. The wind was high and the waves were choppy. Wind blew the water spray across the crest of the waves away from us. I pulled out the binoculars. We saw two harlequin ducks fishing in the choppy sea. Double yeah! I saw eider and harlequin ducks today! Snakes are cool but ducks are cooler. Also, with a four year old, be sure to have some peanuts or Lara bars in your pocket to enjoy at your destination.

Channing

 Channing is the name of a guy who lived in Newport, Rhode Island. There is a statue of him in a park. Channing's father signed the declaration of independence as the representative from Rhode Island back in the day. Although Channing never went to this church, his name is on Channing Memorial Church which is where I went today for the 10:30 service. The church was beautiful with stained glass windows and wooden pews. These windows were not biblical scenes or saints but pictures of farmers planting seeds and people representing faith, hope and charity. The people in the church were very welcoming. They were so welcoming their eagerness sent my spidey senses tingling. Are they desperate for new members? The church wasn't full but it had about 50 or 60 people in physical attendance and more on virtual attendance. The speakers were members of the Latin X community. Also during the service was a two minute mediation in silence which I enjoyed very much. After the service we had coffee and sugar cookies and fruit in the old building behind the church. After this service I definitely felt I had an authentic Rhode Island experience.