Another gray day and a trip to the beach

It's still cloudy with a chance of thunderstorms today, but there was a break in the weather this morning that was long enough for me to pay a first visit to Sherwood Island State Beach today. At $9 for parking, the price seems a little steep, but I needed the outing.

What a lovely, quiet morning on the Long Island Sound it turned out to be. The clouds and cool air kept a large number of people away... seen here by the lonely state of Subaruby in the parking lot.



The waves on the sound may seem small compared to the giant breakers of the Pacific Ocean, but that didn't matter this morning. They are waves, breaking on the shore, and they sounded glorious.



There's a nice little nature walk that takes you past the marsh side of the island, where I saw a cotton-tailed rabbit, some swans and Canada Geese, and was harassed by a couple of red-wing blackbirds who apparently thought I was the nest raiding type. (I'm not.)











There were actually a lot of Canada Geese on the beach. I followed 3 adults and a gaggle of juveniles for a little while. Goose nursemaids are very careful with their offspring. I couldn't get too close.





The water's edge provided some interesting finds as well... a dead horseshoe crab, some sea lettuce, and an abandoned toy truck.









Nearing the end of my wanderings, I was confronted with an abrupt reminder of how close I am to New York City... in the form of a 9-11 memorial. A sobering moment. On a clearer day than today was, from the stone marker you should be able to see the NYC skyline.

It's 9 years since that significant day in U.S. history. As I stood there at the memorial, I pondered how much changed in those moments...