hamlin reservation (ipswich):
with just 5 hours of sleep i woke up to help my aunt lili try to install some photo viewing software on her old pc. it didn't work, and without an ethernet cable adapter, the laptop couldn't even go online. after she left, julie came to pick me up to go out for some sunday naturing. we decided to go up to the north shore area, because i wanted to see some more salt marshes. we ended up going to the hamlin reservation in ipswich, a short distance from crane beach, a 135 acres trustees land composed of a wooded island surrounded by marsh meadows. there wasn't much to see, although julie did find a snake near the bridge that slithered away when it heard us approaching (it was probably a garter snake, but could've also been a ribbon snake).

marsh grass	deciduous forest	marsh clouds
marsh water	grassy field	pixie cups

russell orchards (ipswich):
we went to the nearby farm, where it was crowded with people, a lot of parents with kids. apple picking seemed to be the most popular activity for parents to take their children on autumn weekends. there we farm animals everywhere, some chicken and ducks mingling with the customers, as well as farm animals in pens and cages, including (not pictured) turkeys, rabbits, and a vietnamese pot-belly pig.

woodman's "home of the fried clams" (essex):
"if i don't get something to eat i'm going to die," julie told me. we drove to the next town of essex and went to woodman's for fried clams. the football game was in progress, and by the time we left the patriots had won yet another game. julie and i split an order of fried clams, which also came with fries and onion rings. julie couldn't keep her eyes off of a group of bikers eating a few tables down, all wearing leather chaps.

good harbor beach (gloucester):
in gloucester we visited good harbor beach. the ocean-facing shore was surprisingly lacking in rocks and seaweed, so there wasn't much to see other than the view. since it was off-season, there were a lot of people using the beach as a dog park, including letting their animals shit in the ocean. like yesterday, the weather was windy, and surfers could be seen out in the water trying to catch some waves. later, we drove around the area a bit, watching the rocky gloucester shoreline with the setting sun starting to cast a magenta glow on the ocean.

estuary	beach	brace cove
ring-billed gull (winter)	blue mussel	cracked sand dollar

sunset (driving back):

julie dropped me off in cambridge, and i took the motorcycle to belmont, where my godmother was preparing a special dinner in honor of her friend who was leaving. the temperature was in the low 50's and despite having 4 layers of clothing on, it was still cold. i ate quickly, then excused myself to come back to cambridge, so i could watch the 4th yankees red sox playoff game. it was a long game, and throughout the night, different people would instant message me with comments. it went into extra innings, but the red sox ended up winning this one, surviving to play another day. i was laughing so hard out of joy that my stomach started to hurt.