I know it is only the beginning of July, but this oddly-titled1 newsletter feels like a classic back-to-school “What I did over the summer” essay.
Most of my smog-free time has been spent out in nature (and what in Brooklyn approximates nature) learning more about the local birds and trees. And to the concern of many family and friends— eating the occasional street berry.
I haven’t made any grave errors yet. I do take the time to try and thoroughly identify these public delicacies before taking a bite. And taking time is important because the difference between black chokeberry and highbush blueberry isn’t exactly obvious if you have no idea what you’re looking for in the first place. Plus your iPhone’s best guess isn’t always going to get it right. I assumed the highbush blueberries pictured below were actually bilberries until doing more extensive research.2 Thankfully both bills and blues are tasty vacciniums3, and neither will kill you.
I am not too proud to admit I have a long history of being wrong, so I understand the concern. Anna could write a missive on the subject, but I’ve begged her not to. On the bright side, being wrong often does teach you to be cautious. Even about basic things like crossing the road.4 When I am wrong these days, it’s typically about trivial things that are far more likely to be annoying than deadly.
Learning Through Doing: A Refreshing Physics Lesson
The Archimedes' principle states that the upward buoyant force that is exerted on a body immersed in a fluid, whether fully or partially, is equal to the weight of the fluid that the body displaces.
What better way to confirm this principle than repeatedly throwing oneself into a pool to make sure the laws of physics haven’t entirely broken down? After a week of testing, I can confirm things still look good for Ol’ Archie and his principles. Eureka!
Gallery of Captured Critters
I spent a decent amount of time testing out different fishing spots around Sag Harbor and had a lot of success just fishing off the wharf. All told I caught around a dozen porgy, two perch, and my first ever flounder5. I even reeled in the occasional blue crab that would grab onto the hook with it’s claw and nibble away at my bait.
An unexpected highlight while just floating in the pool was getting to witness a wide variety of birds, thanks to the huge mulberry tree that was right next to it. I was captivated watching countless catbirds and robins going about their business. I particularly enjoyed that when I moved some of the pool furniture and a bunch of earwigs started running around that the catbirds immediately swooped in for a free lunch.
While catbirds seemed to have full reign over the tree, there were other usual suspects like blue jays and cardinals that spent a bit of time around. There must have been a few deer that managed to get to the tree as well, given the scat that was discovered under the lower branches one morning. I also caught sight of a yellow warbler and an American goldfinch on different days. Always nice to see birds I don’t encounter in the city.
Speaking of the birds I don’t get at home, I loved fishing under an osprey nest early one morning and watching one of the parents flying around to hunt while the kids were waiting for breakfast. I even put a small porgy on a large rock by the nest to see if it would snatch it up, but the osprey didn’t seem interested and so I threw the fish back to live another day.
Finally, the most surprising sight was a young pheasant that managed to get into the pool area. It appeared to be molting which made it pretty difficult for me to figure out the specific type it was, but Merlin (bird song Shazam + image recognition app from Cornell) guessed that was a golden pheasant and posting a photo to a birding forum provided additional confirmation.
Osprey momma and baby nesting.
Closing confessions
Although I wish I could have stayed out east on Long Island a month instead of a week, I had to get back to real life and responsibilities. At least for a few more weeks before I head to Newport Folk Festival with my friend, Matt.
Coincidentally, Matt just started his own Substack called Tink’s Tunehouse to write more about the music he’s listening to. I hope you’ll check it out!
No updates on fingle.club. I haven’t felt like doing any development outside of my day job given all the outside enjoyments. I need to pick up a crochet hook, too, but it feels more like a cold weather hobby so I’m not stressing myself too much about it.
I know, for better or worse, that I am a ‘dabbler.’ I excite easily, and I tend to flit pretty quickly between a lot of different interests. This whole Substack is basically a love letter to dabbling. However, my unfocused-ness often turns into a creative rigor mortis. For me it feels natural (and enjoyable) to shift focus often. As the saying goes, “A jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one.” But I also know it can creates cycles where I am very much engaged followed by long periods of stagnation. I have been trying to work on ‘consistency,’ as well as not being such an “all or nothing” person. I can do the same thing for 100 days straight without fail, but if I stop for any reason on the 101st day, I may never pick it back up.
If you have advice on ways to better focus on / manage juggling a few projects at a time, I’d love to hear what works for you.
Thanks for reading! If you made it this far, enjoy this video of a groundhog named Peaches as your reward. Anna thought it was a beaver when it first scurried across her path, and in fairness I didn’t really know groundhogs have pretty big, bushy tails.
Peace!
It’s a long story and a dumb inside joke, but it boils down to Like Water for Chocolate being a different book than Water for Elephants. Who knew! (not me).
Brooklyn Bridge Park, where I took those photos and ate a few Tall Blueberries™️, actually has a very impressive online database dedicated to all of the plants (and more) that you can find in all of the different areas of the park. I was able to get to the exact species by looking through the various shrubs in the excel file.
Blueberries, cranberries, and huckleberries—oh my!
I’ve been hit by cars on 3 separate occasions. Only one was my fault, but none of them were fun. Side note, Anna hates crossing the street with me.
There was a giant yacht docked at the wharf and the guys literally swabbing the deck would comment on the fish I was pulling in. My favorite exchange between them was this:
“Oh wow, a sunfish?”
“No you idiot, that’s a flounder. You’ll have to excuse him, he’s from South Africa.”