Cape Cod Journal 2007, Part 2
Part 2
6/10/07 Sunday
Gorgeous and sunny. Bright white beach light. We head to Wood Neck beach, the beautifuly little “local” hideaway beach on Buzzards Bay that we discovered last year. There are really two beaches here – one on the more exposed “oceany” side and then another, protected area full of tidal pools and streams. The more exposed beach has a marvelous view, and the very clear water takes on a Mediterranean green in the sandy shallows. But this side is also much windier, and the water is pretty cold. On the other side, the water is mellow (especially for New England) and the beach is sheltered from the wind by the grassy dunes.
Last year, we noticed all the kids gleefully exploring the pools with nets, and this year we remembered to bring our own. Nicholas is absolutely delighted to see that these pools really do have whole schools of little fish (pipefish, I think they’re called) swimming about in them, but they prove too quick and elusive for our efforts. However, this does not deter Nicholas from splashing along madly in an attempt to catch some. We do catch a couple of hermit crabs and another larger crab (about three or four inches across) that’s built just like a blue crab but with a sandy yellow color and some darker speckles. Nicholas spots the crabs with his sharp eyes, but I have to scoop them up since he’s a bit afraid of them. Later, on the open side, we also see a horseshoe crab gliding primordially through the shallows, and Suz tries out the grab-it-by-the-tail trick remembered from her youthful summers on Long Island Sound – but as soon as all those claws start to wave in the air it slips from her hand and lands back in the water.
All in all, a wonderfully satisfying beach day, even though we left the thoughtfully packed sandwiches back in the fridge and had to make an unexpected lunch run. By dinner, we’re ready for a break from restaurant fare, so I head to Roche’s and pick up a roasted chicken, along with some fresh green beans to sautee in olive oil and garlic, and some Annie’s Mac & Cheese (one of N’s staples) to microwave. It all hits the spot.
~
After dinner, Nicholas and I go outside with our velcro “mitts” and our gaily colored tennis ball and have a game of catch. We haven’t done this since last summer, but N really does have a pretty good arm. Before we come in, we work up to 44 successful catches in a row, though toward the end we are standing only about three feet apart, each aiming right for the velcro sweet spot of the other’s mitt. Then the bath, and more from The Voyage of Dr. Doolittle before bed. We’re more than 300 pages in, and nearing the end. The book has an unfortunate streak of colonialism throughout (much condescension to the ignorant and silly “natives”), but we try to edit as we go. And otherwise, the story has many charms and delights.
~
Just remembered that today after a couple of seagulls tried to steal his turkey sandwich, N said “I call seagulls ‘mischief birds’ because they’re always getting up to mischief. N himself, I might add, is quite interested in mischief himself these days.
~
Also remembered that we finished up our time at the beach with a little game of “detective.” Nicholas was quite intrigued by the “mystery” that some of the water had flooded into the parking lot as the tide had come in (several people even had to move their cars). We waded through the tidal pool looking for clues (like the water getting colder toward the source of the influx) until we found the channel through which the tide enters the flats. When N and I returned, he said to Suzanne “I will tell you the whole story” and then proceeded to explain all that we had found.
6/11/07 Monday
Intermittent sun and clouds today with a few sprinkles and then a brief shower in the early evening. In the morning we’re in the mood for a hike, so we drive to the headquarters of the Waquoit Nature Reserve, but at the Visitor’s Information Center we realize that most of their trails are actually not near the headquarters but down by South Cape beach. So we drive just a little ways down the road to the ________ River Reservation, which has a riverside trail, though the “river” turns out to be not much more than a trickle at present. Under the spell of Dr. Doolittle, who makes being a naturalist sound quite exciting and adventurous, Nicholas insists on bringing his net so we can catch butterflies. I don’t have high hopes for our prospects, but sure enough, we do catch butterflies. One is a sort of burnt orange color that blends right in with the dead leaves on the ground. Another is brown with a row of four “eyes” on its wings, each eye consisting of a dark center encircled by a bright yellow ring. Our most spectacular specimen is black and irridescent blue, but though we spot two of this type they are both too quick for us. We lunch by the side of the road and then hike back out, with Suzanne and I taking turns carrying a tired Nicholas on our backs. Eventually he revives enough actually to run a good bit of the last segment of trail—ah the recuperative powers of youth!
~
We decide to hit the beach next, but make a couple of false starts. After driving down to South Cape beach because it is so close we remember that it really isn’t one of the better beaches. Then, after a certain amount of indecision (so many beaches!) we head over to Buzzard’s Bay again to investigate Old Silver beach. We do this partly because Nicholas really wants to go back to Wood Neck beach to hunt for fish and crabs again. Old Silver beach is near enough to Wood Neck to give us two options. Either it will be enough like Wood Neck for us to convince Nicholas to stay or we can just leave and go to Wood Neck. After finding Old Silver, we can see without leaving the car that it is quite beautiful—but no moreso than Wood Neck. And it doesn’t have the same sort of network of tidal pools (at least not accessible to the public). So back to Wood Neck we go, and by then it’s past 3 o’clock and clouding up. As we set up our stuff it starts to sprinkle and for a moment all looks doomed—but we decide to persevere. Almost everyone else leaves and we have the beach just about entirely to ourselves. After a few minutes, the rain stops, the sun comes out, and we are suddenly blessed with fantastic beach weather. We collect fourteen hermit crabs, find part of a horeshoe crab, build a “drip castle” by one of the tidal pools, and generally groove on the peacefully gorgeous late afternoon. Blue sky, white, puffy clouds, and lots of birds singing and stirring in the marshland. It’s hard to leave, and by the time we do we’re hungry enough to stop for a soft-serve ice cream before dinner. Nicholas is very excited about this violation of the rules, and we kind of like it too. As parents, we are of course concerned that this means he won’t eat dinner—but a little later he chows down two pieces of pizza from Zoe’s anyway.
~
Thinking back on the day I remember that we also caught a dragon-fly and examined its needle-thin body, iridescent green toward the head, its two sets of wings, and its top-of-the-head eyes. And when we released our hermit crabs at the beach it was funny how they all headed in different directions, as if following the paths marked by radii extending from a central point. I guess each one is trying to put as much distance as possible between it and the nearest crabs, and that's the pattern that results.
~
Once we get home from hiking, a deer tick scare (we find one in the car) leads us to strip down and self-inspect, to shower carefully, and to throw all the day’s clothing into the washer and dryer. In retrospect I can say that this was all to no avail--at least in my case--since this is undoubtedly the day I got infected with Lyme disease. Oy.
6/10/07 Sunday
Gorgeous and sunny. Bright white beach light. We head to Wood Neck beach, the beautifuly little “local” hideaway beach on Buzzards Bay that we discovered last year. There are really two beaches here – one on the more exposed “oceany” side and then another, protected area full of tidal pools and streams. The more exposed beach has a marvelous view, and the very clear water takes on a Mediterranean green in the sandy shallows. But this side is also much windier, and the water is pretty cold. On the other side, the water is mellow (especially for New England) and the beach is sheltered from the wind by the grassy dunes.
Last year, we noticed all the kids gleefully exploring the pools with nets, and this year we remembered to bring our own. Nicholas is absolutely delighted to see that these pools really do have whole schools of little fish (pipefish, I think they’re called) swimming about in them, but they prove too quick and elusive for our efforts. However, this does not deter Nicholas from splashing along madly in an attempt to catch some. We do catch a couple of hermit crabs and another larger crab (about three or four inches across) that’s built just like a blue crab but with a sandy yellow color and some darker speckles. Nicholas spots the crabs with his sharp eyes, but I have to scoop them up since he’s a bit afraid of them. Later, on the open side, we also see a horseshoe crab gliding primordially through the shallows, and Suz tries out the grab-it-by-the-tail trick remembered from her youthful summers on Long Island Sound – but as soon as all those claws start to wave in the air it slips from her hand and lands back in the water.
All in all, a wonderfully satisfying beach day, even though we left the thoughtfully packed sandwiches back in the fridge and had to make an unexpected lunch run. By dinner, we’re ready for a break from restaurant fare, so I head to Roche’s and pick up a roasted chicken, along with some fresh green beans to sautee in olive oil and garlic, and some Annie’s Mac & Cheese (one of N’s staples) to microwave. It all hits the spot.
~
After dinner, Nicholas and I go outside with our velcro “mitts” and our gaily colored tennis ball and have a game of catch. We haven’t done this since last summer, but N really does have a pretty good arm. Before we come in, we work up to 44 successful catches in a row, though toward the end we are standing only about three feet apart, each aiming right for the velcro sweet spot of the other’s mitt. Then the bath, and more from The Voyage of Dr. Doolittle before bed. We’re more than 300 pages in, and nearing the end. The book has an unfortunate streak of colonialism throughout (much condescension to the ignorant and silly “natives”), but we try to edit as we go. And otherwise, the story has many charms and delights.
~
Just remembered that today after a couple of seagulls tried to steal his turkey sandwich, N said “I call seagulls ‘mischief birds’ because they’re always getting up to mischief. N himself, I might add, is quite interested in mischief himself these days.
~
Also remembered that we finished up our time at the beach with a little game of “detective.” Nicholas was quite intrigued by the “mystery” that some of the water had flooded into the parking lot as the tide had come in (several people even had to move their cars). We waded through the tidal pool looking for clues (like the water getting colder toward the source of the influx) until we found the channel through which the tide enters the flats. When N and I returned, he said to Suzanne “I will tell you the whole story” and then proceeded to explain all that we had found.
6/11/07 Monday
Intermittent sun and clouds today with a few sprinkles and then a brief shower in the early evening. In the morning we’re in the mood for a hike, so we drive to the headquarters of the Waquoit Nature Reserve, but at the Visitor’s Information Center we realize that most of their trails are actually not near the headquarters but down by South Cape beach. So we drive just a little ways down the road to the ________ River Reservation, which has a riverside trail, though the “river” turns out to be not much more than a trickle at present. Under the spell of Dr. Doolittle, who makes being a naturalist sound quite exciting and adventurous, Nicholas insists on bringing his net so we can catch butterflies. I don’t have high hopes for our prospects, but sure enough, we do catch butterflies. One is a sort of burnt orange color that blends right in with the dead leaves on the ground. Another is brown with a row of four “eyes” on its wings, each eye consisting of a dark center encircled by a bright yellow ring. Our most spectacular specimen is black and irridescent blue, but though we spot two of this type they are both too quick for us. We lunch by the side of the road and then hike back out, with Suzanne and I taking turns carrying a tired Nicholas on our backs. Eventually he revives enough actually to run a good bit of the last segment of trail—ah the recuperative powers of youth!
~
We decide to hit the beach next, but make a couple of false starts. After driving down to South Cape beach because it is so close we remember that it really isn’t one of the better beaches. Then, after a certain amount of indecision (so many beaches!) we head over to Buzzard’s Bay again to investigate Old Silver beach. We do this partly because Nicholas really wants to go back to Wood Neck beach to hunt for fish and crabs again. Old Silver beach is near enough to Wood Neck to give us two options. Either it will be enough like Wood Neck for us to convince Nicholas to stay or we can just leave and go to Wood Neck. After finding Old Silver, we can see without leaving the car that it is quite beautiful—but no moreso than Wood Neck. And it doesn’t have the same sort of network of tidal pools (at least not accessible to the public). So back to Wood Neck we go, and by then it’s past 3 o’clock and clouding up. As we set up our stuff it starts to sprinkle and for a moment all looks doomed—but we decide to persevere. Almost everyone else leaves and we have the beach just about entirely to ourselves. After a few minutes, the rain stops, the sun comes out, and we are suddenly blessed with fantastic beach weather. We collect fourteen hermit crabs, find part of a horeshoe crab, build a “drip castle” by one of the tidal pools, and generally groove on the peacefully gorgeous late afternoon. Blue sky, white, puffy clouds, and lots of birds singing and stirring in the marshland. It’s hard to leave, and by the time we do we’re hungry enough to stop for a soft-serve ice cream before dinner. Nicholas is very excited about this violation of the rules, and we kind of like it too. As parents, we are of course concerned that this means he won’t eat dinner—but a little later he chows down two pieces of pizza from Zoe’s anyway.
~
Thinking back on the day I remember that we also caught a dragon-fly and examined its needle-thin body, iridescent green toward the head, its two sets of wings, and its top-of-the-head eyes. And when we released our hermit crabs at the beach it was funny how they all headed in different directions, as if following the paths marked by radii extending from a central point. I guess each one is trying to put as much distance as possible between it and the nearest crabs, and that's the pattern that results.
~
Once we get home from hiking, a deer tick scare (we find one in the car) leads us to strip down and self-inspect, to shower carefully, and to throw all the day’s clothing into the washer and dryer. In retrospect I can say that this was all to no avail--at least in my case--since this is undoubtedly the day I got infected with Lyme disease. Oy.
posted by Steve Shoemaker at 5:32 PM
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