Posted tagged ‘cape cod’

“October’s poplars are flaming torches lighting the way to winter.”

October 2, 2011

Today is one of those neither one nor the other days. It was damp and cloudy when I left for breakfast and now the sun is making an appearance. The weather for today was described as maybe: maybe it will rain and maybe it won’t.

The roads were empty when I drove to breakfast. People seem to change with the weather. In summer we’re all so eager to enjoy every minute of the day we leap out of bed early so as not to miss a single ray. As the mornings grow colder, staying nestled under warm covers is too inviting and leaping out of bed seems foolhardy. The light dies early this time of year and the mornings come later. Darkness seems to bring a sort of lethargy.

The river was quiet when I drove across the bridge. The tide is too high for quahoggers, and the cloudy day has kept the boats at their moorings. Soon enough those boats will be hauled out of the water for winter. They’ll sit covered in tarps in boatyards and driveways. In time, snow will cover the tarps, and summer will be a warm memory stored away, like the boats, for the winter. But summer will have its turn again. The boats will be back in the water, and every morning we’ll leap out of bed and greet the beauty of a warm, sunny day.

On the way back from breakfast, I stopped to let people, mostly couples, cross the street from the parking lot to the church. They looked old, even by my standards, and all of them were dressed the way we used to be when we went to church. The men sported jackets and ties and pants with perfect creases. The women wore dresses and hats, small, unobtrusive hats. As I sat there, the church bells began to peal. They weren’t loud, but they were perfect, “Church bells chiming on a Sunday morn.” I smiled the most contented of all smiles.

“She calls it “stick season,” this slow disrobing of summer, leaf by leaf, till the bores of tall trees rattle and scrape in the wind.”

September 20, 2011

The day is cloudy with the possibility of rain. When I woke up, the house was only 62°, and I was darn cold. Obviously Fern and Gracie were too as both of them were leaning against me in bed. I warmed up the house so I can take a shower when I finish here, but it still feels damp and chilly.

Life has gone back to the mundane. I’ve started my daily list of chores and was busy yesterday with the trash, the litter and the dump. Today I have wash. Just over a week ago I was a world traveler. Today I am a washerwoman.

The time is close to shutting down the deck for the year. I’m already lamenting. It was my morning spot for coffee and the papers and my afternoon spot for my books and an occasional nap on the lounge. When the sun was shining, the breeze blowing and the leaves rustling there was no more pleasant place to be. Now I’m sitting here in the den wearing my winter slippers and a sweatshirt and seeing a dreary day through the window.

I am sorry at the close of summer but here on the cape fall is the nicest time of the year. The tourists are gone except for those on buses as this is the bus tour season. The riders are always old, at least far older than I. The women walk together as do the men. They are the generation that sat the women in the back seat when couples went out to dinner so manly talk could be made up front.

Because we barely have a spring, we are rewarded with a long autumn with cool but beautifully sunny days: today, of course, being an exception. I love taking long rides down cape this time of year. The leaves are mostly red but they are striking. The farm stands are filled with mums and gourds and apples. I always stop. I can’t resist.

“The worst thing about being a tourist is having other tourists recognize you as a tourist.”

August 2, 2011

Earlier, during my deck, coffee and paper time, there was a lovely breeze, but it has since disappeared. The sun is bright and warm, but every now and then it hides behind an errant cloud. The Weather Channel has sent an alert that the Cape should expect rain with thunder and lightning between 4 and 8. I’m hoping it happens. We could use a little rain, and I love the thunder and lightning.

No mice to report today. I thought I heard one in the eaves in my bedroom around 4 this morning so I sneaked over to get a peek. If it had been a mouse, it would have scurried away and I could have heard it; instead, it was Maddie having an early breakfast. The cats’ dish, a Red Sox dish, wobbles a bit on the uneven wood floor in the eaves, and that’s what I heard. I gave Maddie another can of food and went back to sleep.

We never saw critters when I was a kid. We saw mostly grasshoppers and butterflies, tadpoles and frogs. The woods below our house weren’t dense enough for deer, and I don’t even remember seeing a skunk lumbering its way across the field. I remember smelling a skunk but not seeing one. Cows grazed at the dairy on the edge of town, and we had a zoo which was as close as we got to any critters. On vacation I remember the seals in Maine and a deer or two in fields as we drove by in the car. We always yelled with excitement when we saw a deer and even a cow got a shout. Around here, I have seen deer sprint across the road by my house. The woods go a long way on both sides of the road, and that’s why the deer cross the road, in case you were wondering. Years ago there used to be a deer hunting season here but not any more. Coyotes roam, and I’ve seen them often, usually in the early morning or at night. Foxes are plentiful here on the Cape and wild turkeys have made a comeback. There are also fishers, but I have never seen one or, if I have, I didn’t know what it was.

My yard has been invaded by raccoons, possums, skunks and one coyote who used to use the yard as a short cut, but since the six foot fence was put in, I haven’t seen any animals except the spawns of Satan.

States have official symbols including birds, desserts and even fish. I figure Cape Cod should have no less. The official vermin will be the above mentioned squirrel; the official bird will be the seagull and the official nuisance will be the tourist.

“The United States is the only country with a known birthday.”

July 1, 2011

The weather each day is spoiling me with its warm sun and cool breezes. If I could invent the perfect weather, the last couple of days would have been patented under my name. The birds are singing, the spawns of Satan are chasing each other from tree to tree and Gracie is taking a nap. I feel like I’m in a Disney movie.

This is the first big weekend of the season. Cars will be bumper to bumper waiting their turns over the bridge. Bicycles will be hanging off racks on the back. The wait to get here is easily endured. The wait to leave never is. I have to go off cape tonight to a family party celebrating my aunt and uncle’s 50th wedding anniversary. He went into the hospital earlier this week, but we were just told he is being discharged today in time for his party. Today, fifty years ago, was their exact wedding day.

I have no plans for the weekend itself. This is when most of us who live here start to hibernate. Monday I’ll go down the street to my friends’ for a barbecue. We’ll do the all-American July4th menu of burgers and franks and deviled eggs I hope. It’s traditional after all. Later I’ll put out the bunting on my fence and add flags to the garden. My flamingo will be dressed like Uncle Sam.

Through my teen years, I always marched with my drill team in the July 4th parade, a huge one in the next town over from ours. The parade still exists and is still huge. People put out chairs in the pre-dawn hours to reserve seats on the sidewalks beside the road. The ones under trees are prime seating. The sellers of balloons and such walk up and down the route selling their wares. Every year I watched some poor kid see his balloon fly high into the sky. The kid always cried and most times got another balloon which was tied more tightly to a wrist.

Lat night I could hear fireworks from further down the street, and every night now through the 4th we’ll hear bursts and blasts. Celebrating a country’s birthday should never be confined to just a single day!

“There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort.”

April 26, 2011

Today I am behind my time as I had an early meeting in Falmouth. It was about the Peace Corps and the Cape Cod group celebrating the fiftieth here. The festivities will be while I’m in Ghana, but I’m glad to know there will be a celebration.

I’ll let you guess the weather today. If you said cloudy-you win. It isn’t raining but it is a possibility later today and tomorrow. It is 60°, warm, even without the sun. This has been such a wet month here, even more than usual. My flowers love it. I found two tulips in the front garden in the bud stage. The spawn of Satan missed them last fall. I can’t wait until they bloom. I consider them precious survivors from the al fresco dining of those squirrels.

I really haven’t much to say today. I did wish I’d brought my camera with me this morning as I saw several places worth the stop for a picture. I seldom get over to that side of the cape even though it really isn’t all that far away. I have developed a bit of a isolationist syndrome. Even Hyannis sometimes seems too far off for the trip. Everything I need is right at hand or just a short drive away. I find it easier to travel far, far away by plane than drive to Hyannis. With summer coming, I’ll even be more reluctant to go anywhere.

Well, I have a couple of books from the library I want to start and I’m thinking an iced coffee might taste just perfect right now so I’m done!

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“When snow falls, nature listens.”

December 21, 2010

I couldn’t take it anymore. A few days ago I grabbed my trusty cane and went upstairs. The shower was heavenly, and I emerged prunish on every part of my body. Yesterday I paid the price, a smaller price than I’d paid before but a price nonetheless. I ended up with a very achy leg which woke me up the last two nights and also made sitting difficult. Today I am much better. I did learn one lesson. A day of pain is well worth a shower.

Cape Cod is now a winter wonderland. We have around 8 inches of snow. The prediction was for a dusting, but predictions are subject to human error, and this storm is the perfect example. It just kept snowing and snowing.

I love watching the snow fall so I limped my way to the door several times and turned on the light so I could watch the flakes. They glimmered and shined in the light. It was magical.

When I was young, a snowstorm was a gift. If it meant no school, that was a bonus, but we didn’t care all that much. It was the snow which mattered. We knew the afternoons would be spent sledding or having snowball fights and staying outside until our lips were blue from the cold. I remember my mittens had clumps of snow which hung there until the mittens dried on the cellar line. I remember how red my legs were when I went inside and changed into something warm. I also remember it took a long while before my feet got any feeling back, but we didn’t care or even notice. Only the joy of an afternoon playing in the snow mattered.

We were always exhausted and went to bed early without complaining. I think I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. I bet there was always a smile on my face.

“This might be the biggest parade we’ve ever had.”

October 10, 2010

If I were to look up the definition of a fall day, I’d find a picture of today with its blue sky, warm sun and a ruffle the leaves breeze.

I’m late with Coffee because of the Seaside Festival parade. I’m a sucker for parades, especially local ones. Today’s parade had fire engines, old cars, including a police car with the best siren sound, clowns, a few floats, the cub scouts, the girl scouts, a karate school and the local high school band. Smoky Bear was there too as was a Chinese dragon. Even St. Patrick made a surprise visit. It was lovely sitting and waiting for the parade to start. I just closed my eyes and let the warmth of the sun shine on my face. The parade lasted about forty minutes then I wended my way home on the back road, the one which follows the shore line. The ocean is beautiful today.

This long weekend is the last hurrah for the cape. The seasonal places still open will close after Monday, and we’ll get our roads back. The gawkers will be gone until next year. A ride on 6A will no longer be interminable.

When I was a kid, we never came to the cape for a vacation so it was a brand new place for us to explore when we moved here. I remember my brother and I hitched to Hyannis where my father worked. He was surprised to see us and not so happy we’d hitched, but it was the only way to get around. There were no buses, and my mother couldn’t yet drive. My father used to have to drive me everywhere. It made neither of us happy. Back then all the motels and stores closed on Labor Day so on the Tuesday after Labor Day, Route 28 went dark. Only two movie theaters were open all winter, one in Hyannis and another in Harwichport. The cape was pretty desolate.

Now, there are motels and restaurants open all year. There are a couple of malls and one has a movieplex with more screens than I can remember. The cape has changed dramatically over the years, but seeing the parade today reminded me that it’s still a place where people flock to local parades to clap for the fire department and the National Guard.

“September: it was the most beautiful of words, he’d always felt, evoking orange-flowers, swallows, and regret.”

September 4, 2010

Earl was a blustery tropical storm bringing a deluge of rain by the time it hit Cape Cod. The wind blew but not even the bird feeders were tossed from the trees. I stood for a while at the front door and watched the storm. The rain fell in sheets, and I could feel the spray from drops pounding the front steps. Gracie chose to forego her last outside visit. She got to the door, poked her head out and backtracked into the house. I am glad there was no damage, and everyone is safe, but I do admit I was looking forward just a bit to all that wind.

Today is a delight. The sun is shining, and a cool breeze has replaced the humidity of the last few days. The tourists who hunkered down will have plenty of beach time today and tomorrow. It’s their reward for staying. On Monday, the line to cross the bridge will stretch for miles.

School starts here on Tuesday. It is the seventh school year without me, and I couldn’t be more delighted. The best Cape weather is during September and October, and I never miss it anymore. The changing seasons happen before my eyes, and I get a front row seat. I used to watch through the windows.

I never thought the Cape had fall foliage until I came home from Ghana. It was then I noticed for the first time the colors unfolding and how uniquely beautiful they are on Cape Cod. The deep blue autumn sky and the crested waves of the ocean seem to frame all the colors. The marshes are filled with tall tan grasses and the same color grasses mix with green ones to border the dunes. The maple trees are usually the first to change color. Their leaves turn red. The oak tree leaves turn yellow, and they are everywhere. The cranberry bogs become a deeper and deeper red as they fill with berries. Along the dirt roads near the shore, the last of the ripe beach plums turn purple. Poison ivy is a brilliant red.

Fall on Cape Cod is my favorite season, and I am impatiently waiting.

“We’re gonna need a bigger boat!”

June 30, 2010

Today is the perfect summer day, the one I’d fashion if Mother Nature suddenly bequeathed to me her wondrous powers. It is sunny and dry and cool. I sat out on the deck with my coffee and papers, and it took me a long while to finish. I kept stopping to take in the beauty of the morning.

The coolness had made the backyard denizens more active. Chickadees flew in and out over my head to the feeders and one was close enough to touch. I wanted to offer it my finger as a perch, but the little bird grabbed a sunflower seed and took off to another branch. The beasties too were active. They were chasing each other from branch to branch, and a couple were running through the backyard. I could hear the rustle of leaves.

Great white sharks have been sighted off the Cape coast just in time for the July 4th holiday. They must have seen Jaws and figured they’d audition for a part in a sequel: Jaws 5 or 6, I forget which. I stopped counting when one great white chased the Brody family to Florida.

Reports indicate the great whites are enjoying the ocean up and down the coast. Off the South Shore, not too far from here, a baby was spotted, a 200 pound bouncing baby white. I wondered where its siblings were. It seems great whites give birth to five to 10 pups at a time.

According to the state environmental affairs office, there is nothing to fear. Given my skepticism, I needed to find out for myself so I looked them up. It seems great white sharks will eat any other creature found in the ocean. That gave me pause. I kept seeing little Alex Kintner in Jaws who was having a fine old time swimming with his raft and kicking his feet. We all know what happened to little Alex Kintner. I kept reading. I’m now happy to report that more people are killed by dogs each year than have been killed by great whites in recorded history. I feel better now, but I’m keeping my eye on the neighbors’ dogs.

“As they say on my own Cape Cod, a rising tide lifts all the boats”

June 18, 2010

I have been industrious. The screens on the doors are in, the wash is spinning and the bed is made. I don’t know what has come over me. On the table are three new books. The day is beautiful with a bright warm sun, and I swear the deck is calling my name. What am I doing being a hausfrau? If I put on a dress, pearls and small heels, send help.

I am still amazed by Cape Cod. In the spring, the wild roses in whites and reds are everywhere. They grow on the edges of fields and woods and in front of old captains’ houses. They have no shape but grow willy nilly, wild and tall. The captains’ houses are mostly half capes with sloping roofs. Their shingles are gray and weathered by years of wind and salt. The air in the morning sometimes smells of the ocean even this far away. On those mornings, I linger on the deck. When I cross the bridge over river on an early morning, I sometimes see fog spread across the water and quahoggers outlined in the mist. The warmth of June has brought gardens filled with color. Short white picket fences stand behind them like sentinels. Some houses have carefully tended lawns. Others just have pine needles spread across their front yards. It seems we always have a breeze, mostly from the south. The nights are beautiful, bright and starlit. They perfectly complement the loveliness of the days. I always think how lucky I am to live here.