The Polar Caves in Rumney, NH was one of the few tourist destinations on my list. While we usually prefer natural wild places, I’d read good reviews on this multi generational family run spot and figured we should check it out.
Happily we showed up on the last day of the year that they’re open and didn’t have to fight the crowds.
I knew I was going to like it when we saw a large oak tree in the parking lot with this sign underneath…
You have to appreciate that kind of thoughtfulness, if not their spelling.
I had my doubts after buying tickets in the ticky tacky gift shop and walking outside to find the usual giant Adirondak chair.
And when we saw the creepy anorexic polar bears?
I figured I’d made a mistake.
But the small petting zoo charmed me…
With it’s precious European fallow deer…
That we had to feed…
And pet.
I mean really…. could you resist that face?
They make the funniest noise when they vocalize, almost a squeak.
And after having his say, this guy almost fell asleep.
Look how small they are. I told the husband I could easily fit a couple in the barn, but he wasn’t amused.
There were also some gorgeous Chinese pheasants.
Although they were hard to photograph due to the cages and a moat around the outside that keeps pesky children’s fingers away.
When you think of Maine? You think of lobster… and moose. But let me tell you, I’ve lived here on and off since 1978 and have seen exactly one moose in the wild. Granted we live in the Mid Coast region and they’re more prevalent up north, but still… one in 41 years is not a good ratio.
So when we crossed the border into New Hampshire after leaving the Moose Cave in Grafton Notch….. and I saw numerous signs warning of the dangers of moose crossings?
I thought, yeah.
We’ll never see one.
Until we did.
Right there on the side of the road…
A moose!
Happily munching away on some swamp grasses.
A real live moose!
And I was halfway out of the car to get some really good pictures when the husband said no. This was a teenage male and though he was probably too young to rut…. it was that time of year.
So I had to stalk him from an open window instead.
But I saw a moose!
My second in 41 years…
And then all too soon he was tired of us….
And headed back to the woods.
Goodbye moose….
I may not live long enough to see another wild one of you, but thanks for showing up and making my day.
As I said before, the fall colors were all over the place. We had an early turn this year so by the time we got to the mountains, many places were past peak foliage. But that doesn’t mean they weren’t still spectacular…
Looking across the street to our neighbor’s organic vegetable farm is always interesting.
But this time of year, it’s downright beautiful.
Who knew artichokes could be so pretty?
And when our neighbor has wood chips delivered….
HE HAS WOODCHIPS DELIVERED.
When you’re a farmer’s child?
You don’t need no stinkin’ sandbox.
On the critter front,
We’re down to one lone woodchuck.
He’s still fat…
And still clumsy…
And still hangs out on our deck once in a while. But it’s autumn, and all his brothers and sisters are finding dens and getting ready for winter. I doubt even this one will be here much longer.
Sigh…
Autumn also means the deer are changing into their darker winter coats. One summer coated hold out is on the right for comparison.
A murder of crows have now discovered our bird bath.
Why are they called a murder?
The Oxford English Dictionary suggests this is an allusion to the crow’s traditional association with violent death or its harsh and raucous cry. If you’ve ever heard dozens of agitated crows in full cry, it really does sound as if they’re yelling bloody murder.
As long as they don’t murder me in my sleep, I don’t care what you call them.
Uh oh.
And finally, we have a new skunk in town.
I admit I never really paid attention to skunk tails before, but we’ve had so many different families this year I’ve gotten to recognize them by their individual patterns.
This is Tippy.
Brilliantly named for the white tip on her tail.
Is she really a she?
I neither know, nor care to get close enough to find out.
Our old baby barn/shed has a dirt floor with heavy duty rubber mats on top. Due to numerous woodchuck holes and tunnels, we had to drag all the mats out. That sounded easy enough until I realized each one of them weighed the equivalent of an African elephant…
Seriously.
A pregnant, morbidly obese African elephant carrying a suitcase I packed for an overnight trip.
Did I mention they were all covered in pounds of dirt as well?
So as we’re moving the next to last mat…..
This.
A chipmunk burrow with tiny scraps of paper, plastic and leaves.
Upon further examination…
A maze of tunnels, which I thought was pretty cool, until… it moved.
Do you see the leg?
Yeah.
Not a tunnel.
A nursery…
Which means we had to find the other end of the tunnel and relocate them. Not an easy task.
Five minutes after we found them?
Momma found us.
And she wasn’t happy.
She ran around squawking and chirping and looking for her babies.
After a while I think she found them, because she stopped searching and started stuffing.
Stuffing her little cheek pouches full of all those little scraps of paper….
And scurrying back for more.
Within minutes she’d cleaned up the whole lot.
Watch her cram a dried leaf that’s almost bigger than she is below.
(And please pardon my husband’s cursing. Things were not going well with the rebuild at this point…)
After we wasted time relocating chipmunks, we realized we had to relocate a bird’s nest as well.
So many evictions.
I felt like an evil slumlord.
Back to work…. and things did not go well.
Which was completely the husband’s fault.
He had the crazy idea he could square the building properly (After 40 plus years of Maine frost heaves? Madness!) and changed the original footprint….. which in turn threw everything off kilter.
More good times.
Did I mention he uses tools from the 1950’s picked up at a yard sale or the dump?
This little jewel feels like it weighs 50 lbs.
But he has the original box… and vintage lube.
So it’s special.
P.S. For those of you who pay attention, this post is actually out of sequence. That back wall is gone now. Apparently my blog scheduling has run amok.
Because sometimes I want to share, and they just don’t rate a blog of their own.
A few shots of my local area.
I’m blessed to live in such a beautiful state.
Top that for sunrise color. I dare ya!
As you’ve probably guessed by now, when we travel…. I take a lot of pictures. The husband is quite patient with me and usually pulls over when I point out the window, squeee! and yell pull over. He never wants to photograph anything, so I had to laugh a few weeks ago when he stopped along side something and asked me to take a picture of it for him.
I did….
And am seriously hoping it doesn’t end up in our barn in the near future.
This is not what you want to be following during a traffic jam on Route 1. I saw pink hippos in my dreams for many nights after that.
And finally…
Me.
No makeup, just a smile…. and the realization that laying out in the sun this past summer has bleached my hair to the point where I now have dark roots without ever having dyed it.
What the Hell?
Where there's only one step from the sublime to the ridiculous.
River's world..... 