The Cape

August 11, 2014

We’ve been going to Cape Cod every summer since 1996. Our first time there, we spent the week in a $700 rental in West Dennis. Those of you who know the Cape are thinking, “Oh.” We also made the uninformed decision to drive to West Dennis via Route 28 from the Sagamore Bridge. On a Saturday afternoon. In a hurricane.

Surprisingly enough, we returned. Three more years in rentals and my sister’s house ever since then. Let me tell you, it would be hard to go back to a rental. The house overlooks the ocean, and even cooking dinner for a crowd is pleasant when you can glance up to see the sun setting over the ocean (Sagamore, technically) while sipping Sangria.

Over the years we’ve done all the touristy things there are to do – whale watching out of Provincetown, bike riding up to Wellfleet, buying countless trinkets at gift shops on both 28 and 6A, watching baseball games in Orleans, walking the Sandwich boardwalk, seeing the seals off of Chatham, sampling clam chowder and ice cream at multiple fine dining establishments across the Cape, taking on the surf along the National Seashore, and many others. (Some were a one time deal because they were dreadful mistakes, like parasailing where we almost lost two daughters and a nephew.)

But my favorite thing to do is to plunk myself down on the beach and not move until the tide can no longer be ignored. As part of that activity, I have two favorite sub-activities. One is reading. In the book I am currently reading, I feel a connection with one of the main characters – a woman who, during the late 1800’s, writes short articles with accompanying drawings about the places she lives and visits and sends them off by post to various publications. Fast forward about 125 years and add a few technological tweaks, and that’s pretty much what I’m doing.

The second sub-activity I love doing while on the beach is watching the kids. Running, swimming, yelling, laughing, taking walks along the beach, playing in the tidal pools, even reading. When I’m sitting in my beach chair and look up to see them outlined by the blue sky or deeper blue ocean or beige sand, I think they are beautiful.

Nicole, Tanit, Zach, Abby, Lexi, Jac, Ben

As I watched them this past week, I couldn’t help but think about when my kids were younger and doing the same things together. (Meagan and Heather could only be there for the first weekend, so I was missing them.) I’m not one for living in the past, and I enjoy what I have right now, but wouldn’t it be cool to spend a few minutes with 11-year-old Meagan, 9-year-old Heather, and 3-year-old Nicole one more time.