March: In Like a Lion, Out Like a Lion

God what a frickin winter.  I thought March was supposed to go out like a lamb?  Not in New England.  Not this year.  It Just. Won't. Stop.  We get a few days of promising weather, then BAM! Back to snow in the forecast.  OK so it's not accumulating and is melting right away, but still.  I'm finally starting to see patches of grass in my back yard.  I really didn't think that pile on the deck would ever melt down.  If my back didn't hurt so bad I'd break this up with the shovel to help it melt faster.

But the plow piles are still pretty big.  That metal shed sustained bad damage to the roof on one side; it's all buckled and dented.  It always leaked, but now it's 10x worse.  I had covered the stuff in there with a giant tarp a couple years ago but I'm not sure how effective it was this winter.  We are going to wait a couple of months before taking everything out to assess damage.  I think most everything in there are tools, and totes with tools.

And that shed on the hill, which already had gaping holes in it, had the door torn off in the first blizzard.  I was finally able to get up there the other day and all the cardboard moving boxes will have to be thrown away as they got soaked.  The plastic totes are fine.

The front yard, which faces north, remains covered with at least 6-8 inches of snow.  Tried taking the dogs out but we all sank through the icy crust and then my boot got stuck so it'll still be awhile before we can go in the front.  I am grateful that the garbage can is back on level ground instead of half buried in the plow piles.  I left it out there because there was really no point in trying to put it in the driveway each week.  I am also grateful that the DPW continued to empty it considering it was always in 2 feet of snow, and covered with snow too.

So since I was still housebound (except for those 2 days I made it to the beaches), I decided to keep on cross stitching.  My friend Amy commissioned one made from this photograph.  It was somewhat difficult to figure out because the squares are hard to see, so I had to be kind of creative on how this was put together and I did end up ripping out several mistakes.  

Amy requested that hers be done in sage and purple.  Despite the screw ups that had to be fixed, I got it done in about three days.

My sweetie had his bday at the end of the month too, so I made his fave, pineapple upside down cake, but I did it as a bundt this time and it came out great!  We enjoyed lunch at our fave place, 99, and visited with his parents for a bit too.  

Then the next day, we were at Walmart and I spied these shoes in the clearance aisle.  Upon further examination, they were girls size 5.  Russell urged me to try them on anyway.  I was doubtful, but put one on, and it actually fit!  They are even a little bit too large, and honestly not terribly comfortable, but I don't see myself doing any marathon walking in them anyway.  They were only $5 and....so sparkly!!!

And celestial as well!  Yes I have freakishly small feet.

Ice covering one of my rocks in the rocks/shells bowl that I keep outside on the deck rail year round. Looks really cool.

On Monday I woke up to an email from Kreativ Drinking that they were doing a paint night that evening at the Mezza Luna restaurant, which is right in my town.  I asked my friends on FB if anyone was interested in doing the class with me and my stepson's girlfriend said she'd go!  So we met up at 6:45.  We were pleasantly surprised when food was brought into the room for us.  I realize it was included in the price but I had no idea that food was included so I was really glad I didn't eat dinner before I left the house.  Antipasto, stuffed mushrooms, garlic bread, ravioli, meatballs and a chicken-broccoli-pasta alfredo type dealie.  DELICIOUS!

Our project was a pretty ocean scene with the moon and pink blossoms.  Sam & I had a great time and it was cool to see everyone's paintings, as they are all different.  Some people added rocks, and land which were awesome.  I was too afraid to mess with mine and possibly wreck it so I left well enough alone.  I thought about adding a whale tale but once you paint with black, you are kind of committed so again, left well enough alone.

I sure hope April finally sees warmer weather because I'm not sure how much more this region can take.  

A Costly Mistake

Woke up last Wednesday to the news that a fuel tanker had crashed at the Bourne Rotary and the bridge was closed.  About 5,000 gallons spilled out (out of about 11,000 gallons), soaking through the soil and getting down the storm drains.  A small slick appeared in the Canal.

It had happened around 11:30 on Tuesday night and the Bridge remained closed till about 9:30 am on Wed.  Traffic on the other side was at a complete standstill as there was only one bridge to accommodate rush hour traffic and everyone was being detoured and trying to use it.  

Apparently the driver failed to notice that there was a rotary at the end of the bridge.  I'm not quite sure how that can be.  It's a huge mound with 'Cape Cod' written in shrubbery, and still glowing white with snow.  Plus the speed limit coming down that side reduces to about 30, so he must've been flying.  A witness said that he tried to turn right at the last second but it was too late.  He smashed into the curb and the truck rolled.  He was able to get out and was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Hazmat was called, fire retardant foam was sprayed, fire departments from four towns showed up.  I can't believe the truck didn't explode. That was a bit of luck anyway.  Web image

All I can think is that he'd either never been here before, or got it confused with the Sagamore Bridge, because the Mid-Cape Highway is on the other side. It's a smooth ride downhill off the bridge and onto a highway.  Web image

I saw the stories on my newsfeed when I got up at 7:00 am. News reports said that the Bridge wouldn't reopen till about 8. I decided that this was probably a once in a lifetime opportunity to see the bridge completely devoid of cars.  So I jumped in the car and headed up to an area where there's Bridge access along the curb...it's actually an old bridge approach from the 70s before they built Highway 25.

This is looking down 25 where normally there would be tons of cars and trucks headed over, but they were all detoured into Buzzards Bay and Wareham.

Wow.  Not a single vehicle.  How often does this happen during the day? Almost never.

Then I drove over to the park at the Railroad Bridge to get a full-on shot of the empty bridge.

Then of course I had to get a couple more pictures...since I was there and all.

The environmental cost and pricetag to clean it up is going to be really bad.  The Canal should be fine; I'm sure it sees way more fuel sheens from the marine traffic.  Containment booms were deployed but it dissipated in the sun fairly quickly.  But the soil and the rotary area are contaminated and must be dug out.  This is going to take at least two weeks, which means a traffic nightmare for the region as the rotary is now down to one lane.  As for the driver, I can only imagine that he must feel pretty mortified that he caused this.  He is facing DOT fines, probably the loss of his job and CDL, as apparently he didn't have the best driving record to begin with.  I saw that his company is going to be responsible for the cost of cleanup.  A very costly mistake indeed.

Treasures from the Sea!

Spring is making a valiant effort to assert itself in this region, so I couldn't help taking advantage of the nice weather yesterday and head down to Scusset Beach for low tide at 10:00 AM.  My hope was that very few people have been out to beachcomb so maybe I'd have some decent luck.  With no wind and warm sun, I soon got too hot in my winter jacket.

Well I think we've found all the missing sand from Town Neck Beach on the other side of the Canal....

Low tide is the best.  I walked slowly up and down the beach...by 'up and down' I mean from the tide line down to the sandbar, like a zig zag, from the parking lot path all the way to the breakwater.

This was my first wow-factor find of the day.  A yellow flat backed glass blobbie (like the kind you put in vases and stick on jars that light up.  Very nicely worn too.

And then......OHMYGOD!  A perfectly worn former-clear marble.  Could. Not. Believe it.  I'm always hopeful to find a marble, but they are exceedingly rare.  This is the second one I've ever found.

It's so beautiful that I'm thinking about having it set into a pendant somehow.

Found a few olivine coloured bits today, and beautiful cobalt  blue although I didn't take any pics of those.

Nice piece of green.

Are you kidding me?  ANOTHER flat backed glass blobbie?!?!?!?!  I know this one looks like a marble but it's not.  And the prettiest shade of blue-green.

Walked out on one of the bars.  Went pretty far out.

Not quite the length of the breakwater, but still pretty big.

Speaking of the breakwater, there is so much flotsam and jetsam stuck between the rocks.

Trees.

Tons of wood

 A lot of people's walkways torn loose and tossed like so many matchsticks.

Looking across at Town Neck Beach...the large building is that Horizons restaurant I posted a pic of last week; the one that didn't card anyone.  A lot of the sand stripped from that beach is on Scusset now.  

Look at all that debris!

The beachcombing gods were very good to me!

Unusual stone with a hole.  The other stones are pretty too, esp. when wet.

An olivine piece shaped like California!

One of the best beachcombs since Glass Beach in the 90s!