“The man who is swimming against the stream knows the strength of it.”
The house was cool when I woke up so I was shocked by the blast of heat when I went to get the newspapers. When I got back inside, I turned on the air conditioning to keep the heat at bay. The house is comfortable now except I feel as if I’m living in a cave. I haven’t turned on any lights. The back of the house is dark.
When I was growing up, we mostly went on day trips during my father’s vacations, but we did spend a few days here and there in Ogunquit at a cottage belonging to a friend of my father’s. It was in a village of small cottages, rows and rows of them. The attraction was the ocean, only a few minutes walk from the cottage. The problem was the water was freezing. I never went in beyond my feet when the tide was high, but low tide was different. There were sand bars and tidal pools. In a few of the pools small slivery fish swam, but they too fast to catch with my hands.
Sand dunes separated the big beach from the small beach. I’d walk over to the big beach with my father where I’d watch in amazement as he body surf. First off he didn’t care about the cold water. He ran, jumped into the surf and swam out beyond where the waves broke so he could catch one. When he did, he looked like a sleek weirdly colored dolphin riding the surf.
In the cottage, most of the space was taken up by beds to accommodate the family. There was a small table and some chairs in the front room, but we usually ate outside. My father grilled.
I was always bored when we went to Maine. There were few things for kids my age to do. Mostly I just read, but I do remember I went into town one night to see a movie. I don’t remember the movie, but I do remember that just about every seat in the theater was filled.
There were tall sand dunes by the big beach. One time, when I was a kid, I was wandering the beach area looking for shells and driftwood. I decided to walk through the dunes to the cottage. I was shocked to see two naked sunbathers lying on the sand between two of the dunes. I ran home.
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keepthecoffeecoming.blog 
July 18, 2020 at 2:57 pm
Hi Kat,
The North Atlantic is cold up north. We would go to Rockaway beach on Long Island and by July the water wasn’t too cold. I am not a fan of beaches but my spouse loves water so my new hobby is going to be maintaining my backyard swimming pool. 🙂
When I was kid the vacation was usually drive to NYC to visit family then drive to Miami Beach for a week at a beachfront hotel. In 1955 we drove to LA and visited Disneyland and Las Vegas on the drive home.
I’m back on a furlough next week which is good because we’re in the process of moving. Move is truly a four letter word. 🙂
The weather is the usual sunny, 96° and humid.
July 18, 2020 at 4:36 pm
Hi Bob,
That’s great, a backyard pool. Have you bought the barbecue yet? Only kidding!!
The bay side here is always warmer than the ocean side, and the beaches are smaller. It takes a bit of time for the water to get warm enough. It’s not there yet. You won’t have to worry about that.
We stayed by the water in Maine on an island one year. We stayed at lakes. Mostly, though, we stayed home. I loved those vacations. We did the drive-in during the week instead of on Saturday, we went to the beach, to museums, to a theme park one time, and my favorite was a lake with a zip line and a slide.
I will never move from this house. My sisters will have the unenvied task of clearing. Four letter words will fill the air!!
Right now it is 83˚. It will get down to 69˚ tonight.
July 18, 2020 at 5:50 pm
Hi Kat,
We used to go to Plum Island where the water was so cold it would turn your skin red if you stayed in it for any length of time. I still go up there a lot but haven’t been in the ocean water for decades. I wonder if climate change has taken some of the sting off.
I was never bored in Maine. When I was a kid we stayed on a farm and took care of the steer calf, the pigs and the chickens. We played behind the big house where we weren’t supposed to because of the rattlesnakes. We played in the woods where there were deer, bears, lynx, huge Great Horned Owls. Later on I spent some time near Ellsworth and Brooklin. There wasn’t much there then. Mostly fishing and haying. Now it’s all different. Mostly investment people who work remotely.
It wasn’t too bad up here this morning. We took an early walk while it was still cloudy and coolish. I did a tiny bit of yard work around lunchtime after which I came in and cranked up the AC. It’s hot.
Enjoy the evening.
July 18, 2020 at 6:05 pm
Hi Caryn,
We went to Wingaersheek Beach where the water was so cold you stayed away until low tide and tidal pools. I think the cold water there is why I liked lakes better. They are always so warm.
The place in Maine had rows and rows of small houses with only a single car roads between each of them. There was a barn, I think it was a barn, where my sisters went to play a game, maybe bingo. It was little kids. There was no one my age. I found a place to be comfortable where I could read. I surfaced for meals.
It got warm here, 77˚. I turned on the air but shut it down for a while when it got so cold. It is going to be really hot tomorrow so I’ll make sure the air is back on.
July 19, 2020 at 5:46 am
It’s actually quite nice temperaturewise here today, around 68F but the humidity has been so high that it has been nasty to just walk around. It does feel like it is a bit better now so perhaps I’ll take the dogs for a walk.
Flies are insane though so I’ll bring my mosquito hat. I wonder if thunder will make us a visit today.
We all ent to our summer cottage when I was rather young, my family and aunts and oncle. Atleast those who at the moment were friends 🙂 We had two rooms and what I think is called a kitchenette with a small gas stove. I have vague memories of it being packed wwith people 🙂 Later on I went there myself. I loved sitting at the glassed veranda eating breakfast with the door open. Sometimes when I feel the smell of hot cocoa the memory poppes up in my head 🙂
Have a great day!
Christer.
July 19, 2020 at 6:43 pm
Hi Christer,
Today stayed thick and hot. I stayed cool and comfortable. I didn’t go out, but I did finish a few household tasks. My dining room Is looking better, neater and far less cluttered.
There’s a fly season but they don’t seem to come around here. Once in a while a house fly gets in, and Jack hunts it down. He is a mighty hunter.
That’s a wonderful memory, your summer cottage. I would have loved a place where I could sit by myself away from everybody instead of all of us sleeping in one room at that cottage.
Have a great evening!