Happy St. Patrick's Day!
We continue to have very mild weather this winter. We've even had several days in the 60s.
Last weekend the forecast was very favorable. Carol and I decided to visit our two favorite places: Ipswitch River Audubon Sanctuary and Crane Beach. We packed up snackage and a blanket and kites and off we went.
We hadn't checked the web site for Ipswich River but it turned out to be one of their two maple sugaring weekends and we couldn't get in at noon when we arrived. OK, change of plans: we headed for Crane Beach which is not far away.
We had a great time at the beach. We flew kites; the girls built sand castles; we watched all the dogs walk by (part of the beach is an off-leash area during non-summer months and it is very popular, with good reason); and we had a picnic. The sun was warm enough that the girls took their shoes off for the entire time and their feet did not get cold. At one point our kite went for a swim and I had to wade in up to my knees to rescue it and I survived. We spent a couple of hours on the beach. We all felt anticipation for those splendid beach days we will have in the summer.
We packed up and headed back to Ipswich River. By now the crowds had mostly departed although there were still a lot more people than we usually encounter there. And the ground around the visitor center was well trodden.
We brought bird seed to feed the very friendly birds but they were not very hungry. Perhaps they had been well fed by the earlier throngs. We still enjoyed the Rockery, the walk around Rockery Pond and the hike to the Old Stone Bridge. We saw a beaver - a first - and also a muskrat. Also the red wing blackbirds are returning and we saw several.
On the way home we stopped at Soc's for our first ice cream of the season. The girls both spontaneously told us what a great day it had been, which is music to a parent's ears.
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