we've all been wanting to visit cape cod again . . for about four years now. when the girls were little we went consistently every september during the quiet off season. when the dance classes started to add up, it was more difficult to go. this year i was determined to make it, before they were all grown up and out of the nest! when we returned home from vermont friday afternoon (september 7th), i checked in with korrina to see when she would be off from her current stage managing job. she had a rehearsal saturday night, but was then free until wednesday afternoon. friday night into saturday morning i was online trying to find a cottage within walking distance of a bay beach, that would accept jack, that was free for the nights we wanted, and that wouldn't put us in the poor house. it was a tall order. i finally had a brainstorm when i returned saturday afternoon from third street with chanda. i checked craig's list, and found a listing for a cottage in eastham. the man was really nice and let us have it for three nights, along with jack! in the past we had always stayed in wellfleet on burton baker beach in one of mrs. back's cottages (number 6 to be precise!), but mrs. back's cottages were more expensive these days (they had been renovated) and they didn't accept dogs. we couldn't leave jack behind because both he and my dad (who always took care of him for us) had just grown too old!
i was quite nervous about having jack along. we walked him a lot to make sure he didn't have an accident! i was also worried about him being able to find his way about the cottage (since he can't see anymore), but he did quite well. we had one difficult night when he wandered around for two hours before i figured out he was looking for his water bowl which had been placed on the counter.
after unloading everything into the cottage and exploring the path to the beach, we got in the car to drive to our favorite restaurant. however, somehow we ended up in the small parking lot of the public beach where we joined others for the sunset over cape cod bay.
hmmm . . it got a bit drizzly! korrina still continued to take photos, but i escaped into the car.
at moby dick's!!! we couldn't believe we were finally there!
and we were all extremely hungry!!
korrina had steamed mussels. i had fried oysters. moby dick's cole slaw is the best.
the next morning we missed the high tide for a swim. but we had fun exploring.
the cloud cover was beautiful.
a small shipwreck!
the path through the pine woods back to the cottage. (one night we came out in the dark with greg and stumbled down to the beach to look at the stars. i was very excited because i actually found berenice's hair and the hunting dogs--just to the right of the big dipper and the great bear--and cassopeia in the midst of the milky way, which just glowed. retracing our steps back to the cottage was a lot easier with our "night" vision intact. we always orient ourselves wit h. a. rey's book find the constellations before going outside.)
we rinsed off and ended up going on a bike ride with korrina (who had already been on several expeditions to scout out the neighorhood) to the a thrift shop on massasoit road, and to the yarn basket on route 6. everyone found a thrift shop find . . for korrina it was a pair of boots ($2.00), for chanda it was shoes (also $2.00), for me it was several dishes (bakerite . . from the sixties . . i think the ones i chose match a serving plate my mom has) and for morgana . . well, maybe morgana didn't get anything!
if only every day was like this day! (jack only fell off the deck once or twice!)
back to the beach at low tide with korrina . .
i took lots of threesome shots. one of them will make it onto the christmas card.
batman shorts!
greg stayed at the cottage with jack while korrina, morgana, chanda and i drove to great pond. great pond has a steep stairway down that we thought would be too much for jack.
the water is crystal clear and cool but not ice cold. the girls have fond memories of playing in the water and sand here when they were little:
wow! how time passes . . the tree line looks the same, but everything is really very different.
now they read and knit . .
and talk to me.
after great pond we dropped korrina at the cottage and picked up greg for a visit to indian neck and burton baker beach.
chanda was very, very sad because of course it wasn't the same as when she was eight. people changed things around. there was a new (huge!) house, the beach felt smaller and even the fiddler crabs had moved to the other side of the path of water that comes in at high tide. sometimes life's spiral and constant change makes us feel sorrowful for that which is seemingly lost . . a big hug from big sister helps.
back at the cottage korrina found a pirate mug. since it had to be left there, it's now tops on her christmas list.
jack had finally settled down on his bed . .
and it was time to make dinner for the evening. we kept it simple . . potato salad and cole slaw from the stop and shop in orleans (definitely not as good as moby dick's) and boiled organic hot dogs.
the next morning morgana, chanda and i went for an early swim while the tide was still coming in. it was cold and invigorating!
the grass was well under the water.
greg was back at the cottage listening to his online poetry lecture through the university of pennsylvania.
they were working on an emily dickinson poem.
jack was lying in the sun.
later in the afternoon korrina worked on her spinning . .
and morgana, chanda and i sat on the beach . . this is my favorite way to spend the day.
with tea and knitting . .
morgana didn't know what to read, so she borrowed greg's nook and read national geographic traveler.
and then she went back to the cottage, made bunny macaroni, and brought it down to the beach.
after eating, chanda switched to a higher elevation.
and then when the tide was all the way out, they went for a walk north towards lieutenant's island.
chanda is out there in the distance.
we saw lots of hermit crabs . .
scurrying around . .
and feeding.
chanda came back . .
and showed me a crab close-up.
good-bye little crab.
they lead busy lives!
in the afternoon we went on a ranger walk at the national seashore by the salt pond visitor center.
the ranger pointed out
the saltmarsh cordgrass growing all around the pond, and how it has a
regulatory system for surviving by taking in the salt water and
excreting unneeded salt on the leaf edges.
when i pulled a blade of the grass through my fingers, a salt residue was left on my fingertips.
she also pointed out the pickleweed growing along with the saltmarsh grass. it's edible and and crunchy and . . salty!
we then hiked to the overlook.
and took the path back through the pines . .
and the cedar woods.
and then drove to see nauset lighthouse. so many things they wanted to see and do!
i always find the sea on the cape rough and wild. and there's a steep drop offshore . . unlike montauk which is what i'm accustomed to.
morgana was also taking pictures . . with the camera she received on her birthday. chanda danced while her sisters were busy.
oh. i like this one. maybe this will be the christmas card pic.
alright. what are we up to? what was next on the list of things to do? swimming in long pond!
i did end up putting the camera down and going for a swim. the air was cool, but the water was warm. i even made it all the way out to the float where i climbed up and dove off.
it really was a beautiful swim. we ended up changing into and out of our suits in the parking lot . . it was good no one else was around!
i thought long pond would be a good place for us to swim as jack could come out on his leash and sit with greg on the bench. it's by the road and easy to get to. greg is not a big fan of swimming in cool weather, or swimming in cool water! that's what life is like for a person who grows up with florida coast bathtub water. (when we were in florida five years ago, i was the one who sat out on the sand, under the umbrella, and didn't go swimming. it was too warm for me and i found it unpleasant to swim in such warm water).
ahhh!!! moby dick's again! one final meal before the trip home the next day!! (we also managed to get in a visit to the wellfleet public library, one of our favorite libraries.)
fish and chips and delicious cole slaw.
greg and i had bay scallops and corn on the cob and a baked potato. and they all had dessert. morgana and chanda shared a root beer float. korrina had a small hot fudge sundae, and greg had key lime pie. i was too full from dinner and just had a bite of all the desserts.
i am still searching to see what this lovely dandelion/daisy-like flower is called. it grew all around the massosoit hills neighborhood.
its leaves are so thin and long.
we were up early the next morning to pack, clean and load the car.
the tide wasn't really in yet, and it was very seaweedy, so i didn't go for a swim. i miss it.
we had such a fun time, and now have lots of warm memories.
