Fresh Pond Reservation

Warm, practically. Everything is melting.


Click here to see all of the December 31, 2004, photos...

37 degrees today--but it feels warmer than yesterday because of the bright sun and clearer sky.


Click here to see the rest of the December 30, 2004, photos...

43 degrees. Practically tropical, I say to Eric as we leave for a counter-clockwise walk--yesterday being a clockwise walk. Very few clouds when we leave. Overcast by the time we return. Pink and blue both in the sky and in the water. At one point in the walk there are criss-crossing waves.


Click here to see the rest of the December 29, 2004, photos...

27 degrees. A little wind, some clouds, becoming cloudier as Eric and I rotate around--or does the pond rotate around us? Anyway, sincerity and autonomy were on today's menu. Along with snow pictures and the beautiful visages created by snow, land, wind, trees and leaves. Lost glasses hanging on the fence--which were turned in to the waterworks security/information desk. Still no Cassady as her foot continues to be sore. Maybe tomorrow...


Click here to see the rest of the December 28, 2004, photos...

Snowing, blowing, shopping at Bread & Circus. 25 degrees. We pass two people with their Bernase Sauce dogs (who resemble the shape of smaller Saint Bernards, but have distinctive coloring, black, brown, white), three runners pass us going the other way. Otherwise, nobody. On the way back it would be very dark except that the snow causes all remaining light to be spread around. On the other hand, the snow is thick enough so that bright lights on the opposite side of the pond are not visible. On leaving the store I tell Cynthia how this kind of weather reminds me of growing up in Wyoming--except that Massachusetts is a kind of mild version of that state. The dog is an Australian Blue Healer--and a regular visitor to Fresh Pond.


Click here to see the rest of the December 26, 2004, photos...

Right at the freezing mark today. Some clouds. Tiniest of breezes. Encounters with Scout and his people and Eric. Two lost gloves. Ducks swimming in a herd/troop/gaggle/whatever. And a rare vertical rainbow about 23 degrees away from directly looking at the sun.


Click here to see the rest of the December 25, 2004, photos...

34 degrees. LOTS of rain last night. Some photos show the significant erosion caused by the overnight storms. Dozens of birds, many of them robins, around post 210.


Click here to see the rest of the December 24, 2004, photos...

15 degrees, very windy--and cold! A snowplow passed me three times. Robin at post 229, then again at 129, although it may have been the same Robin, but it seemed fatter. Then, at post 648, a whole flock of Robins, perhaps a dozen or more. I speak briefly with a workman who has just finished helping put the derailed train back on its tracks. Apparently the track is used for the delivery of something, maybe corn syrup, to some business down the track, maybe in Cambridge. Its the first train I've seen there in years. Near the end of the walk a mostly black, Husky/mongrel like dog runs down one of the paths from Huron Avenue and proceeds around the pond, perhaps taking itself for a walk. There's no humans around. I passed maybe a half a dozen people. No companions today as Cassady still has a hurting paw, and Eric had to work today. Damn you, contingencies of life!


Click here to see the rest of the December 20, 2004, photos...

43 degrees--practically tropical. Thin overcast. Almost no wind. The small pond is completely frozen over except for some melting around the edges. Lost hat in the public parking lot. A train engine with two tanker cars seems to be stuck under the bridge leading to the public parking lot. The engine has been running--but nobody seems to be attending or watching. It looks like one side of the tracks has sunk and put the engine and cars in danger of falling over or off the tracks. Did somebody take the train for a joyride and leave it there. Where would the train be delivering corn syrup (as is written on the side of the tanker cars)? Down the tracks a bit, where they cross Concord AVenue, another engine sits, apparently empty, idling. Stay tuned...


Click here to see the rest of the December 19, 2004, photos...

34 degrees, overcast, gray, almost calm. Duck pairs on the big pond. The little pond being almost completely covered by ice. The loop path is open today--having been closed for a month or more. This explains the picture of Cynthia and Cassady on the bench.


Click here to see the rest of the December 18, 2004, photos...

40 degrees, windy, pleasant, some lingering snow, more ice on the small pond. Lots of golf balls and tennis balls on the other side of the fence. Cassady's limp continues--but gradually goes away as we make our way around the pond. She pretends she doesn't have it when approached by another dog. But don't we all try to put up our best front when approached by others?


Click here to see the rest of the December 17, 2004, photos...

A pleasant day with temperatures around 35-40 degrees. Frost can be found just under the surface of leaves. Mushrooms have a protective glaze of ice. A LARGE hawk like predator bird around post 560, photo 15. Ran out of 35mm film just as I was moving to take pictures from another side... and it flew off. Dead bird around post 200. First ice on the big and little pond. Candle-like icicles in photo 25. Lost glove in photo 21. Do you know the story behind that glove? Send it to Lost Gloves @ Fresh Pond (if you don't know the real story then make one up).


Click here to see the rest of the December 16, 2004, photos...

A 27 degrees and very windy cold day. Two Italian Greyhounds appeared to be freezing even with their fashionable doggy coats. Stopped by the Robin site to get some pictures--with the sun behind me. Nothing today. Perhaps having reached the site later today and the two previous days.


Click here to see the rest of the December 15, 2004, photos...