I am grateful to have the Fore River Sanctuary near my apartment. I love that the place is called sanctuary. Not park or preserve. It has hardwood forests and saltwater marshes, and trails through very tall pines, and a bona fide waterfall, and in the summertime there are blackberry bushes. This time of year the falls are frozen over, but you can still hear the water moving somewhere below the ice. I was there this weekend, before the big snow came, and locked eyes with an owl sitting overhead in a pine. I read somewhere once that it’s a good omen to see an owl. He watched me and Lou awhile, until we tried to get closer, at which point he flew to a dead tree far from our trail. He made absolutely no sound, even with those enormous wings.
