Filling voids the last ten days

June is a weird month for me.The flurry of fun during the spring is over. Yet, the real summer has yet to begin.I usually go through a mini depression , which is why I have scheduled my vacation the last two years in June.  The excitement of spring birding and spring fishing is over.  New Hampshire natives are still dealing with black flies. Despite the often perfect weather I find June to be a tough month for me to enjoy.

Pictures like this suck. This fish is a legit
twenty five pounds, but you'd never know
it by the picture

To keep busy this year, I tried to give myself goals or things to do during each week since I got back from Maine. Finding things to do on my days off is easy, but keeping myself entertained after work is a little bit of a challenge. So at the end of each week I have created a list for the upcoming week. I may not get to everything but at least I have goals. In the post below I wrote about the Tropical Kingbird at Daniel Webster. Going  to see it was at the top of the list for that week. I went after work on a Monday night. The last two weeks, despite my lack of writing have been productive.

Last week I had Thursday/Friday off. I went striper fishing all day both days. Thursday was epic. I caught fifteen stripers, six were keepers and three were over 25 pounds. I got almost all of the fish on a Sebile Stick Shad. Friday I only caught six. I got one keeper about 30 inches. The fish were fussy and I caught all of them on squid. I snagged a couple of squid that drifted by in the current.

After I got home on Friday, I got a text that Sandhill Cranes were reported near T.F. Green Airport. So off I went looking for them. I was the last one to see them. They flew off twenty seconds after I got there. If I would have stopped at just one more red light or left my house twenty seconds later I would have missed them.

Sandhill Cranes

This week one of my goals was to buy a book. I am a reader, but have only read two books this year. I just hadn't found any that really interested me. I went to an actual bookstore and browsed. The bookstore is in Plainville, MA and owned by Jeff Kinney. Kinney is famous for the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" series. It was nice just to go in a bookstore for the first time in years. I ended up buying "A Moveable Feast" by Hemingway. The book is Papa's memoirs from his time in Paris in the 1920's. I read the first chapter that night while eating shrimp that I bought on sale at Stop and Shop, thus making myself a character in just about every Jimmy Buffett song.

Tuesday night I met my friend Dave in East Providence. We caught a few schoolie stripers. It wasn't great fishing, but it was nice to catch up with him.

Wednesday I had tickets to an Oldies concert. Laurie and I purchased tickets for the "Happy Together" tour at the South Shore Music Circus. The concert were original members of bands from the 60's. It seemed as though most of the bands peaked around 1967. The line up was great. The opening act was "The Cowsills" from Newport, RI. Their biggest hits were "Indian Lake" and "The Rain, The Park, and Other Things" From there were The Classic IV ("Spooky Little Girl Like You", and "Stormy" ), The Buckinghams ("Kind of a  Drag", "Hey Baby, They're Playing our Song", "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy"). Following The Buckinghams was Gary Puckett. He had a lot of classic songs such as "Young Girl", "Lady Wilpower" and "Woman, Woman"

The Buckinghams

Gary Puckett

Next was one of the founding members of Three Dog Night, Chuck Negron. He brought the house down with "Joy to the World". He played a few songs then came on The Turtles. They had a bunch of hits. They played "Elanor" and "She only Wants to be with Me". They finished with their biggest hit "Happy Together". All in all, it was a really fun night.

Chuck Negron from Three Dog Night
This guy is 77 years old!!!

Tonight, Thursday, I went to a social gathering of my bird club called "Birds and Beer". Members of the club met at the Tilted Barn Brewery in Exeter, RI. The brewery makes their own beer (obviously) but they also grow their own hops. I had one beer, but really enjoyed getting together and just talking birds. The weather was beautiful and we all got to hear grey tree frogs singing while sitting outside at the picnic tables.

Bird Nerds
photo credit Jan StJean

I have the next two days off. I should find fun things to do. Come Saturday night I'll put a list together to see what I can accomplish next week.