2016 SUMMER ON CAPE COD PART II - Where everything old is new again

A little shade goes a long way in August

August seems to bring a lot of finger pointing about almost everything.  Which soil you should have used on your garden.  Whether Route 6 or 6A is faster.  Which beach is best, or who has the best lobster roll.  Which state has the worst drivers and whether rotaries are better than stoplights.  The heat and traffic gridlock start to take its toll on patience, but a quick look at the calendar reminds locals what a brief interlude this summer season really is in comparison to the quiet months to come. 

It's a WOOWOOPALOOZA!

Before that happens, Cape Cod is awash with activity as flashy as Hillary Clinton's Provincetown fundraiser with Cher, to the Pan-Mass Challenge bike-a-thon, where 5000 cyclists ride from one end of the Cape to the other raising funds for cancer research.  Hillary's $500-$10,000 ticket range was a bit out of our league, but we jumped at the chance to purchase tickets to the WooWooPalooza benefit for local musician and friend, Steve [WooWoo] Wood, who is fighting cancer.  Because that is one thing the Cape excels at, helping friends in need.

At least six local bands donated their time to play at the Beachcomer Club, an old 1897 Lifesaving Station in Wellfleet, to raise funds for Steve's cancer treatment.  Locals call it "the Coma".  There are a few old wood booths in the corner, but the tables and chairs are always cleared away after dinner so the area in front of the stage becomes a big, sandy dance floor.  The event was planned by our friend Chandler Travis, whose band The Incredible Casuals played the Coma every Sunday for 30 years.  Especially poignant about this evening was that two generations were represented in a couple of the bands, including Steve's son Sammy [Slammy] Wood on drums.  Ron, who played keyboard in Steve's band, The Greenheads, back in the 80's, loves to tell how Sammy bounced in time to the music of their rehearsals in diapers and little cowboy boots.  It was just inevitable that he would take up drums.  The Casuals' rendition of "I Wanna Play Loud", summed up the three hours of bouncing to the old favorites, pausing to pass the hat and reminisce about old 'Coma days while friends generously filled and refilled it up.

"Slammy" Wood carrying on the Coma tradition

August is also sometimes family visit time for many Codders, including us, this year.  The house was packed with sisters reminiscing, sons reuniting, moms playing pass the baby and the spare friend, or two, who dropped in to share the fun.  We even had an impromptu fake wedding with a fancy cake and a lace tablecloth doubling as a wedding dress to make up for the quiet town hall ceremony that took place this summer when buying a house out of town became more pressing than a big wedding.  Not to worry, everyone got a plastic lei and a hat to wear and a delicious hunk of Stop & Shop bakery 's best, and a few pictures to commemorate the event.      Wedding Daniels-style Sisters do Provincetown I learned a new Cape Cod historical tidbit this summer.  The date of the start of the American Revolution is an easy one for me to remember because it's also my birthday.  And the words that became the rallying cry of the revolution, "taxation without representation" are still seen on bumper stickers in the District of Columbia.  [The exact quote was, "Taxation without representation is tyranny."]    But, I didn't know until now that the man who coined that phrase was none other than James Otis, Jr. of the town of Barnstable, and his statue is in front of the Barnstable County Courthouse on Cape Cod where I signed the papers seven years ago to become a Cape Cod homeowner.   The late-bloomers and feathered friends in our gardens continue to turn heads.  As the traffic starts to thin out on the main highways, my thoughts are turning to my winter list.  These are all the things I put off until low-season allows me the luxury of time to indulge in them.  But, there's still a busy Shoulder Fall Season to attend to, so at this point I'm just watching the list grow and looking forward to choosing the first thing.  Meanwhile, we say Cheers to our 6th summer season on Cape Cod, hosting visitors from all corners of the world.       "Happy as clams [...at high tide.]"