Spotted On Our Walk

 

For the first time ever, Sam and I spotted, not one, not two, but THREE herons on the canal Wednesday evening. Sam's nature app (eventually) identified them as 'Purple Herons' but since Sam was skeptical, we later looked it up on The Internets and it turns out, Purple Herons typically range from lower Asia into Africa(!). Since we live in the Good Ol' US of A©, we were thinking that maybe his free nature app was wrong.

Sure enough, further investigation revealed that what we spotted were Great Blue Herons, not Purple Herons (great or otherwise). 

This was just as Sam suspected. 

Me, being color blind, kept my opinions to myself.

A Brief Follow-up

Back here, I mentioned the lack of rain around here. This is apparent everywhere but is especially noticeable at the pond by the college. Thankfully, we've had some rain since then...

The top photo was taken on August, 19th, the bottom one was taken September 6th - shortly after a heavy rain.

The water level has gone down a little but, with a few scattered days of rain here and there, it remains in decent shape - for now.

The Bottom Line

 

You're probably wondering if Sam and I we able to get our traditional end of the summer ice cream. Well, we did - but a little late.

Our tradition started years ago, back when Sam was still in school. On the evening of his last day of summer vacation, I would take him out for an ice cream. Technically, calendar-wise, at least, this was not the 'real' last day of summer. Just the last day that felt like it. 

Anyway, back then, we would get the school schedule months in advance so predicting when we would be going was as simple as looking at the calendar.

Now, and in recent years, his work schedule (and the question of whether he'll be working at all), is unknown until pretty much the last minute. This year, it seemed to be more 'unknown' than usual.

But the bottom line is, we made it. We were a little late, but we made it.

The Ride Home

 On Sunday morning, we finished packing the remainder of the food and gave the place a final cleaning - and then it was time to take off - Jake in his car and the rest of us in mine. We stopped and touched touched base briefly one last time in Sandwich, said final goodbyes, then Jake was off to Boston and we headed for home.

It's usually quiet on the ride home (when I'm not ranting about traffic) and, traffic aside, it kind of becomes a time of reflection. I find myself thinking about the vacation which just ended, as well as many of the ones which came before.

It was kind of comforting to see that some of the places were still the same - the Sundae School and the Pottery Place, for example. And though some places had changed it was still close enough to what it was like 'before'. All part of the evolution, I guess. 'Time marches on', and all of that.

But as I drove on, I slowly began to realize that maybe what changed the most, unfortunately ... was me. 

I thought about the last time we went on vacation and how I didn't pack my bifocals - because back then, I didn't have any. And I though about how I didn't pack my hearing aids, because I didn't have those, either. And I thought about how I didn't pack my CPAP machine...my CPAP machine...my CPAP machine... Crap! I left my CPAP machine back at the cottage!

So, not only am I losing my eyesight and my hearing, apparently I'm also losing my mind (which I guess in the end might be a good thing. Without a mind, maybe losing all the other things won't bother me so much).

(But it all ended well (poor eyesight, etc., aside). I'm happy to report that, after stopping along the way for a bathroom break (due to other people's bladders, not mine...yet), Rachael managed to contact the owner of the Airbnb, who kindly shipped it to my house.) Another happy ending!

Our Vacation- Day Four

Saturday was our last full day on the Cape and even though it was overcast, we decided to head to the beach because... well, who knows when we'll ever have the chance to go again. 

Note the pink and yellow tent. That's us - or rather, our tent. This tent has been our shelter since our very first vacation many, many, many (etc.) years ago. And though it's a little worse for wear and barely holding together (much like myself), it still proves to be valuable (almost like myself - I wish!).

Despite the luxury of not having people around, we cut the visit short and headed back to the Pottery Place for one last visit - which, conveniently, is only a couple of miles away from this particular beach.  

A second trip to the Pottery Place afforded us the option of (possibly) getting all of the things we didn't get on our first visit - assuming any of those things were still there. Well, I can't say we got all of the things we wanted - or even close to it - but we did get a few things. And even if we hadn't, it's a beautiful spot well worth visiting on it's own. 

A couple more photos...

Somewhere after all of this, back at the 'cottage', it was decided we should go to Hyannis. I have mixed feelings about Hyannis. First of all, it can be a little congested getting there and getting out of there - but I can deal with that. A bigger issue for me is that of all the places we go, Hyannis has probably changed (and continues to change, as we found out) the most - and not in a necessarily positive way. 

It still has its pluses. There’s still a candy and fudge store there - and though I didn’t get anything there (edible, anyway), it’s still nice to browse. And the Newbury Comic-like place is still there, as is the army/navy store - all good things. 

But the big thing is, the mini-golf is long gone (as it was on our previous visit(s)), and to make matters worse, the merry-go-round and small arcade, which used to be across the street from the mini-golf, are now gone, as well. 

I don’t know that we would have bothered with either of those things but they gave the town a certain charm - certainly more charm than the run-down lot and dilapidated building that are now left behind. 

Despite this sad sight, we managed to have a good time. And the memories alone are worth revisiting - especially because we were revisiting them together.

Back at the cottage, it was dinner (pizza, maybe?) and some packing for the morning trip home. 

We finished a night with a game night. And although I'm still confused with the instructions for the first, thankfully short-lived, game, the second game was not only easier to follow (once I got out of the habit of blurting out the answers), it was an awful lot of fun.

Game #1- Trying to understand what the heck Jake is talking about.

 

 

 

 

Game #2- More fun than Game #1.

More Game #2

Still more Game #2

Even More Game #2

And.. Even More Game #2.

It was a great way to finish of a fun vacation together. Tomorrow morning would be the final packing, the final cleaning and the long ride home.

Interlude III

 As mentioned in the previous post, here are a bunch of photos from our evening walk at Mayflower beach...

Our Vacation- Day Three

Friday started with a round of mini-golf. We play mini-golf at a place called 'Skull Island' which, as it turned out, was less than a mile from where we were staying. 

I keep thinking of Skull Island as the "new" place for mini-golf, I guess because, for many, many years, we used to play mini-golf at a place in the center of Hyannis. But a quick look through my photos tells me that we switched to playing mini-golf at Skull Island back in 2008.

We got to Skull Island early and beat the crowds and the heat - which helps to make a competitive game somewhat less cutthroat, which is nice. It's always makes for a better vacation when someone doesn't want to murder someone else. Here are a few of the many photos I took...

Note the giant skull in the top photo. The big question I have is, did they find the skull first and then name the place 'Skull Island'- or did they think of the name first and then go looking for a giant skull? I didn't think to ask the woman behind the counter, so for now, it'll remain a mystery.

Anyway, next stop was a jewelry store somewhat across the street from Skull Island. We stopped there even though this wasn't on Sam's list - because that's how we do things on vacation. The others went in but Sam and I decided to wait in the car, choosing instead to stare up at the car ceiling for what felt like several hours. 

After those seemingly several hours, Sam and I decided to visit the bakery a few doors down from the jewelry store. Good choice (on our part). The baked goods were great and the folks there were very friendly. We left with a nice box of pastries (to augment our dwindling supply of ice cream treats).

From there, it was off to the 'Pottery Place'. I think. Maybe it was off to get lunch first. Then again, maybe it wasn't... but lunch was in there, somewhere. 

Regardless...

The Pottery Place, like the Penny Candy Store, is a throwback to my long ago youth. I have early vacation memories of stopping here with Mom and Dad (and my nameless siblings) and being fascinated by the owner shaping the clay on the potter's wheel. It was like magic. It kind of still is.

Also, like the Penny Candy Store, the Pottery Place has a real name. Here's a short video...

    

And a few photos...

And finally, after all of this (with lunch being in there somewhere) it was back to the 'cottage'. Then, after a quick dinner and despite sort-of threatening skies, we closed the day with an evening walk at Mayflower Beach (pictures to follow). 

 

A long, full and enjoyable day.

Interlude II

In a previous post(s), I mentioned the old cottage and how the woman who owned it thoughtlessly passed away and how it had long since been sold (not to me). Actually, it had been sold at least one other time since (again, not to me) and whoever was selling it had unfortunately "modernized" the place. 

I know this because I saw some pictures of it on some realtor's website, back when I surfing around wondering, "Whatever became of...?". 

Here's a tip: Don't do that. It never ends well.

It my case, it spoils the illusion that things are exactly the same as they were a decade (or more) ago; that time, at least in some places, has stood still. And it ruins the illusion that at some level (at the risk of being institutionalized), the family is still thee, sharing time together.

But Sam had wanted to see the cottage so, with some trepidation, we drove by on the way back to the "new cottage". I was glad to see that other than a new coat of paint (within the last ten-or-so years, anyway), nothing had substantially changed. 

So, as long as I stay away from that realtor's website, the illusion lives on - a part of the family is still in there, sharing time together and life is as it should be.

Here are some photos of the cottage, taken over the course of several years. It gives you a pretty good idea of how little things change...

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

Our Vacation- Day Two

Day Two of our vacation started once again at the beach. As you can see from the picture above, it has changed remarkably little from the photo I posted back here - maybe a little less crowded but that likely has more to do with the time of day I took the photo -  or, now that I think of it, it could be because today was a Thursday and the other photo was possibly taken on a weekend. Things are a lot more crowded around here on weekends.

After lunch on the beach, it was back to the "cottage" for showers and to figure out our next step(s) - which in this case turned out to be a visit to the Sundae School. What's the Sundae school, you ask? Good question. Here's a video to fill you in...

 

 

Nice, right? In all the years we've been going to the Cape, this has been one of the places that's changed the least, if at all.

Anyway, after the Sundae School, we first drove by the old cottage (more on that later, maybe) before heading back to the new "cottage" where we had a dinner of leftover spaghetti (desert before dinner - as it should be). And after dinner, and after some debate, we managed to (barely) squeeze in a last minute visit to the Penny Candy Store.

 

This is another place that's changed very little in all the years the family has been coming here. But it has changed some, at least on the inside, from when I used to come here as a kid. 

 

Back then, the candy was all in the still-there glass case and you had to point out to the lady (who was probably some teenager grinding through her summer job) what you wanted ("I'll take one of those, and one of those, and one of those..."). 

 

Now, and for all of the last twenty-plus years, you go around with a basket, load it up and cash out. I think this is a more efficient way to do it. You don't tie up as much of their time with indecision. Instead, you just chuck everything into a basket and sort it out later. I would have loved this system when I was a kid.

 

Of course, the biggest difference from those long-ago days is that the candy is far from being a penny anymore. And not only is it more expensive, the candy is smaller - like pretty much everything else in the non-vacation world.

But it's still fun and we made it there with just enough time for everyone to get some candy and cash out before the lady (no longer a teenager) came out to the front porch to flip the sign from "Open" to "Closed".

 

And finally, it was time to head back to the "cottage" - to once again finish the evening by digging into the dwindling pile of those ice cream treats. After all, it had probably been at least a good four hours since we had any ice cream - and the day was almost over.

A Few Photos From the Windy Beach