Safe harbor

A great man passed away here on Cape Cod this week.

Safe harbor, Senator.

Morning has broken on Cape Cod

It's early morning, and I'm listening to Cat Stevens singing "Morning has broken." This is something my cousin Beth does every day. She gets up very early, and once she's in her wheelchair, and settled, she plays it on her computer.

She says it's her prayer. That's nice, don't you think?

Here it is for you, with lovely photos to go with it. Enjoy:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ESHjYat9r

Happier....

It's my day off .

...and I'm happier than
a seagull
with a French fry!

Have a lovely day,

It's still miserably hot and humid here on Cape Cod, and I 'm so, so happy to have my little job in the little office of the little church where I work...I love working there, but during the last few weeks, what I've loved most is the air-conditioning!

But now, after describing the blissfully cool air of work, I'm afraid to say that I have tomorrow off because (oh, boy, you won't believe this one) the gas company man is coming for my annual tune-up. Yes, this is where everyone is supposed to laugh...

So until it cools off a bit (we're waiting for you, September!), I thought I'd post a refreshing photo of the Cape Cod National Seashore in Eastham, where my sister Cathy and I bicycled during her visit earlier this summer. We had a lovely day bicycling the trails, and then we picked up mussels and steamers (the Cape Cod clams also known as quahogs) and brought them to our sister Sue's house in Falmouth for dinner. Cape bliss.

Stay cool, everyone; fall is coming!

August angst

I've heard that people hate the month of November. And I know that March can be tedious. But, for me, August is the cruelest month. Please, August, go away.

Until several weeks ago, Cape Cod had a "summer without a summer." It rained. Every day. For weeks. And weeks. And, even when it wasn't raining, it was cold. I used my electric blanket during the month of July. Yes, I know what you're going to say, but the night air gave off a nasty cold damp, and I do sleep alone!

But, er, anyway, in the garden, everything that loved the shade did well, and my artemisia and ferns are like jungle changelings. And my impatients! Oh, my, they loved the rain.

For the flowers and vegetables which need sun, however, it's been a sad state of affairs. Instead of massing over the outdoor shower walls, my Heavenly Blue morning glories, which are usually just as divine as their name, are only eight to ten inches tall, and I've seen narley a glimpse of blue. My roses pettered out early, and even the varieties of daisies were none too happy.

On the vegetable front, my dad's tomato plants grew to lumberjack proportions...with no fruit. He's only just getting little green tamaters, and while he waits for them to turn red, I'm ashamed to say that my potted cherry tomatoes have been giving me a handful of heirloom yellows. Tomato growing is not a matter in which I have any desire to show my father up, accomplished Italian tomato farmer that he is.

And now that August has finally struck Cape Cod, we've been hit with the part of weather I hate the most -- the humid, heated weather that hits you over the head from behind and then comes around to kick you in the belly. This weather makes me feel ill, and I'm completely lacking in ambition. The floors are sticky, no matter how often I wash and clean them. The yard is overgrown and seedy. And my office looks like an empty classroom.

So, all in all, I'm tired of August, and darn it all, I want it to leave! August is like the house guest I never really wanted, and now that it's here, I can't wait for it to go. Go away, August.

Jam Geraniums

Geraniums in the window of the Jam Kitchen at the Thornton Burgess Museum in Sandwich, on Cape Cod in Massachusetts.

Foggy Cape Cod Bloggy

So often, here on Cape Cod, it's hard to know what the day will be like. Some mornings, the fog from the ocean will hang on, pulling back gently to tease with just a bit of sun, a small glimpse of blue sky, and, just as you've decided, "Oh, it's going to rain," or "Oh, there's the sun," changing yet again.

The first time my cousin Janice and her husband Patrick came here to visit me, I worried every morning about the weather. I wanted everything to be perfect for their vacation here. And, every morning, the fog would drift away as they pulled out of the driveway for another one of their Cape Cod adventures (more on those in the future, I promise).

This August morning, as I sip my coffee, I wonder whether I should close the windows before I head off to the Outer Cape. Some mornings, the sun will break through before I leave, but as I drive towards Skaket Harbor on the Mid-Cape Highway, I can see the eastern end of the sky in front on me enveloped in dense clouds and mists. No matter...by the time I'm opening the blinds in my office, the sun may well be shining.

Hello. blogworld!

Hello blogworld!

I’m writing from my little house in a village of Barnstable to tell you about the simple, everyday pleasures of living and working here on beautiful Cape Cod, the “arm of the sea” in Massachusetts.

I’m just learning how to do this, but please visit me again!