Sunday, March 9, 2008

...out in the back of nowhere, and my phone STILL works.

Funny how with the new 3g system, my phone works almost everywhere. I've always wanted to do the Back Bay bird-watching tram tour. With one thing or other--I never did. My family isn't into birds, and my friends just give me this look. I yell, "Cormorant!" and they yell, "Not again!"

You have to make reservations weeks ahead of time, the entire Back Bay wildlife refuge shuts down in the winter. The tram only runs twice a month. I never wanted to do it during the summer. Too many mosquitoes, and water moccasins big enough to swallow a horse. It's been warm, and I thought--okay, I'm cutting it close. The warmer it is, the more snakes there are, but it was freaking cold out there. I felt stupid rolling up in my down filled parka--until we started down the east embankment and the wind came in over the dunes.



There was nothing, and more nothing.



There were wood swallows and kestrels and whole flocks of tundra swans. Didn't get a picture because they were on the other side. But when we made a pit stop (in the very literal sense of the word "pit") the women just in front of me dropped her cell phone down the privy hole. "No," she screamed, "you can't go in there. I dropped my cell phone, and it's stuck halfway down." (take a wild guess. In what?) She made her husband stick his arm in the hole, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't reach that particular...er, pile? The ranger tried using a stick, but it was too far down.



We finally moved on and did an interpretive hike to a historical town called Wash Woods--





...after almost an hour of slogging through ankle deep sand, in the cold, out in the middle of nowhere, we got to the old church steeple, cemetery, and garbage dump. We scared the hell out of a couple that had hiked in from the North Carolina side. I don't think they were expecting a bunch of birders.

I took a picture of the surrounding peat bog for Jeanna. :)



and we got out of there. We spent the next half hour fishing for the cell phone. The woman's husband took video. The rangers finally sent a man in with a crab net. I think he caught a little too much, because he left the net behind.

11 comments:

Jeanna said...

They never got it after all that? Man I can smell it from here. Hey, thanks for the bog photos. I love it. It sounds and looks like you saw plenty. But ya know, my winter coat isn't even that heavy.

Anonymous said...

Eeeeeewwwwww

Ok, got it out of my system.

So, I'm seeing guys hiding in leaf litter with planty of ammo and maybe a heroine going - "I don't do sand." Who did you say would be in this one?

Unhinged said...

Bwa-hah-hah-hah!

One of my co-workers has dropped her cell in the toilet more than once, so I'd better warn her about the dangers of the outside privvy.

Now this was quite an adventure. You noted types of birds, the temperature, wind coming over the dunes, how you had to walk through ankle-deep sand. Great stuff. I love the peat bog photo, too. I've never seen a peat bog.

Of course, there's a lot I haven't seen.

Unknown said...

...my winter coat is too heavy, but I had to have the army green down-filled job because you can never tell. I think I've used it about four times. (I'm a sucker for green)

Hey, Alice--this is Fallon's story. Still a ways off, but I need to get the pictures now. I'm not getting back to VA anytime soon.

er...they did get a big honking wad of something desperately nasty. You know they say you should take out what you carry into National wildlife refuges. I think that guy was over the crab net.

Unhingey--you have never lived until you've slogged through ankle deep sand, uphill--in the cold, to look at a "piece" of old church. Then I had to slog back. No wonder those people vacated back in the Edwardian era. *my calves hurt*

Jennifer McKenzie said...

Oh good!!! I hope you had an awesome time.
The Redneck isn't a "birder" per se, but he watches wildlife through binoculars. I once told him he should join the Sierra Club. He didn't speak to me for twenty minutes.
I wish I could get that reaction more often. Well, other than when he falls asleep in the chair. LOL.
(I'm kidding.....kind of)
And I'm not sure a cell phone is worth it. Just sayin'.

Jeanna said...

My winter coat is too heavy as well. Guess it has to be colder than a measly 5 or 6 below to be comfortable. Nothing wrong with being camouflaged.

HipFunkyJive said...

Jodi, queen of the forest.

Nature's hired hit-woman

Anonymous said...

I can see all kinds of good material out of this. Yeah!

Sure you got enough pictures? Maybe you should slog through some more sand.

Unknown said...

Cowboy--you're a funny dead man.

Uhm...pictures or no pictures, Alice, no way in Hell am I slogging through more sand. *glurk*

Unhinged said...

Well, I got a yee-haw kick out of cowboy's comment. s'good one.

I'd love to be hired hit woman. Except I can run or kill anybody...

Unhinged said...

Shoot!

Except I CAN'T run.

stupid roofpreading