A Cape December 2014

WHITE FRIDAY-1st snow of the season-November 28th

While 'Black Friday' raged in department stores, Eastham experienced a delightful white-Friday and our first snow of the year.  The gentle, all-day snow left us frosted, gorgeous and with none of the discomforts of the big storm that traveled up I-95 wreaking havoc with Thanksgiving holiday travelers. 

No extra holiday decorations needed here.

Turtles, turtles, everywhere!?

[from a report by Rich Eldred for The Cape Codder]

Volunteers have been plucking semi-frozen turtles off the Cape’s bayside beaches for decades.  Until now, the record high was 413 in 2012  and the year before that was in the 200’s. This year, over 1200 have been rescued and the number is growing daily.  Most are ridleys, the smallest marine turtles in the world, measuring up to 2 ft in length at most, but there have also been a dozen green turtles and a giant 300 pound loggerhead that sadly didn't survive.    The ridleys disappear after hatching in Mexico and then resurface at age 3-4 feeding off the New England coast.  Unfamiliar with the territory, they feed in the warmer waters of Cape Cod Bay and when winter comes they are shocked by the cold and unable to swim around the tip of Cape Cod.  There they bob like corks until pushed ashore by the winds.  Volunteers in each town who have been doing this for years collect the wash-a-shores and deliver them to the Audubon Society’s location in Wellfleet.  A volunteer veterinarian says it’s a difficult process to sort the dead from the live as the heartbeat can be as slow as one beat per minute.  They are then warmed up no more than 5 degrees per day in childrens’ swimming pools.  The twenty minute swims help them to get regulated and get their heat back up, and the ones that graduate will go to the New England Aquarium in Quincy, either by the coast guard or a volunteer’s car.  42,000 were counted In 1947 in Mexican nesting sites and that number dropped to the 200’s by the 1980’s, but now protected under the Endangered Species Act the number of nesting sites has risen to the 10’s of thousands.  Volunteers continue to roam Wellfleet beaches when the winds blow inland, but casual strollers who encounter distressed turtles are asked to please cover the turtles in seaweed, mark the spot and call the turtle hot line.  

This little bird took shelter from the freezing rain at one of our many window bird feeders. 

Speaking of critters, it's time for the end of the year critter relocation report.  I'd like to think the numbers tell the story.  Last year, 72 squirrels and 19 chipmunks were cordially invited to take a ride to the next town to set up residence.  This year, only 44 squirrels and 7 chipmunks took the relocation challenge.  If you consider the exponential impact of the family planning component, it seems to be making a difference.  There's also a lot less snarling and banging on windows, which make the birds and cats happier.

Who, me?

And, when you live in a small town, small stories frequently become big news.  I recently reported on the new rotary being installed in Orleans to ease traffic congestion where the main road splits.  All Fall, we've watched with fascination as lanes shifted this way and that, giant holes were dug and recovered, streets were ripped up and repaved, but still no rotary and things got quiet again.  But, we watched the suspense continue to play out in letters to the editor of The Cape Codder.  One cantankerous senior wanted to know what the deal was - there were still orange barrels up, ripped up sidewalks, and it was just as confusing and dangerous as ever.  Seemed like a lot of wasted money for nothing to him.  The following week, his concern was addressed by a resident with perhaps a farther-seeing vision of the project, stating that they obviously weren't done, and chided his impatience.  Sure enough, the following week, the paper put a reporter on it. One would think the following article would solve the mystery of the rotary-interruptus.  

Except, as if for spite, workers returned the following week to begin what looks like a paved circle.  We're no doubt going to hear about this again.  
      

One of the things our guests enjoy about our B&B that sets us apart from others is that their suite is totally private with their own entrance, bath and kitchen. We like that, too.  We know other B&B owners who literally hide from their guests in their den at night to get a little private time for themselves.  We’re not anti-social and we’re fine with being available anytime for questions, but when the sun goes down, we bring on the comfy-clothes, put our feet up on the coffee table, grab a cat and turn on a movie.  So, it occurred to me that with few exceptions, most guests know very little about what the inside of our home looks like.  This month, you’re invited to take some peeks into our natural habitat.  But, it constantly changes by whim and by whatever new treasures may come home from the swap shops and remains a work in progress.  

   

I love the reflected light that mirrors add to a room, and that 
depending upon the angle it's viewed, the scene is always changing.

I'm not a big collector of any one thing, 

but whimsical items do seem to accumulate from time to time. 

Even the bathroom is not spared the whimsical touch.

Window views are also important expressions of art, 

which usually include at least one kind of bird feeder and a simple garden treatment.

This is where the latte magic happens every morning, but not limited to the a.m.  Friends who know the barista have been known to drop by at any given time.

And of course, photos everywhere.

The lights were hung in the courtyard with care...

This December marks our sixth winter here and the reminiscing of the story becomes more remarkable to us as each year passes.  It has every component of an epic Hollywood movie - three houses to renovate and sell on a deadline in the worst real estate market since the Great Depression.  The ceremonial burying of St. Joseph upside-down in three front yards.  The impossible task of stuffing the contents of a house into a caravan of three in the middle of a Nor'easter, which delayed departure by a whole day and postponed our closing.  Crawling up I-95 through the storm's aftermath, sleep-deprived, running on Starbuck's Double Shots, buried under two shaking cats, arriving in Hyannis in the pre-dawn hours for a couple hours sleep before crawling into the Barnstable courthouse for a bleary-eyed early morning closing.  Eternal thank you's to Alan, our real estate agent, who called Ron all night on the hour to make sure he hadn't fallen asleep at the wheel.  Then the race to unpack and return the truck before the predicted blizzard hit.  We did, and it did.  Cut to the first of many furniture arrangements, a sea of flattened boxes and ten [counting cats] exhilarated and triumphant faces.  And, fade to credits...  

The incomparable moving team!

Looks like December 

Usually, the first displays and the relentless music of Christmas that bombard stores and the radio shortly after Halloween give me a bad case of the Bah Humbugs.  But this year, I've finally decided that celebrating THE SEASON as a pagan is not only a lot less stressful, it can be FUN!  The first thing on my list of traditions is lights, LOTS of lights.  They usually stay up on a timer all year on the old wood beams in the kitchen, but gradually one string or another gives up and it gets darker and darker.  Up from the basement came the box of extra strings and my work began.  With old traditions now come old hips and knees, and where I used to climb nimbly from one piece of furniture to another, now it takes two stools, one with two small steps placed next to the tall bar stool.  At least twice, after inching halfway around the room, half of the lights went out and had to be taken down and a new string tested and started.  Next came the box of glass icicles and crocheted snowflakes to turn the kitchen into my own winter wonderland while I wait for the real thing outside.  It only took me three days and I didn't break any bones!  

The back porch came next with lots of white lights to cheer up the dark winter.  Now add family and friends, something yummy to eat, a nice fire in the fireplace, some fun gifts scavenged from the swap shops all year, and we've got a Winter Solstice Celebration going on!    

The Pagan Scallop Shell Solstice Tree

The warnings of a wicked-brutal winter have so far not come to pass. Our bird bath heaters are plugged in, the firewood is stacked, Ron's winter beard has come in nicely, the leaf catcher has been disconnected and the snow plow attached to the John Deere, but our winter seems to have been detained in places like Buffalo and Chicago.  In fact, our local Christmas Eve forecast actually began with the word, "Yuck."  We're ready.  Meanwhile, best wishes to all for the holiday of your choice this month, whether it's colored red and green, blue and gold, or just plain frosty-white.  Here's an irresistible arrangement of seasonal music to play me out:    

Click if you'd like to view The Drifters Animated White Christmas 

Oh, go ahead, you'll be glad you did.  

Or, if you'd like a taste of this year's annual Christmas Cavalcade to benefit the Homeless Shelter, here are local Cape musicians from at least five different bands coming together to sing us into the holidays:

Click to watch Steve Shook and the Elftones