Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Take Off








































This inquisitive heron ventured into my yard Sunday morning.   He was admiring the shimmering sunlight bouncing off the creek.  When he realized I was taking his picture, he took off in a tizzy. Herons prefer their solitude and don't care much for people snapping their photos. Luckily, he lingered long enough for me to get these few.

In other news, last night after supper, Daughter and I ventured into the back yard to watch the much-anticipated 6:22 p.m. launch of an unmanned NASA rocket from Wallops Island, which is across the bay from us.  We waited.  And waited.  We heard neighbors congregating on their docks.  We thought we saw something--but then couldn't see anything.  We noticed some pink in the sky and then saw nothing. (We did see what looked like a black plane ascending from the northeast, making no sound, flying west after the pink appeared in the sky. It left an ever-so-slight, barely visible trail of black smoke. I'd be wondering about that if I were NASA, but I'm not, and they didn't ask me what I saw.)

Disappointed, we came inside only to learn that the rocket had exploded during launch.  As I type this, the newscasters are trying to process it all.

So, here in Mathews, we fluctuate from being bored enough to invent stories about herons to crazy enough to make up conspiracy stories about rocket launches processing breaking national news stories about failed NASA rocket launches we were gathered in our yards to watch.

There's never really a dull moment around here.







3 comments:

growing wild on waverly lane said...

Re the explosion: I guess none of us saw anything but the pink cloud reflecting the fiery demise of the rocket. How come we went to the moon back in the 60's and can't get a rocket off the ground now. Either we've gotten worse in science or we have another myth we're worshiping. I do not know. Signed crazy conspiracy theorist

Veronica Roth said...

Lol, sounds like just the kind of day that happens round here. Nice of the heron to grace you with his presence. I know those guys very well, (from stalking them myself), and as far as the NASA rocket, them's the breaks, and, I guess, no harm done...unless of course you count the 50 odd nuclear physicists and crew tearing their hair out. Better luck next time. x

Annie said...

Gosh, had no idea that was so close to where you are. Not very nice to ponder.
Hope you have a great weekend.