Cape Cod, July, 2008

Cape Cod Diary

There are so many things to do when you are with friends…..upon arrival yesterday, there was a trip to the beach for swimming in water gloriously warm and reminiscent of the Pacific Coast…..and then a garden tour of lush flowers, zucchini, tomatoes, cucumbers and a chance to sit on the deck and read in the shade of an umbrella…..

Today, after yoga, a picnic on the boat moored off a point where the beach is off limits because of nesting piping plovers, followed by a swim in more gloriously warm salt water, and a chance to fish in salt water, hurling a ridiculous red herring lure out into the water and reeling it in so fast so that it would appear to dance on the water…..and now, back to check out the wardrobe for Italy and then more reading in the novel Frost Falls, which has caught my attention and holds me in its grip like no other book has in a while…..until Pat gives her afternoon piano concert and it is happy hour, and Mike and I sit and listen with our g & t’s beside us. Lobster and corn await us, and an evening of who knows what, and who cares? It’s just so nice to be with people who have been friends for 40 years and who know me as well as I know myself, or perhaps even better!!

Day Two: Today began at 6:30 when we drank some coffee and headed for the beach to dig for soft-shell clams. This involved a short trip in the two person kayak to transport the three clamming rakes, rubber gloves, a wire basket in which to pile the clams, and a can of Off in case the greenheads attacked. After a little more than an hour we had found enough clams to fill the wire basket. This may make it sound easy, but, after the initial euphoria wore off regarding how this scooping of sand and piling it beside the hole was like building drip castles in California eons ago, my knees grew tender and my back was good and tired from hacking into the wet sand with a 3-pronged clam rake. I was a champion at finding clams that were too small to keep and alternatively, driving the tine of the rake through the shell of some that were big enough to keep. We all agreed that if we HAD to do this to gather food to live, we would tire of it quite quickly!
Back home, we all showered and ate breakfast. Then it was off to T.J. Maxx for about 3 hours of shopping ☺ Following a successful ‘spotition, Pat and I ate lunch at a restaurant in Wellfleet with a water view. We got home in time for a brief rest before it was time for “happy hour” and a dinner of fried clams (the ones we smashed by accident) and then a trip to the drive-in for a double feature. Home around midnight!! Whew!

Day Three: No new adventures today – but a chance to read the paper and lie around on a lazy summer morning. Then I cut pieces for 8 quilt blocks. We went to the beach this afternoon and swam in good-sized swells which just made me laugh as they broke over our heads! Again, I felt like a child in California again. We swam against the wind going down the beach and let the swells carry us back to shore as we swam back.
A trip in the red convertible to get ice cream tonight, after a dinner of baked stuffed zucchini out of their garden, and another great day has come to a close. Time to regroup my suitcases and think about driving home tomorrow. Sigh. Vacation is coming to a close.