At long last, I renewed my membership for the The Trustees of Reservations.

I had a membership when I lived north of the city for several years, but had to drop it for financial reasons when I got laid off.

I've been meaning to renew my membership, mostly because it gets me into the Trustee properties at either a discount or for free, and gives me discounted prices for various events. I know that in previous years I usually "earned back" what I paid for my annual membership (it's $45 a year now) within the first four or five months. Usually in visits to Crane Beach and Halibut Point.

I'll have to work a little harder to "earn" my membership fee back, but I suspect it'll be worth it. It's been a couple of years and it looks like they've added a couple more properties that are closer to where I now live. Yay!

This is one of my fave pictures of Halibut Point in Rockport.


Halibut Point. From The Trustees of Reservations Web site.


What makes this photo really interesting is that there's a "trick of the eye" going on. The photo was taken on the "landward" side of the granite quarry at Halibut Point (that would be the pond-like body of water in the center of the picture). On the far side of the quarry is the ocean. I know it looks like it's literally just on the other side of the quarry, but the truth is that you'd have to walk another quarter of a mile from this vantage point to get to the water's edge.

Seeing this in real life is a hell of a lot more impressive, especially because the land's natural accoustics makes the ocean sound as close as it looks. Also cool: the rocks along the coast (there is no sand here) creates these tidal pools in the rocks that trap the cool little marine animals in them at low tide. And at the highest point of the park, you can see three states (Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine). This is why Halibut Point is my favoite Trustee Property.

For the Scatterings and Orphanagers Africander Fiction Challenge by ludditerobot.

All previous parts can be found here.
Continued from Part 46,

I took a breath. “Well, I do have some thoughts on this matter, but it might be difficult to—”

Mr. Harris held up a hand. “Whoa. Before you jump in with your hot idea, I want to list the obvious options first. Then we’ll talk about whatever’s on your mind, because I want to hear what you have to say. First, though, we really need to look at the London option.”