Deer Island

[urbpan]

cottonmanifesto, rockbalancer, and I (and the dogs) walked around Deer Island yesterday. It's part of the Boston Harbor Island National Recreation Area despite being attached to the town of Winthrop. These days it is mostly known for being the location of Boston's state of the art sewage treatment plant. Yesterday it was noteworthy for being brutally windy and cold. When we got to the furthest tip of the peninsula, it felt like the skin of our faces was being blown off with ice. Still, it is a unique and strangely beautiful place, and we did see quite a few winter ducks, including goldeneyes, eiders, and mergansers. The water was strangely clear and blue.




The skyline of Boston, as seen from Deer Island.



Tanks of chemicals used to process the sewage.



The plant's most amazing and distinctive feature is this set of 140 foot tall digesters, where the sewage is broken down by various bacteria species.



We encountered several dead starlings--no idea what killed them.



cottonmanifesto got much better pictures of basically the same things. You should go look at them for comparison.

Comments

[roaming.livejournal.com]

They're your dogs, so your call. I'm just curious: WHY do you rarely put coats on them? I can understand for a quick walk around the block, but when you go for a long one where there's lots of wind chill factor to contend with, it might be kinder. I could be wrong, being a "cat person" and not owning any dogs, but I didn't think short haired dogs could grow thicker fur just because it's winter, the way longer haired dogs do, getting more of those soft underhairs that hold in body heat, losing them when the weather turns to warmer. Like my feral cats do, getting thicker coats naturally.

[cottonmanifesto.livejournal.com]

because they lose the most heat from their ears and 'armpits' and 'crotchpits' and coats don't cover those areas anyway?

are you the kind of person who puts a coat on a 5yo because you're cold?

[roaming.livejournal.com]

Why, yes, I'm that "kind" of person. :-) It's a "kind" thing to feel empathy for another's discomfort. I don't find it unreasonable to guess that if I'm cold, or would be without a thick coat, that another person -- or five year old, or animal with short hair -- might also feel the same thing if we're standing in the same temperature/wind chill. (I don't understand the 5 year old reference. Do they have some built-in heat mechanism adults don't so they're not cold when adults are?)

I'm sorry if you have taken offense in thinking that I presume to know what's best for your dogs. I'm not implying that you're not taking care of them. It was a question.

It's interesting about the armpit/ears heat-loss equation. Still, thinking about it, if I were outside I don't think I'd want just earmuffs and armpit "gloves": failing having those, I'd still want the greater portion of my body mass covered from wind chill. YMMV, of course.

[cottonmanifesto.livejournal.com]

well, they're dogs and their heat exchange system is different than a human's. i'm not big on anthropomorphizing.

my ex-MIL was that type of person. it frustrates me because kids are completely able to adjust what they're wearing to compensate for how they feel. if they're cold, they'll ask for a coat (in my experience).

the discomfort of the coat outweighs the discomfort of being cold, at least in the case of my dogs and dry temps above 0.

[roaming.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry, again, since this isn't my LJ, it's your turf: but this "type" thing you keep saying is very dismissive and depersonalizing, feels like a put-down. I've already apologized for daring to question your judgment about your own dogs. But please don't project your ex-MIL onto me. I certainly wouldn't force a kid who wasn't cold/didn't want a coat to wear one just because I felt cold. (And I'll be sure to notify the moms I know that they're being mean to their kids by trying to prevent colds later on by making them wear coats in winter. If you think a 5 year old has better judgment than an adult, well, I don't know how to respond to that in a polite way.)

Common sense tells me that if it's 0 degrees out with windchill, it's not "anthropomorphizing"* for me, or for you for that matter, to wonder if a critter might feel less than comfy in cold weather and take some small step to help out. But no doubt you know better, being an outdoors "type". We'll have to agree to disagree and no worries, from now on I'll keep my ignorance to myself and my own LJ and won't bother you here in your territory. Thanks for the enlightening, if discomfitting, conversation.

*(You may think I'm overreacting to your tone, but I find this to be another put-down term, as it's often used by lab researchers to dismiss the concerns of "animal rights nutjobs" about what tortures they might be inflicting in the name of science.) (And for the record, no, I don't dress my cats up fur jackets or diapers, paint their toenails, hand feed them roast pigeon, or ascribe human emotions to them. I don't even call them "baby." Sweetie, maybe, when they are.)

[cottonmanifesto.livejournal.com]

ummm, okay. it's the internet, it's everyone's turf.

no big deal. you'll just have to trust me when i say that my dogs are appropriately dressed and experiencing minimal, if any, discomfort. they're definitely able to indicate discomfort to me and haven't hesitated to do so when the situation has warranted.

[roaming.livejournal.com]

Well, sure, had you just said "My dogs are warm, but thanks for your concern" I'd have trusted that. You didn't seem at all like the "type" to not take good care of your animals. Perhaps I should have presumed more in your favor from the get-go. Sorry.

As for the internet being everyone's turf: yes, but on LJ, as a community, I try to observe certain polite conventions. Like not disturbing someone with my disagreements in their own "home" more than is necessary. Sometimes it's just time to take one's party hat and go home to sleep it off. :-)