I took a walk along the Airline Rail Trail through East Hampton this week. This portion of the trail takes you across the Lyman Viaduct. The structure, which is 1,000 feet long and 137 feet high, once allowed trains to cross over Dickenson Creek. Now the tracks have been replaced by wide walking paths that allow you to get a terrific view of the natural surroundings. It's amazing to see the rock ledge that was blasted through and the structures that were built in order to build railroad lines in the 1800's. A walk along this trail is a reminder of the creativity of the human mind. 
That same creative mind however is not always used to its best advantage and can become an enemy of itself. There are going to be times during the course of a day, a week, or a year when things don't go exactly the way we want them to. It's easy to say that we should do our best to deal whatever challenge, frustration, or disappointment we are faced with and then move on. Sometimes though, our creative minds can turn minors issue into a full scale dramas or ongoing miniseries.
Our time on earth is temporary and we must do our best to survive. The day to day problems we encounter aren't going to matter much in the end. When I'm watching a White-breasted Nuthatch climbing head first down a tree searching for food...
..... or a Brown Creeper creeping up a tree I am reminded that humans may seem complex, but the core of life is simple.click to play
During the past two weeks I have encountered a singing Winter Wren at Wangunk Meadows, Ring-necked Ducks at Pine Brook Swamp, several Brown Creepers, a Northern Harrier in Lebanon, Fox Sparrows near Salmon River, and many dozens of Golden-crowned Kinglets. The kinglets seem to ignore my pishing so I try to attract Black-capped Chickadees hoping they might bring the kinglets in for a close-up. It didn't work but the chickadees get so riled up by the pishing that I can't help but smile at their reaction .
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note: I had to activate the word code for comments because I've been getting too much spam-(not the canned meat variety). I'll try turning it off again after a while.
13 comments:
Superb set of pictures Larry. I love the tit mouse shot a lot. This is a really funny bird!
It does rather simplify everything doesn't it? And, sadly, you are not alone Larry. Tons of us are being inundated with some sort of Chinese based spam. I had to re-enable comment verification too, and STILL got a comment yesterday with an embedded link to some unsavory site. I wish Blogger could do something about it.
Chris-Bugeyed little fellows aren't they? A titmouse would make a good cartoon bird.
Jayne-I figured it would be less offensive to have people go through the word code drill than it would be for them to read the obnoxious spam ads.
Well said Larry...life is simple if you allow it to be just like the great shots you captured.
BTW I've always run with 'word verification' & just hoped this would not deter 'proper' bloggers from leaving comments even if it's a little tiresome. FAB.
Thanks-It's never stopped me from commenting-I just wish it wasn't necessary.
I hear you on how a simple walk in the woods can put our petty, human concerns back in perspective. If only everyone would regularly find time to do so!
(Sorry about the spam.)
Great photos Larry. I hear you on how a walk in the woods helps to clear the mind. It works for me everytime. I have yet to have a real spam problem but will keep my eyes open. I have gotten a few bizarre comments that I just delete and not had the real spam yet. Good luck getting rid of yours!
Lana-Suprisingly,I've found that there are many people who don't have any interest in walking through the woods.
Kim-I was getting some generic comments such as-I really like your blog and will continue to visit. What I'm getting now is like scambled codes from some kind of Russian site with a few words that let you know what they're up to.
Larry, so sorry you are getting spammed! I love the airline trail. My sister did the Ghost Run 1/2 marathon there this year with her husband. I don't know if I have been on the East Hampton section of it. I do remember the viaduct off Bull Hill road. Is that the same area? My brothers and highschool friends used to dive from the top of the cement into the deep pool below. Not me though. I wasn't that brave (i.e. stupid).
So nice to see your pictures. I have not been out on a trail for 6 weeks and have missed it so much. Once our home renovations are done I will be back to my regular schedule...I need the outdoors.
Kathiebirds-I know Bull Hill Road is near there but I don't think it's the same one. What is a ghost run? People see ghosts and then run?
Ruth-Something to look forward to again.
I had to activate the word verification recently as well.
I don't mind an occasional comment that I have to delete, but I started getting them almost daily.
It's true--bird watching requires attention to detail. I've always thought that paying attention to nature is akin to prayer.
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