Sunday, December 29, 2019

We find ourselves in Delaware as the year is winding down. We’ve been doing a mix of playing and working on the trailer. I could probably knock off most of the trailer work in a solid two-week work session, but who can work when you’re in a playground like this?

Cape Henlopen sunrise.

Molly and Mitchell came down from Philly for a weekend visit. We went down to Chincoteague Island to hike around and see the wild ponies. On the way back we stopped in Woody’s in Dewey Beach for crab cakes. Woody;s is a small little bar/restaurant and their crab cakes are considered the best in Delaware. The reputation is well deserved. These were the best crab cakes I have ever eaten. I have been spoiled. If you ever have the chance, go to Woody’s and eat the crab cakes. Not cheap by and stretch of the imagination, but you will not be disappointed.

Chincoteague ponies

Woody’s in Dewey Beach.

Molly and Mitchell at Woody’s

We did Christmas up in PA at my sister Lynn’s house. Molly and Mitchell came up from Philly for the feasting and gift giving. Good eating and good gifts. How can you go wrong with a blow-up palm tree beer cooler? Life is good.

Molly and Mitchell doing presents.

A blow-up palm tree beer cooler.

Part of our playing here is doing some birding. On the way back from Delaware we stopped at Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge to get a stray Western tanager. Apparently, there has been a small irruption of Western tanagers to the east coast. This is a rare enough bird here that the paparazzi were lined up. Notice how all the old guys had big camouflage lenses that their wives let them buy. I had some real lens envy there.

The Paparazzi.

Western tanager at Bombay Hook NWR.

Today Lise and I did the Cape Henlopen\Prime Hook Christmas Bird Count. This isn’t like CBCs in Indiana or Michigan. For starters, Lise got a life barn owl before dawn. After tramping around the fields of prime Hook national Wildlife Refuge, I rode in a small boat a couple miles out to breakwaters in the Delaware Bay. The birding wasn’t spectacular, but we did see some seals on the breakwaters. That ain’t going to happen in Indiana. And I got to go out on big water, which even in the rain beats the hell out of working on a trailer. So, life is good.