2012 - August Musings

last summer's half-priced sunflower and guest 

When I start booking rooms in January, Labor Day seems like half a lifetime away, but here we almost are.  August tourists seem to be a little more frantic than July's, almost as if they've waited longer for their vacation so they're in a hurry to cram in as much of it as possible.  Driving anywhere has become a real-life computer game challenge of ever-increasing hazard levels, and trips to the dump in the August heat have become an endurance test from ripe combinations of cat poop and yesterday's lobster shells.  New faces are constantly checking in and out and the pace is unrelenting like the last leg of a marathon that will soon be over, but not just yet.  There are scads of fun things to do and no time to do most of them.    Guests checked in this month from the UK, Ontario, Ottawa, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Texas, California, New York and Illinois.  People have even ignored the No Vacancy signs to knock on the door, just in case.  Labor Day looms on the calendar like an oasis and the first chrysanthemums have arrived at the market, which means that Autumn and relief is on the way. 

view from Commercial Street, Provincetown, MA

The most noteworthy event by far this month was the surprise return of our son, Sean, from three years working as a contractor in Afghanistan.  Watching BBC nightly news has become much less stressful as a result.  The basement is morphing once again into a hangout for him and invited friends while he explores employment options in a safer part of the world. 

Provincetown life imitates art

Great Whites are in the news again after a Colorado man was bitten while swimming in Truro, the first actual shark attack off Cape Cod since 1936.  It didn't take more than a couple of days to start seeing new shark T-shirts and I overheard in a local shop, "that ol' Great White wouldn't have been able to catch Michael Phelps last night."  Now, there's a new idea for Olympic trainers...

Life continues to serve up surprises and one presented itself this month in the form of an invitation by our friend, Dan, the Artistic Director of W.H.A.T. to be part of a comedy show called "Trials of Love".  The comedian, Mike Dorval, with the help of the audience sets out to resolve a disagreement presented by the invited couple.  Being the center of attention onstate has never been my idea of a relaxing evening, but I decided to be a good sport and try something new and I was glad I took the stretch.  It turned into a very fun evening and we even scored some gift certificates for participating.  The disagreement we came up with to be solved was that Ron wants the cats to be able to sleep with us, but being wedged between two cats ranging from 16 to 18 pounds is not conducive to a good night's sleep for me, especially when they decide to crawl on top of my chest.  When time was up and our cases were made, Ron received one tentative clap from a self-proclaimed cat lover, but the rest of the audience sided with me.

(That's 34 pounds of cat--I rest my case.)

I had another surprise this month, but more in the life-is-strange category than the pleasant kind.  When I returned to my car in a crowded parking lot, I found myself rear bumper to rear bumper with another car, making it impossible for me to leave.  After failing to locate the owner in a nearby shop, it dawned on me that the intruder must have rolled backwards into mine from the empty parking space directly opposite.  I finally located the chagrinned owner in another store, exchanged insurance information to get my cracked bumper fixed and decided that if I was going to be in an accident, this was an easy one to deal with.   

vintage Orleans police car

Although I don't get as much time as I'd like to take my camera exploring in the summer, I received a request to take cast pictures for a performance at Provincetown Theatre and I took the opportunity for a stroll to capture some images of what may be the most unique town on Cape Cod.  The people-watching is as rich as the seaside scenery itself and just in time for my next photo exhibit in the Orleans Cape Cod Five Bank.  Just as living anywhere else, we sometimes need reminders to stop and smell some hollyhocks.  

more Commercial Street views, Provincetown, MA