Joe Pye Weed in Bloom

At the state park in Waterford, CT. where I used to live there is a short nature trail. In the summer, "Joe Pye Weed" in bloom lines the entrance. You can see deer here, if you're lucky. Once a partridge rushed her chicks off the path into the brush as I walked. The path takes you down to Long Island Sound where there are egrets fishing. There are nesting platforms for Ospreys. Some years, there are not very many nesting however. You can usually see herons, too. This water is the entrance to the Thames River and to New London Harbor (here Thames is pronounced just as it is written and not the English, "Tems"). It's a popular park in summer and peaceful and quiet off season. I used to come here after work to unwind. I miss it.