Debra LaValley's Blog

Olympic Dive by a Snapper

This female snapping turtle was quite large! Her shell must have been a good 18-20 inches long. She was on the footbridge that leads over to the Hannah Dustin Monument. I was with my nephew and his girlfriend. We snapped some photos and then the turtle did the unthinkable – she slowly turned and started toward the fencing on the side of the walkway. We watched in horror! There was enough room for her to go under the fencing! Suddenly, she was half over the edge! I was torn to either photograph the plunge or try grabbing its tail. I was too chicken to grab her tail. I have only picked up baby snapping turtles.

Then everything seemed to move in slow motion as she slipped off the bridge and took about a 25 ft plunge to the river below. Unfortunately, she landed in the very shallow water near the muddy shore. I think we all screamed and the thud was like a giant belly flop. Hesitantly – we looked over the bridge. I expected to see something quite horrible! However, much to our surprise – the female snapper – was right side up and moving. She walked/swam off under the bridge. We are hoping she is ok – but it must have caused some damage.

Easter 1968

I love photographs – a moment in time – captured forever! I especially love old family photographs. I am a little late with the above photograph. I was hoping to post it for Easter – but I couldn’t find a copy. Recently, while visiting my parents – I found the photo along with some other old photos and scanned them. This particular Easter photo really makes me smile. I believe my mother made our dresses. The groovy hats are a sure sign that the photo was taken in the late 60s! We posed for this photo at my grandparents’ house at 98 Washington Street in Penacook. We certainly looked cool – right down to Tom Jr. in his suit. Ken wasn’t even a sparkle in my mother’s eye yet. He was born in 1971.

1968 Easter w/ Grammy & Pepe

Below is an older Easter photo that I came across.

Easter – Early 1960s

You don’t see many families gathered together in their new Easter clothes posing for family photos. It was a simpler time back then. I am glad that I grew up during this simpler time, and I am glad that many of these moments were captured in photos.

Have a great day!

Banded Sub-Adult Bald Eagle

I am truly amazed and thrilled that bald eagles have made such a great come back. Growing up, we never saw bald eagles around Penacook/Boscawen. My first sighting of a wild bald eagle in these parts was many years ago, and it was a rare sighting. In the past few years, I have regularly seen bald eagles in the area. They love hanging around the Merrimack river. During the late winter Eagle Count that I was a volunteer for – I saw 7 different eagles that day. I never tire of seeing them.

Yesterday, I swung by Crete’s farm and a banded sub-adult was perched in the dead pine branches in a tall pine tree. There is a small pond below the tree. It is a great place for the eagles to grab a quick meal of fish. Luckily, I had my camera in the car and could snap some photos.

I have also been watching the eagle nest in Decorah, Iowa. Again this year, there are three eaglets. It is fascinating to see the parents feed and protect the youngsters. It is amazing how clean the nest is kept and how both parents share the responsibilities. I also find it interesting that even the smallest eaglet knows not to poop in the nest … they back up and “shoot” out of the nest. It must be a natural instinct – interesting. They parents also keep the food “pantry” away from the sleeping area – to keep the little ones clean. Dad makes sure the nest is keep strong and repairs any damage. He also regularly brings food. Mom likes to feed the eaglets – dad likes to as well – but Mom appears to rather do it herself. The interactions of the eagles are addicting. The sight has had millions of viewers.

If you would like to watch the Decorah Eagle’s nest click here.

I can’t believe tomorrow is May! I hope everyone is having a great spring!

Happy Earth Day!

Our planet is such a gorgeous place! We need to be better stewards! Every day should be Earth Day!

I recently went to Bermuda! What a paradise! I have been to Hawaii three times, and it too is gorgeous – however, all around – Bermuda wins. The flight is quick from NH (under 2 hours), the people are so friendly, the water is beyond words, and public transportation is a breeze. I will be going back!

It is raining today – and we certainly need the rain. Have a great evening.

If you want to see more Bermuda photos and other photos of mine – click here!

Debbie 🙂

Mothra (aka Giant Cecropia)

I was reminiscing the other day about miller moths. As far back as I can remember, my mother has disliked (read afraid of) millers (those pesky moths that tend to get into the house and are often seen on the inside of lights). I like moths and would capture any that happened into the house and release them outside. Often, my mother would comment that “Glen Miller and his orchestra” were in the light. Cue Moonlight Serenade. This was the signal for my dad to take off the glass light covers and dispose of the millers.

Yesterday, I gazed up into the large kitchen light at my parents’ house – hoping to see remnants of millers so I could take a photo for this blog – but alas – there were only a couple silverfish corpses in the fixture. Now – they are some freaky bugs. Why they are called silverfish – I don’t understand since they bear no resemblance to fish and do not live in water. The silver part, I get. They are very strange indeed and seem to be sculpted out of silver dust. According to Wikipedia they are also known as fishmoths or carpet sharks (I like this one and see a horror movie in the making. Was that a dorsal fin that I just saw in my living room rug?). It seems they get the “fish” part of their name due to their fish-like movements. I can’t say that I have ever thought they moved like fish. The article stated that they like carbs! I can relate to that – I have never met a carb that I didn’t like. In fact, right now, I am craving something chocolate! Is that a knock on my door? “Candy-Gram!” (Land Shark) . . . I digress (one of Saturday Night Live’s best skits back in the day when SNL was REALLY funny).

Silverfish/Wikipedia

I can’t really think of much else to say – hope you all have a great day!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Yes, I am having a green beer. I dropped some green food coloring into my Twisted Thistle Belhaven Ale (Scottish Ale). I am of the Ross and Grant Scottish clans. I also have some ancestors from Wales – so there really must be some Irish in there somewhere too. Believe it or not, I think this is only the second green beer that I have ever had. It looks pretty vile – but it still tastes like a great Scottish ale! I am wearing my Ross clan t-shirt today too. It is green. The Ross motto is Success Nourishes Hope.

Spring has sprung here in NH! Tomorrow is supposed to be around 70 degrees and it may hit 80 this week! We certainly have had a very weird winter.

Enjoy your day, everyone! Slainte Mhath! To your good health!

Debbie 🙂

Spring Forward!

Of course, I won’t be springing anywhere for the next few days! Turning the clocks ahead an hour is a love-hate relationship for me. I LOVE that the sun now will set later, and I will see the light of day longer after I get out of work. However, I hate losing the hour of sleep. It really messes up my internal clock and schedule.

I have already gone around and changed all my clocks. They now are showing 12:28 a.m. Would it have been better for me to go to bed an hour ago? Yes! Will I stay up way too late tonight? Yes! At 9:00 pm tonight, I could hardly keep my eyes open – but I now have a second wind and am wide awake and will not be going to bed for at least an hour.

I am bad – almost as bad as Molly who will most likely waking me up at the crack of dawn – not many hours after I have gone to bed. She is a cute “little” thing though – so what can I say!

Enjoy your day!

Debbie 🙂

March – the time the sap flows and maple trees are adorned with sap buckets or tubes to collect the golden liquid. It will be interesting to see if there is a shortage of maple syrup this year. This winter’s weather was so weird. We had a huge snow storm in October and then almost no snow until last week when we got a foot of snow. The temperatures have been fairly mild as well for most of the winter. I hope that the sap flows in volumes and the local sugar shacks are able to process gallons and gallons of real maple syrup. There is nothing better than real maple syrup.

Tree tapping time – is a sure sign of spring! My brother and his family are trying their luck again making their own maple syrup. I can’t wait to taste a sample.

Many New Hampshire Sugar Houses hold Open Houses on March 24 and March 25. It is great fun to watch and enjoy samples. Click here for a listing.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

I can’t think of too much to say tonight – but I thought I would share a photo of my only Valentine’s Day Annalee Doll. It is a dragon. Don’t you wish there really were dragons – real flying dragons? Komodo dragons don’t count. Wouldn’t it be amazing to see dragons flying through the air? I think so. Instead of bird watching – I would be dragon watching! Given their size they would be hard to miss and even I should be able to get a decent photo!

I didn’t have too many great photo ops this weekend. I saw 3 eagles at one today (2 adults and 1 immature eagle) – almost as thrilling as seeing a dragon! However, they were too far away to get decent shots. If only eagles were as large as dragons my shots would have been better! 🙂

Molly is doing better than I am dieting. Of course – she doesn’t have thumbs to open her cans of food, drive a car, or have money/credit cards to stop off at the store and pick up snacks. Molly has to wait for me to feed her. Lately, I have been placing most of her dry food in a snack ball and a snack egg-shape toy. Molly rolls, rocks, pushes these until a kibble or two fall out of the tiny holes. This extra exercise is helping her lose weight. She is 14.65 down from a little over 15 pounds. That is a nice little weight loss for her. I haven’t been doing so well on my diet.

Maybe, I need a snack ball? I wonder how I can get the ice cream and pie into that little hole?