Layne Rodney

Satisfaction

Last week in my blog I mentioned seeing a small hawk and I couldn’t identify it. The hawk flew away before I could snap a picture of it

Yesterday I saw the hawk again. It was on a power line in front of my house. This time I was able to get a picture.

I sent the picture to my bird expert, my grandson Martin. He was able to identify the hawk as a sharp-shinned hawk. This hawk is the smallest hawk in North America.

I am hopeful that Sharpie has taken up residence in my neighborhood. One nice thing about winter is that I can see the wildlife easier. Not that it is easy to see them.

Hopefully I will see the hawk and the fox that are in my neighborhood. I wonder what other animals there are here that I haven’t seen. As always “Hidden in Plain Sight”

Hidden in Plain Sight

I often write about the many sights in plain sight in Stamford, that are hidden unless you are looking for them or walking

One of the many sights is art and sculpture in Stamford and especially in the downtown area.

Have you seen this sculpture. It is located right next to main Street east and the train tracks. It is really hidden well.

I wonder why they have all these bushes hiding the sculpture

Here is another sculpture right off Tresser Blvd.

Stamford has art all over the town.

A few years back I walked from Stamford to Stoning ton CT. One of my goals was to count all the artwork along the way. I soon gave up on that plan. There was little public artwork compared to what Stamford has

Our two nature centers, The Stamford Museum and Nature Center and the Bartlett Arboretum both have a nice collection of sculptures between them.

You can walk from one place to the other through the forest.

Stamford may not have a dedicated Art Museum; however, it has art all over the town.

Viewing Nature

Last week my wife and I were having breakfast. It was still dusky outside when my wife mentioned there was a fox across the Street.

Sure enough, there was a red fox roaming the neighborhood. I have seen foxes before in the neighborhood. I assume this might be the neighborhood fox.

After breakfast I started my morning walk. I was one mile on High Ridge Road when I spotted a dead deer off the road. It was a buck with a full set of antlers. This area must be a deer crossing. Last year there was also a dead deer in the same area.

Continuing my walk, I am approaching Bulls Head, and I see a blue bird land on a small tree. I am thinking is it a blue jay? The size was similar.

I was able to approach the bird, and I realized it was a hawk. I could tell by the beak. The bird flew away before I could take a picture.

I consulted with a bird expert, my grandson, about what type of small hawk it was. My grandson suggested. It might be a kestrel. It wasn’t. We still aren’t sure what hawk it was.

These three sightings happen within thirty minutes. While I do see lots of birds and animals, while walking, it is unusual to see so much animal activity in the built-up part of Stamford

One of the many joys of walking. My goal is to come upon a black bear. They are in the area and have been sighted in North Stamford.

Of course, I would probably run the other way as fast as I can.

Hartford By Train

I needed to visit a state agency last week and I decided to go by train.

I took Metro North to New Haven and transferred to Amtrak for the New Haven to Hartford segment. I could also have taken CT Rail.

The trip took two hours and fifteen minutes from getting on the train in Stamford and arriving at Hartford Station.

Driving to Hartford in a non-traffic situation would have been an hour and twenty minutes. Of course, there are very few non-traffic situations in Connecticut these days.

The train ride from New Haven to Hartford was dull from a viewing perspective. There were a lot of industrial buildings. There are many typical towns and villages and surprisingly many stretches of trees and wildlife. I am always amazed with how much forest is still in Connecticut.

The fifty-minute ride to Hartford did go by rather quickly.

Hartford is an interesting City. At one point in time, it was the richest city in the US. Walking around you can see many old buildings with beautiful architectural structures.

There are two nice museums in Hartford. The Wadsworth Atheneum Art Museum and the Science Center Museum. I have been to the art museum. It is one of the oldest museums in the US.

I plan on going back to Hartford and reporting on it more. One nice thing about being a senior and taking the train is the round-trip cost was $16.25

This is a statue of a blind girl. Thomas Gallaudet started a school for the handicapped in Hartford in the early 1800’s.

The Color of Fall

Every fall I enjoy the changing of the leaves. Especially my neighbors’ red maple.

This year I was worried about the colors because of the ongoing drought. The leaves slowly turned bright red, but it took forever.

My wife said one afternoon it looks like tomorrow will be the day that we will have peak red on the tree.

Strangely it rained that night. Not much but if forced half the leaves to fall.

I don’t think I have ever seen such a beautiful carpet of leaves on the lawn. By the end of the day the leaves had started to shrivel up.

Natural beauty can be so fleeting. I was glad to enjoy it, and I did not have to walk far to find it.

What is This Picture

What is that Picture

It is crows gathering for their night’s sleep. Reading up on crows, they gather at dusk to roost for the night. They were heading for downtown Stamford. The article mentioned that they roost together for safety in number and to keep warm.

I notice crows all the time when I am walking in Stamford. One reason I notice them is they are noisy. That is because they operate as a gang and one crow is on the lookout for humans. When I approach the crows, the lookout lets the other crows know I am approaching.

A little note about crows. When there is a flock of crows they are referred to as a murder of crows. They were given this name because they were thought as murderers when they were eating small rodents

Finally Success

Every winter I decide not to have a garden. The animals are usually upset with that decision. After all they are the usual beneficiaries of my garden.

Each spring I get weak and start the garden again. I bought two tomato plants and got two tomatoes only.

My raspberry plants were stripped of raspberries before they were even ripe.

I had picked up sunflower seeds from the Stamford Library. I thought I would plant them in a pot and wrap them tightly with wire to protect them. No luck. They did not do well.

Finally, I planted one sunflower seed in my barrel.

Here is the result. I think it is beautiful.

Connecticut is a Car State

I don’t say this lightly as 90% of my travels around Stamford and Connecticut are done by walking, bus or train.

I can be anywhere in Stamford by walking and using the bus in thirty to fifty minutes from my house which is located close to the AITE School off High Ridge Road

I often go to Westport, CT. Using the walking, bus, train combination it will take me one hour to get to the Westport train station. Then I have the walking time to get to my destination. The journey to Westport and back will usually take three to four hours.

I have the time to walk and take mass transit. How many people in Connecticut have that much time to use mass transit?

The other issue is that the majority of towns in Connecticut are not served by train services.

If I want to go to Moosup, CT the only way is to drive. I have been to Moosup and it is located in the eastern part of Connecticut almost in Rhode Island truly the middle of nowhere.

I have a friend in Bedford Hills, NY. I could take the bus downtown, take the White Plains bus to the White Plains Train Station and then take the train to Bedford Hills. Or I can drive and be there in less than 30 minutes.

The reality is that you need a car to travel around Connecticut. We are lucky that a significant part of our workforce can take mass transit. Not everyone is able to take the train.

We certainly need to improve mass transit. We also need to improve the road system. I would like to see the state expand the Danbury Train line and speed it up. At this point it takes over an hour to go from Danbury to Stamford on a direct train. I would rather see money go to that line than spend it on a high-speed train to Boston. I would also like to fix the two on-ramps that force you to stop at the Long Ridge Entrance to the Merritt Parkway. With the amount of traffic, it is dangerous for car drivers to have to stop.

One last thought. I had to take a person to JFK airport on a Friday afternoon. I told them I would go by train as I didn’t want to spend four hours in traffic. I had to drive, that was a day of heavy rain and Metro North was flooded out the only option was driving.

We still need cars.

A New Development

I have not posted content for a while because I have been busy.

The reason I have been busy is because I am running for State Representative in the 144^th district in Stamford, CT.

I am very excited to be running for State Representative. I feel that we need more people involved in the political process and that includes me.

The 144^th district runs from the Merritt Parkway down to Broad Street. It also includes High Ridge Road and Long Ridge Road. My grandson is drawing an exact map of the district I should have it soon to post.

I am looking forward to an interesting campaign. I will be posting about the campaign for the next couple of months.

The Answer

Today I had my question answered. This question has been on my mind for many years.

The question came to me when I was visiting Zurich Switzerland. I visit Zurich quite often as my daughter lives in Zurich. Her apartment is a 15 minute drive from the airport.

When I am visiting Jennifer and family I am always walking. One day I decided to see if it was possible to walk to the airport. It is, and the walk only took 35 minutes and quite pleasant.

That walk got me thinking. Is it possible to walk to JFK Airport. Today I found the answer. It is kind of yes. I walked out of the airport.

I rode the air train to the Lefferts Blvd stop. Or better known as long term parking. From there I walked north on Lefferts Blvd out of the airport and through Queens to the Jamaica train station

It took about a hour. This part of Queens is mainly small single-family houses.

I did come across the beginning of an Indian wedding. The music was nice, and all the guests were dressed magnificently. I was kind of hoping someone would ask me to join the activities.

Taking the train from Stamford to Grand Central and then taking the train out to Jamaica and then catching the Airtrain to JFK can take a maximum of two hours. If the train schedules align you might be able to make it in 90 minutes.

It is an alternative to driving to JFK Airport. However, it is a lot of schlepping. It is a long walk from Grand Central to LIRR Annex at Grand Central. Then there are lots of escalators to go on at each change on the ride.