Taking it Slow

This may turn out to be our most laid-back holiday ever. We've done a lot of relaxing and reading and sleeping so far. After supper it was the perfect temperature to do some exploring on bikes. An old railway bed runs through this part of the city. The access point is a tiny opening in the shrubbery on Ashburnham St. which leads to a path like you see behind Ted. Very narrow and gravely.

You may wondering why Ted looks like he is stunned in this picture. As he approached the bridge (which has 6" spaces between the beams) he touched the odometer on his bike handlebar. The odometer flew off, landing on one of the beams, bounced again, falling through the 6" space, narrowly missing a ledge and into the river.

Back in the campground, we marvelled at how empty it is. There are maybe 10 campers here. We are fortunate to have Meade Creek right behind our campsite. Perfect place to read and listen to birds.

Here is a list of who I heard in the past two mornings:

Red-eyed Vireo

American Redstart

House Wren

Eastern Wood-Pewee

Brown-headed Cowbird

Philadelphia Vireo

Blue Jay

Northern Cardinal

American Robin

European Starling

Red-winged Blackbird

Great Crested Flycatcher

Hermit Thrush

American Goldfinch

Cedar Waxwing

Song Sparrow

Canada Goose

Common Nighthawk

Eastern Phoebe

Baltimore Oriole

Blue-headed Vireo

Black-Capped Chickadee

Naturalizing of the shorelines along these rivers and creeks must be so welcomed these feathered friends. Sure looks natural to me!

Not sure what these beauties are called. I love how the prickles along the thistle leaves stand out like white lace.

In the coolness of the morning we biked to the downtown Wednesday farmers' market. Coffee and a scone were enjoyed as we people-watched. What a wonderful community where those well-to-do and those not-so-well-off mingle and live life together.

On the way back to the campground we took our time, sitting on benches along the river, seeing what there is to see there.

I love the concept of promoting healthy shorelines.

So many shrubs were in full bloom......

.... doing their job of shading and cooling the water...

... and providing beautiful frames of distant scenes. That's the Hunter Street bridge.

Families with babies, folks pushing friends in wheelchairs, bicycle commuters, homeless folks and well-heeled walkers were all making use of the Millennium Park.

As we made our way back to the campground, we found a picnic table that was empty by lock 20. You may wonder why I photographed this young man with cool red shoes on a bicycle? His job is to bike to the road bridge and open it when the train bridge further up stream opens. The train passes through Peterborough 2X/day. They never know when it will actually arrive. The train bridge gets priority and the lock workers need to adapt according to the train's erratic schedule.

There he is - opening the road bridge and behind you see the train bridge half open.

The thing you learn when you take it slow.