Kyle

I went down to the beach this morning to tighten everything up before Kyle gets here later this afternoon. It's been a long time since we've had any kind of tropical action up here, but we're overdue. It's been 17 years since Hurricane Bob. It's not supposed to be too bad in our location, as the storm is supposed to make landfall in the Maritimes, up near the Maine/Nova Scotia border - but I didn't want to take any chances at the house. My father would never forgive me if we ended up with large granite boulders in the living room because I didn't put up the storm shutters...

The surf was already kicking up, and the tide was in so it was higher than usual. The boats down in the cove are all moored together, and fisherman up and down the coast are headed for safe harbor. It was foggy at the beach - but beautiful. There are days down there where you can really just smell the ocean and the salty coastal air. Today is one of them. I expect the storm surge will have surfers in the water this afternoon.

The drive back from the beach was just as beautiful - one of my favorite spots to be this time of year is on the road from the beach driving inland, through the marshy tidal areas. The marsh is full because the tide is high, and is teeming with birds - egrets, geese, great blue herons. It's actually part of the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge - and you'll occasionally see deer grazing off in the distance.

But just on the other side of the marsh is a solid line of northern hardwoods - maples and oaks, mostly - and right now the colors are starting to blaze. I love to drive this road on a crisp, clear fall day when the colors are jewel-like and just explode in contrast with the green marsh grasses and sandy dunes. Today the fog nearly blocked the color - but not completely. The colors were dulled a little, but were peeking through the fog here and there. It was beautiful in it's own rite. I hope the winds stay offshore so the leaves stay intact through the peak of foliage season.

I stopped at the local farm store on the way home - one owned by the same people I spent my college summers working for out here. It's a different store in a different location, but the feel is the same. I love that I can go in there and say, "Rick, I need a dozen eggs" and he'll say, "McCormick's down in the coop right now" and he'll call McCormick and in 10 minutes I'll have a dozen eggs fresh from the coop. I picked up a bag of apples (I just love local apples here) and some cider. Driving down our road on the way home I had to stop and wait for a flock of turkeys to clear out of the road - they seem to be everywhere right now. Not a particularly bright bird, but they are so cool-looking - almost prehistoric.

So now I'm ready to settle in for the day. Hopefully I catch some NFL before the lights go out.