Looking out of Lucy

Here's the view that Lucy gets of the Atlantic from her perch just west of the beach. Literally, the "porthole" is her eye.

I am amazed by how attracted humans are to waves and sand- even on a cool windy day, plenty of bundled-up families were enjoying the beach while I was huddled up inside an elephant.

Lucy and a New Look

As I bet you've noticed, Ash's Eye is getting something of a facelift. The solid gray background finally just bored me all the way over the edge into hunting for something pre-made and a little "froofier."

Cosmetics aside, meet Lucy the Elephant! She is the largest elephant in the world, so big you can tour her insides. Lucy lives in the oceanside town of Margate, New Jersey. Around the turn of the century, she was built as a gimmick, to attract homebuyers to the growing streets of Margate. Lucy really didn't convince people to buy homes, but she did eventually become the mascot for the town. Soon wooden elephants were all the rage in the beach towns of the mid-Atlantic, and Coney Island had one, as did Cape May, New Jersey.

These copycat elephants were soon lost to history and now only Lucy remains. She sadly fell into disrepair in the 1960s, and was threatened with demolition to make way for condominiums. Townspeople rallied together to raise funds to refurbish Lucy and move her to city-owned property. Lucy is now well-loved and taken care of primarily through the labor of volunteers and the admission fees gathered from those who wish to climb the spiral staircases located in her hind legs. Lucy is now a designated National Historic Landmark. Her story is recapped in a short but interesting movie you get to watch in the room located in her belly.

More photos from Lucy will be forthcoming shortly ...

Anudder mudder ...

A Northern Pintail looking for grub at Forsythe Wildlife Refuge.

Mud on your face ...

Hungry? Then dive on in! It's not the best look, but a goose's gotta do what a goose's gotta do to put food on the table :) This is a snow goose in Forsythe Wildlife Refuge in New Jersey. In the next three to four weeks, tens of thousands of snow geese and smaller numbers of tundra swans and Canada geese will group at Middle Creek here in Lancaster County, and at other bird-friendly habitats across the mid-Atlantic, to gain strength to begin their northward journey to their summer nesting grounds.

A cat can dream ...

... of a pine siskin snack.