Loading...
November 01, 1979 - Fall is HereNOVEMBER 1, 1979 FALL IS HERE focus on nature by Paul Stoutenburgh Frost has touched the land and those plants most delicate have already gone. All week the leaves have. fallen one by one 'til our green lawn is now a mat of brown. No longer can we slip our shoes off to wade about our creeks and hay, harvesting the shellfish -- the water temperature drops each day. The whole world as we know it makes ready for winter. To some in the natural world this will be their first exposure and it is here that they will have to rely on instinct for survival. There will he no concerned parent to tell this .car's young what to do. How to store the hickory nuts, where to find a sheltered spot to sleep through the cold months, or when to fly south.There is no book of "how to do" for them. And it is in this kind of setting that the survivor carry on their species. What will happen to the half -grown opossums that lived in my son's barn Already they are prowling around in search of food, for the parents have left. Their pink nose picks up every scent of food, whether it. be an old fish head tossed out on the compost pile or my chickens eggs that I neglected to bring in last night. It's almost inconceivable to believe that opossum's are born two or three weeks after conception. 'These naked bumblebee -size opossums then crawl In the mother's pouch, where they are fed and kept warm. As they outgrow their pouch they cling to the mother's long hair and are often seen riding her back as she waddles about. She's an expert climber and fruit and berries make up a good part of her d i e t . Her climbing ability also lets her reach many high nesting sites. Once when I was young I saw one in the top of a tree in an old squirrel's nest We could have been on a high-priced vacation and not enjoyed ourselves half as much. Of course, the most obvious thing that tells us fall is here is the colors. The leaf colors, the orange pumpkins - the red apples - the purple asters -all tell the story. Beyond that., mum's activities of raking leaves, buttoning up his home - the farmer cutting cauliflower - the sowing of rye in now harvested potato fields, all tell of things to come. knowing that winter will be with us in the near future. we do things now that will be impossible or at any rate not too pleasant to do when the winds and snows are blowing. One thing we did last week was to go scalloping on one of those beautiful warm d;hys. The weather was perfect and as I scalloped Barbara went along the shore edge trying to get some clams; but instead of clams she picked up a dozen or so oysters. The weather held so well we didn't want to go back home to open our scallops but found a warm place on the beach and opened them right there. How delighted the gulls were with our decision, for they would have the innards when we left. Man and Nature Work Together We got enough for a meal, but more than the physical catch was the nourishment of the day to our souls. Being out in the crisp fall air with sparkling clear water all about we again had to thank the East End for all its bounties. We could have been on a high - priced vacation in some other part of the country and not enjoyed ourselves half as much. Again it's a question of know -how and where to go to enjoy yourself- Out in the bay a commercial man was hauling his scallop dredges. I'm sure he will never become a wealthy man in his en- deavor, but I am sure he is a more healthy man than most because of this type of en- vironment. It's hard work hauling those dredges up the side of the boat, but the rewards, I'm sure, are worth it. I often wondered years back if I was doing the right thing whenever a young student of mine would say he'd like to be a bayman. I couldn't honestly say no to him. After all was a healthy pursuit - one in which man and nature worked together and one, if he be a good bayman, in which he could make a Lair dollar. Surely it's a pursuit in which one would never become rich, but one in which you were your own boss, one in which, if you work hard and learn your trade well you can make a go of it. And after all, what else can you ask of man? YOUNG POSSUMS —Born this year, these young opossums will have to fend for themselves through the coming lean months, learning the art of survival the hard way. Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh Federal regulations prohibit all banks and savings and loans from compounding the interest earned on a six -month money market savings cer- tificate. Now RIVERHEAD SAVINGS BANK offers you a way to earn interest on that Certificate interest. It's called "MONEY MARKET PLUS ". Since we now credit interest on Six Month Money Market Savings Certificates monthly, we can auto- matically transfer that interest each month into one of our Day of Deposit to Day of Withdrawal Savings Ac- counts or into a NOW Account. Then the interest on your Certificate will earn more interest, at the highest rate allowed by law! That's "MONEY- MARKET PLUS ". When your Six Month Money Market Savings Certificate matures,-you'll find that your "MONEY MARKET PLUS" funds have actually earned a higher effective annual yield than all those big numbers you see in other banks' advertisements. That's because ... • -WE'VE GOT WHAT YOU WANT" MONTHLY INTEREST + INTEREST ON INTEREST = HIGHER INTEREST YIELD For more information, just call us at 727 -3600 and ask about "MONEY MAR.. KET PLUS ". RIVERHEAD SAVINGS BANK RIVERHEAD- LAKE GROVE EAST NORTHPORT BAY SHORE 727 -3600 585 -1100 368 -5900 968 -8600 ( Momhv, FDIC Minimum deposit is S10,000. Withdrawals prior to maturity require the consent of the Bank and incur a penalty whir.h 3 months interest is forfeited.