A Cape May [not to be confused with New Jersey] 2014

With the exception of some teaser days that resulted in making the sweaters and coats disappear and unearthing the shorts and T-shirts, it's been a chilly Spring here.  The roads began May brilliantly lined with blooming yellow forsythia and jewel-like tulips, which bravely swayed in the raw chill until giving way to lacy blooming trees just in time for the Brewster in Bloom weekend festival.  Blossoms are not the only sign that the season has actually changed despite cool temperatures.  We spotted the first baby bunny and a box turtle roaming the backyard.  And, the chorus of returning birds fill the air.  One never knows who will show up at the feeders next.  There are serious Birders (with a capital 'B') who spend a good deal of time hiking around the right places, at the right times, with the right equipment.  We, on the other hand, are what I call Seriously Lazy birders (note the capital S & L, and small 'b'), but that doesn't mean we don't get just as excited when we see a new bird at our feeders, which are viewable from every window.   We go through about 50 pounds of sunflower seeds a month and continue to add flowers that attract birds and butterflies to the gardens.  It seems to be working.  

We owe a lot to whomever planted this lilac "bush" as all the birds take shelter in it while they plan their next turns at the feeders.  I'm pretty sure the hummingbirds build their nests in it, too.

Each year, we have been lucky enough to spot a new breed at the feeders.  Last year, it was the bluebirds and this year it's a Rose-breasted Grosbeak).  After describing the newcomer to our local expert, Mike O'Connor at the Orleans Bird Watchers Store, he confirmed the species and declared it a Spring treat to have spotted one because they don't stay around for long.  He even paid a visit to our back porch to try his luck, but Rosie was apparently busy somewhere else.  I found that they're not shy about having their picture taken like some of their colorful friends, so I sent him a picture for his Birdwatchers Store Facebook site.  Also back for the season are the hummingbirds and orioles.  We even heard of a website that tracks the Spring migration of the Hummies.  Seriously Lazy birding for us is a gentle celebration of the creatures who decorate our windows and is a rewarding and simple variety of entertainment we look forward to as a long term activity sitting in the porch glider.    

Rosie the Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Speaking of aging, I made an observation recently that is by no means a new one.  Living on Cape Cod is a bit like living in a retirement community.  Because of limited year-round employment opportunities and constantly rising property values, the young adults who are able to continue family businesses and want to remain are mostly the ones who stay.  The rest piece together seasonal jobs to sustain their families.  Consequently, the average age of the population is growing as boomers abound.  The upside to this is that being surrounded by so many senior citizens sometimes creates the false perspective that I've gotten younger again.  Consider that just another good reason to visit.  Rumors of questionable senior driving skills in the local paper resulted in an immediate rebuttal by an outraged boomer who declared them highly overstated and provided statistical data about youngsters to back it up.  Anyway, we all know senior driving pales by comparison to summer tourist maneuvers.  When it gets too frustrating, I try to picture my old, white-haired Mom behind the wheel and that usually buys me a little patience.      

Nauset Beach "jewels" in Orleans

It may seem strange to live so close to water and not have sand between my toes every day, but like anywhere else I've lived, the tendency is to think you can go anytime and the day slips by tending to other things.  Thanks to my new "assignment" to capture the town of Orleans in photos for the Chocolate Sparrow Gift Shop, I'm taking advantage of the new quest to familiarize myself with territory that I hadn't yet taken the opportunity to explore.  In effect, I've put my tourist hat back on and taken new looks at what makes a town unique.  Whether it's the old cemetery stones nestled amongst commercial shops, or Nauset Beach with its jewel-like rocks, the infamous Hot Chocolate Sparrow where one can get anything from decadent homemade candies to fancy coffees and sandwiches, to the windmill on the cove where many weddings are held, there are happy surprises to find around every corner.  

Town of Orleans - see the old gravestones behind the fence?

Sometimes we just get lucky, as in the evening we decided to finally use a restaurant gift certificate we were presented a couple of years ago for participating in a show in Wellfleet.  We'd been watching the sky change from dazzling sunbeams to the darkest slate blue that looked like Thor would emerge wielding lightening bolts.  We grabbed raincoats and made a dash for The Lost Dog Pub in Orleans.  As we drove along the Town Cove, we found instead of lightening the most vivid rainbow joining the dense clouds with the shore.  What a time to not have my camera!    

But, I did catch a shot of the sky through the window before we left.

Look what Travel & Leisure magazine wrote this month:

Beautiful Beaches to Visit in 2014

Margo Tabb

Coast Guard Beach, Eastham, Cape Cod, MA

This rugged New England beauty attracts weekenders for its expansive views of the Atlantic as well as tide pools, walking trails, and dunes worth exploring. Take your binoculars for an eyeful of wildlife: dolphins, birds (including endangered plovers and terns), and bobbing seals. Waves here get big—all the better to surf or bodyboard—but water temperatures can be bracing, even in midsummer. Coast Guard also has historical significance, as the first beach the Pilgrims spotted in 1620 from The Mayflower. In more recent news, the fresh air along this shore may soon be even cleaner; a smoking ban along Cape Cod National Seashore’s guarded beaches is under consideration.

Best time to visit: mid-June through early September

Chocolate Sparrow Exit

Returning visitors will notice a new, high-tech sign as they enter the Mid-Cape Highway on their way home that gives approximate travel times to the two bridges that cross the Cape Cod Canal.  In summer and on nice weekends, this can take a lot longer than usual, so a heads-up may help travelers make alternate plans to cope with the jams.

Eastham Solar Farm

There's something very reassuring about driving past the new Solar Farm at the Eastham Transfer Station on a hot day. The panels are lined up like headless troops across a large field, drinking in the sunshine and giving it back to the electrical grid.   It's nice to know that all that sun isn't just going to waste.

Spring Welcome

For better or worse, Memorial Day Weekend is HERE and High Season has roared in bearing kayaks, bikes and surfboards.  The parking lots are packed and there is gridlock in the grocery aisles.  Outdoor arts and crafts show tents have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain. Yard sale signs at every corner hope to attract the hordes of tourists going by.  After a semi-dismal forecast, the sun has made a liar out of the meteorologists providing a party atmosphere like nothing else can.  May guests who visited the B&B came from:  France, Great Britain, Seattle, New York, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Boston and Western Massachusetts.  Let Summer 2014 begin! 

Orson the Oriole dining on fresh oranges and grape jelly

A Cape April 2014

Wiley Irony

After we moved to the Cape, a friend of mine in Chatham who knows how much 
I love snow used to call me every time we had a flurry to say, "You must have been
a very good girl."  This went on for about two years before the snows started getting 
more frequent.  She hasn't bothered to mentioned it for the last few years because 
nobody could have been that good.  As I've told many people before, if I had any say 
in the weather, Richmond, Virginia would have been a much snowier place in the 1950's
and '60's.  But, when the weathermen started talking about a possible "Blizzard Bomb" 
(their words) for the last week in March on the East Coast a week in advance, I didn't pay it 
much mind.  After all, I'd already had the winter of all winters that almost made up for my
snow-deprived childhood.  It would seem too piggish to wish this on all the weary, winter wimps in late March.  But, I must have been a very, very good girl because with hurricane force winds, the Outer Cape bore the brunt of this surprising late-March storm, coincidentally, but aptly named Wiley.  Just twenty-four hours later, the sun was out, the streets were plowed, appointments were being kept
and people had stories to tell.  There goes a good car wash, but oh boy, it was fun.     

Better?

In the field of biology, culture is defined as the cultivation of bacteria and cells in an artificial medium containing nutrients.  This definition also describes a good theatre performance.  Take a heaping helping of actors, insert onstage with costumes and scenery and feed with wonderful lines and TA-DA, dramatic culture.  Our Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theatre is very adept in mixing up wonderful concoctions of entertainment and we got our dose of culture this month with their production of Hounds of the Baskervilles.  In their slapstick adaptation, three actors skillfully filled many roles, keeping us chuckling as we tried to keep up with them.

Sherlock Holmes' Hounds of the Baskervilles at W.H.A.T.

After our busy winter season, the B&B enjoyed a short lull, while people seemed to wait for a clearer transition of seasons.  In the interim, Ron took the opportunity he'd been waiting for to put a spiffy, new floor down in the Studio.  What a difference!  

BEFORE

AFTER

There is also all the difference between early and late April.  A shift between the beauty of fierce, winter starkness and the gentleness of delicate, budding color sneaks in under cover of gloomy, gray showers.  Which seeds it's time to plant begins to sneak into conversations, along with reports of returning ospreys and the beginning of the herring run.  Another day surprises us with the smell of ocean in the yard and the incredibly powerful sound of peepers in the nearby marshes during their brief mating season.   Birdseed and suet feeders start emptying at a frantic pace as the returning redwings, orioles and grackles greedily butt in to replenish after their trips North.  Wheelbarrows stacked full of brush, curls of smoke from burning leaves and people fixing fences that have blown down over the winter are common sights.  Another encouraging sign is the sudden increase in production of the solar panels, cutting our bills down to levels from decades ago.  I'm now on a first name basis with Andrew, the guy at Agway who loads bags of mulch into the car and a sure sign of Spring is when Ben & Jerry's reopens for the season with their annual Free Cone Day.  The temperatures have stealthily reached the occasional 60's and the search for where the shorts and sandals were stored was on.  Never mind that it snowed again mid-month, the day after stowing sweaters and coats and stacking up shorts and T-shirts.  It was just April's last weather prank.  And then, there are the tales of the garden...

When I worked at an elementary school, there was a poster in the clinic of a little kitten looking into a mirror, seeing the image of a big lion staring back.  I'm sure the intention was to boost little self-esteems, but I suffer from "Lion-itis".  I not only see the lion, I sometimes delude myself into thinking I am the lion, which gets me into no end of trouble when I'm gardening.  This wasn't as much of a problem when I was tied to a desk eight hours a day at school, but with the freedom of self-employment, I'm creating magnificent gardens and have become my own worst enemy.  Like my mother, a former Occupational Therapist, the motto of which profession is "adapt, adapt, adapt", I always gamble that I can out-think gravity and the impossible task.  That strategy has not worked out so well, so rest and rehab have become a fairly intermittent part of my garden plan.   So far, the new mini-leaf blower is proving to be a big back-saver and the big garden clean-up, though zombie-like, is underway.  "Slowly, I go, inch by inch, step by step."  

Spring in Brewster

Another small sign that we are not newbies anymore, is literally the signs along the roads of people campaigning for town offices.  We actually recognize who the people are now and even have opinions about some.  

The big weekend, Cape Cod way

Easter Weekend is the real beginning of the tourist influx.  Out of state license plates are as common as local ones now, which sadly make fender benders a recurring common sight as well.  The garden is waking up and surprising us with the bounty of prior years' labors and the snow plow is transforming back into the garden tractor.  April has brought us guests from France, Montreal, NJ, the Boston area and honeymooners from Richmond, VA.   

Daffodils have replaced snow

First tulip

      Words of advice for Spring:  do not lift more than you weigh!

A Cape March 2014

The "white sands" at Nauset Light Beach

Although it's been one of the coldest and snowiest winters in a long while, it's also been the busiest one of our five here so far.  Even when the winds are howling and the ground has morphed into mysterious white shapes, Cape Cod is still an inviting place to get away from the regular grind to enjoy the peaceful purity of off-season.  We hosted winter adventurers in January, February & March from as far away as Washington State, New Mexico, New Jersey, Tennessee, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Vermont, Indiana and several different towns around Massachusetts.   Many take the drive up to Provincetown to go as far as one can go on the Cape and others make it only as far as the top of Fort Hill, the Eastham Superette and the fireplace.  But, all seem to enjoy the respite.  Truthfully, there has been snow on the ground for so much of the winter, it looks strange when we get a brief warmup and see grass for a few days.  After the long stretch of frigid temperatures, a mid-30's warmup feels like Spring.  Even the daffodils and tulips have sent up exploratory buds.  But, regardless of the official Spring Equinox, March hasn't skimped on the last days of winter beauty and even as the snow mountains in parking lots are shrinking, it continues to decorate our trees like a winter paint by numbers scene.

Coast Guard Beach under cover

Almost immediately after the Patriots lost the last chance to play in the Superbowl this year, I was hungering for news of the Red Sox.  Finally, even as winter storms with scary names continuously swept across the country, the faint sound of baseball summer training camp was in the air.  Who won't be back, whose contract is on the line, who's on the injury list, but most importantly, who still has a beard from last year.  So far, only one of last year's bearded champions, Mike Napoli, has kept it going and it's mightier than ever.  But, he may give it a second thought after all the attention the clean-shaven Mike Gomes is receiving for looking decades younger without one, and also earning $10,000 for charity for shaving it in public.  

GO SOX 2014

March started off for me with another month-long photography exhibit at my bank.  Cape Cod 5 graciously shares their entrance hall wall to local artists by the month.  The staff and customers, enjoy the ever-changing displays and it's an opportunity for artists to showcase their work.  It's my third time displaying there and Saturday seems to definitely be a good day to hang an exhibit because with the busy foot traffic, I sold two pictures before they could even go up on the wall.  It's also been fun to walk through the lobby on a banking errand and anonymously overhear people commenting favorably on the photos.  With their few kind words, a self-indulgent hobby becomes transformed into appreciated art, and the Cape never disappoints, always providing tempting subjects to shoot.  This exhibit turned into an even bigger opportunity when I received an invitation to sell matted local shots in an Orleans gift shop.  One never knows when serendipity will sprout like a Spring bulb long ago tended and forgotten.

"Recycled Frames - Fresh Visions - Affordable Art"

Abundant opportunities for entertainment are also typical of winter in the arts-rich Cape environment.  We tend to cozy up to the fireplace and Netflix a lot, but with so many music and theatre temptations available, we eventually pull on the parkas and venture out.  We recently treated ourselves to a Thursday night at the Harvest Wine Gallery where our Eastham friend, Chandler Travis and his "Three-O" band, surrounded us [literally] in the most eclectic and brilliant set of music you'll find anywhere.  This is not your average band for so many reasons and to be enclosed in a cocoon of their skillful and lovely arrangements is the ultimate musical decadence and worth a trip in "thunder snow".  

Click to see the Chandler Travis Three-O Bio

Our next winter escapade was another play reading at the Provincetown Theatre Foundation's 2014 Winter Readings Series that Ron was invited to participate in.  

"It's A Grand Night For Murder", by Joe Starzyk

At least Ron got to stay alive in this skillfully written, wicked-dark comedy.  This is a great venue for unknown writers to test their creations out on an audience with actors.  We definitely give this one a thumbs-up and hope to see it staged in the future.

The next adventure was also in Provincetown, where Ron was asked to reprise another of his recent "dead men" roles to help film a promo to turn it into an independent film for festivals.  This was a new experience for me and I was invited to take some still shots for its promotion and enjoyed seeing the process.  It's not every day you get to take pictures of your husband running down a snowy street in boxers and cowboy boots.  If you're wondering just how a dead guy does that, you'll have to wait for the movie.  

  Takin' it for the team

In the spirit of another Spring, there are a few new things around the B&B, along with the abundance of green sprouts.  The Cottage has a gleaming, new, energy-efficient refrigerator and the Studio is getting a new, wood floor.  Also, there are solar panels going up in nine different towns, including ours, at the transfer stations to take advantage of the sunny wide-open spaces.  And, everyone is rejoicing at the return of Daylight Savings Time.

A Spring walk in Provincetown

Lastly for this month, I'm reminded of all the PTA newsletters I used to have to proof before distributing them to students to take home.  Without exception, every one would start out, "I can't believe it's already...(fill in the blank)."   Although I understood what they meant, I always wanted to point out that if an entire season, or even year had slipped by without making any impression on them, they probably weren't paying attention.  This year marks our fifth winter here on the Cape and I can believe it.  One doesn't shed an entire life and take on a new one immediately.  It happens "little by slow", a new expression I've picked up here, when suddenly everything and everyone isn't all new anymore.  Each new, little step towards feeling at home happens joyously and I look forward to them all.  That said, I may be the only one left looking forward to "Wiley", the next Nor'easter barreling up the East Coast with what most are hoping is the finale of winter storms.     

It won't be long...

A Cape February 2014

Did I say January was cold and snowy on the Cape?  

Surf boards replaced by snow plows

Welcome to February:

Flaky Fort Hill

This is the time of year when people can get a little testy about the weather.  It has snowed or iced more days than not and the snow plow drivers are ecstatic.  [See, it's not just formerly snow-deprived kids from south of the Mason-Dixon line who light up when they see the first flake.]  So far this year, Eastham has gotten at least 43 inches of snow in 14 snowstorms and like many other communities, we are way over our salt and plowing budget.  But, a lot of fisherman and carpenters supplement their income in the winter by plowing.  And, it's good for the water table.  The ice fishermen are pulling up tasty fish dinners for their families and when the ground is white, one can see the tracks of all the nocturnal critters comings and goings and it's a real party out there around the bird feeders.  So, c'mon, put on your snow boots and get in the spirit.  You'll be complaining about the heat and beach traffic soon enough.   

A gaggle on icy Salt Pond

From the Huffington Post:  IT'S SO COLD THAT...

• An escaped prisoner from the Blackburn Correctional Center in Kentucky turned himself back in after 24 hours of freedom because he was too cold.

• Anana, a 12-year old polar bear at Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo had to be brought into a climate controlled environment because her diet did not include the seal and whale carcasses that she would need to build up the 5" layer of fat that wild polar bears need to battle the -40 below temperatures.

• The bald eagles and African penguins were also taken indoors off-exhibit at the Pittsburgh zoo until the temperatures rose.

• Residents in Ontario have been hearing loud explosions and feeling mild earthquake conditions due to "frost quakes".  Cryoseisms occur when water seeps underground and then expands when it freezes.

• In the week leading up to this year's polar vortex, there was a 115-degree difference between Florida and Minnesota.

And, in case you were interested who might be paying you a visit this winter:

I've lost count...guess who's coming to dinner?

Eastham's windmill 

Still can't wait 'til Spring?  O.k., it's a slow news month, but here's a significant announcement that should help you take heart.  We spotted the first red wing blackbird of the year at our feeders and the snowdrop bulbs are getting ready to bloom.   Our taxes are finally ready to take to our accountant and the Cape Codder is full of stories about deer tick studies and the new water system proposals.  Yes, proof that Spring is really on the way!

A valentine for you

Happy February (don't take it out on the groundhog)

A Cape January 2014

Winter is the season in which people try to keep the house as warm as it was in the summer, when they complained about the heat. ~Author Unknown

January Face

Yes, I know everyone's tired of the Polar Vortex, but there are still a few unabashed snow lovers out here.  Remember, beach weather will be here in a few short months, but meanwhile, forgive me if I indulge in an exquisite walk through National Seashore trails where the peaceful quiet is unparalleled.  The contrast of fiery, orange sunsets on the deep shadows of snow is stunning.  The bunnies and deer are all tucked away in thickets and couldn't care less about my intrusion.  An owl "who-hoots" as he considers breakfast.  I have successfully avoided working on taxes for another afternoon.

Fort Hill-the antidote for doing taxes

And, just to prove I'm not the only one who enjoys winter weather, I share with his permission, pictures of our guest, James, working on next year's holiday card at Coast Guard Beach.  James wasn't fazed by Hercules, The Blizzard, and was drawn to our Cottage fireplace like a beacon in a storm.  We were wicked-impressed.

Merry Frostbite!

You're probably thinking there couldn't possibly be anything going on here in January, but you would be wrong.  Dead wrong.  When Ron got an invitation to participate in this year's 4th Annual 24 Hour Play Festival in Provincetown, he thought it would be a good idea to hone his craft, meet some new people and hopefully have a good time.  This brilliant idea matches a group of writers, directors and actors, and divides them into groups based on drawing names from a hat.  Once the writers see who their actors are and the mystery props that they must incorporate into their play are unveiled, they have until the next morning to submit an original ten page play.  The director and actors then have until 8 p.m. to rehearse lines and block movements before presenting the work to an audience.  Granted, not all actors were off book by then, but it was a very forgiving audience, ready to have some fun on a chilly night.  The rope, orange and flashlight props were put to good use and dark comedy ruled the evening.  We're a little afraid Ron may be getting typecast as a dead man, but at least they're funny dead men.

Ron in Perfect Love    

and, maybe not so dead?

To view the play: Perfect Love, by Arthur Egeli

Dead is also the chance for the Superbowl for the New England Patriots, soundly beaten by the Denver Broncos only one game away.  We are surely disappointed, but still proud of our boys for coming so far.  The flag flies until the end of the season.   

An unhappy, Tom Brady congratulates the formidable Peyton Manning

No sooner than the remains of Hercules had been scraped, plowed and almost washed away,  "Blizzard II" came on the scene, covering us with another one to two feet of snow, the depth depending on how the winds blew.  We're not sure why this one had no name, but considering the recurring Canadian Clippers on the weather map, "B-II" will most likely be with us into February.  Our generator saves us from joining the water and battery brigades in the stores, but our number one blizzard chore is to make sure the bird feeders are all full.  There is usually a feeding frenzy just before a storm and the feeders are the popular hangout, even mid-blizzard.  We certainly wouldn't want to disappoint them.

Laziest excuse for a snowman, ever.

Two minutes worth of:  BLIZZARD II                       

                        

January's half-dozen B&B guests came for quick winter getaways.  Most stayed close to the fireplace and hot chocolate, but a group of professional photographers braved the gusty cold to add some winter beachscapes to their portfolios.  

The tip of the month is "layers".  Cheers!    
  

2014 - Hercules, Super Storm

A friend of mine told me early this Fall that she heard it would be a wicked winter.  When we had flurries a few times in November, I started to think she might be right.  But, the winter solstice was so mild people brought their shorts back out.  It was a short- lived prelude to a snowy Christmas & New Year's Eve, followed by HERCULES, the first super-storm of 2014.  But, even Hercules didn't stop visitors from traveling to the Cape.  Our Cottage with the gas fireplace continues to be a sought out cozy and safe haven to ride out whatever the Nor'east winds bring us.  

With warnings to stay inside out of the wind chill, I reveled in window views.  But with guests on the way, I had the perfect excuse to get out and shovel some paths.  Ron also gave the new plow a workout, which was plenty of exercise, but a lot easier than the snowblower, which now resides with new owners in Boston.  Thank you, Hercules, for helping to justify that expense so quickly.  

So, a wicked winter?  We're off to a good start:     

Hercules, Superstorm 2014