January 1 & 2
A new year begins. This marks the 4th year of this website and the 25th year of my involvement with the herring migration in Brewster, most particularly here on Slough Pond. A silver anniversary of sorts aligned with these silvery fish. I re-dedicate myself to advocacy for their protection and preservation. I hope we will build on the progress of last year in the coming months, seeking true partnership, collaboration, transparency, good stewardship, and recognition of their worth as a keystone species in the sterling habitat of Slough Pond which supports a vast and critical biodiversity. As John Hay wrote in The Run, in 1958, "the alewife migration taught me how to start...now we are on a run together." I will be forever grateful to my friend John for inviting me to accompany him along the paths he walked. Our time together blessed me with my own path and abiding love of these wondrous fish.
The hardship wildlife faces in these arduous months is never more apparent then now when the pond freezes over entirely. The waterfowl come and go from the marsh, finding purchase where they can in any open fresh water, and staying clear of hunters until the end of the month. What fish remain are invisible moving below the ice. At night under the Wolf Moon there was a Red Fox hunting and then last night a Fisher (Cat) moving quietly along the shore. In the distant treetops, a Great Horned Owl calls and beneath coywolves run along snowy paths. Otherwise it is winter silent and bitterly cold.
A new year begins. This marks the 4th year of this website and the 25th year of my involvement with the herring migration in Brewster, most particularly here on Slough Pond. A silver anniversary of sorts aligned with these silvery fish. I re-dedicate myself to advocacy for their protection and preservation. I hope we will build on the progress of last year in the coming months, seeking true partnership, collaboration, transparency, good stewardship, and recognition of their worth as a keystone species in the sterling habitat of Slough Pond which supports a vast and critical biodiversity. As John Hay wrote in The Run, in 1958, "the alewife migration taught me how to start...now we are on a run together." I will be forever grateful to my friend John for inviting me to accompany him along the paths he walked. Our time together blessed me with my own path and abiding love of these wondrous fish.
The hardship wildlife faces in these arduous months is never more apparent then now when the pond freezes over entirely. The waterfowl come and go from the marsh, finding purchase where they can in any open fresh water, and staying clear of hunters until the end of the month. What fish remain are invisible moving below the ice. At night under the Wolf Moon there was a Red Fox hunting and then last night a Fisher (Cat) moving quietly along the shore. In the distant treetops, a Great Horned Owl calls and beneath coywolves run along snowy paths. Otherwise it is winter silent and bitterly cold.
January 4
One might ask what the following poem has to do with fish, or habitat protection... Whatever your political persuasion, a beautiful poem, like a beautiful piece of music, or work of art, crosses boundaries. As the poet himself said, this poem is not just about New York. To me, it serves as a symbol of the city which is also a kingdom, a kingdom of the heart. If it touches your heart, uplifts it, helps you to imagine possibilities in this new year, then it is about everything that matters most. As the poet says, "this is our time" and to me this means our time on earth, to make a difference.
Disclaimer- as the poem is not yet in print, from my search, the formatting below is based on the poet's cadence in his live streamed reading; all inaccuracies are my own, with apologies to the author.
Link: streamed reading by Cornelius Eady
One might ask what the following poem has to do with fish, or habitat protection... Whatever your political persuasion, a beautiful poem, like a beautiful piece of music, or work of art, crosses boundaries. As the poet himself said, this poem is not just about New York. To me, it serves as a symbol of the city which is also a kingdom, a kingdom of the heart. If it touches your heart, uplifts it, helps you to imagine possibilities in this new year, then it is about everything that matters most. As the poet says, "this is our time" and to me this means our time on earth, to make a difference.
Disclaimer- as the poem is not yet in print, from my search, the formatting below is based on the poet's cadence in his live streamed reading; all inaccuracies are my own, with apologies to the author.
Link: streamed reading by Cornelius Eady
Proof ~ Cornelius Eady
Zohran Mamdani Inaugural Poem, New York, January 1, 2026
You have to imagine it.
Who said you were too dark,
too large, too queer, too loud.
Who said you were too poor,
Too strange, too fat.
You have to imagine it.
Who said you must keep quiet.
Who heard your story,
then rolled their eyes.
Who tried to change your name to invisible.
You’ve got to imagine.
Who heard your name and refused to pronounce it.
Who checked their watch and said not now.
James Baldwin wrote, “The place in which I’ll fit
will not exist until I make it.”
New York, city of invention,
roiling town,
refresher and renewer.
New York, city of the real,
will the canyons whisper in a hundred tongues.
New York, where your lucky self
waits for your arrival,
where there is always soil for your root.
This is our time,
the taste of us, the spice of us,
the hollers and the rhythms
and the beats of us.
In the echo of our ancestors
who made certain we know who we are.
City of insistence,
city of resistance.
You have to imagine
an army that wins without firing a bullet,
a joy that wears down the rock of no.
Up from insults,
up from blocked doors,
up from trick bags,
up from fear,
up from shame,
up from the way it was done before.
You have to imagine
that space they said wasn’t yours,
that time they said you’d never own,
the invisible city lit,
on its way.
This moment is our proof.
Zohran Mamdani Inaugural Poem, New York, January 1, 2026
You have to imagine it.
Who said you were too dark,
too large, too queer, too loud.
Who said you were too poor,
Too strange, too fat.
You have to imagine it.
Who said you must keep quiet.
Who heard your story,
then rolled their eyes.
Who tried to change your name to invisible.
You’ve got to imagine.
Who heard your name and refused to pronounce it.
Who checked their watch and said not now.
James Baldwin wrote, “The place in which I’ll fit
will not exist until I make it.”
New York, city of invention,
roiling town,
refresher and renewer.
New York, city of the real,
will the canyons whisper in a hundred tongues.
New York, where your lucky self
waits for your arrival,
where there is always soil for your root.
This is our time,
the taste of us, the spice of us,
the hollers and the rhythms
and the beats of us.
In the echo of our ancestors
who made certain we know who we are.
City of insistence,
city of resistance.
You have to imagine
an army that wins without firing a bullet,
a joy that wears down the rock of no.
Up from insults,
up from blocked doors,
up from trick bags,
up from fear,
up from shame,
up from the way it was done before.
You have to imagine
that space they said wasn’t yours,
that time they said you’d never own,
the invisible city lit,
on its way.
This moment is our proof.
January 7
Front page news in the Cape Cod Times today "Cape Cod's Environmental Outlook for 2026" based on the APCC's report
Front page news in the Cape Cod Times today "Cape Cod's Environmental Outlook for 2026" based on the APCC's report
January 9
ICE. As far as the eye can see. Cold. Frozen. Hard. Life-denying. Life-threatening. Inhospitable. And yet, along the edges, with enough LIGHT, with enough WINDS of change, this season too will end. January is not an easy month but we have been here before.
ICE. As far as the eye can see. Cold. Frozen. Hard. Life-denying. Life-threatening. Inhospitable. And yet, along the edges, with enough LIGHT, with enough WINDS of change, this season too will end. January is not an easy month but we have been here before.
January 13
We have known the mated adults of this family of Canada Geese for five years now. A family of five, last week it was a family of seven, in this her third brood. They are dedicated parents and frequent Slough Pond throughout the year, though rarely in summer. In winter, they come here to rest and preen when enough of the ice thaws. It was just last week that they lost two of the five born last summer. They survived that brutally cold stretch but winter is harsh, especially for the young and inexperienced- lack of food, diminished open waters, hungry predators, simple accidents, or even local hunters are daily challenges. It helps this observer to know that this pond is a safe haven they return to; they too have made this pond their home.
We have known the mated adults of this family of Canada Geese for five years now. A family of five, last week it was a family of seven, in this her third brood. They are dedicated parents and frequent Slough Pond throughout the year, though rarely in summer. In winter, they come here to rest and preen when enough of the ice thaws. It was just last week that they lost two of the five born last summer. They survived that brutally cold stretch but winter is harsh, especially for the young and inexperienced- lack of food, diminished open waters, hungry predators, simple accidents, or even local hunters are daily challenges. It helps this observer to know that this pond is a safe haven they return to; they too have made this pond their home.
