Friday, October 5, 2012

Friday, October 5, 2012

Tonight's picture was taken in April of 2008. That day Mattie had his 6th birthday party at a bowling alley. Throughout the party I could tell Mattie wasn't feeling well and by the time the party was over he had a raging fever. When we brought Mattie home, he headed right to the couch, and as you can see fell asleep. Mattie rarely rested or napped, even as a baby. So the tell tale sign that Mattie was sick was the sight you see in tonight's photo.


Quote of the day:  The pursuit of truth and beauty is a sphere of activity in which we are permitted to remain children all our lives. ~ Albert Einstein

Last night Peter and I went out to dinner with Peter's parents in Provincetown. Typically we never go out at night on the Cape. Mainly because once the sun goes down it is pitch black out and there are little to no lights on the streets! On our drive out of Provincetown, we stopped at this house to take a picture. Clearly a Halloween affectionato! Notice the mechanical black cat on the right hand side of the picture. This cat was HUGE and moving! The drive back to our house last night was inky and extremely foggy. We literally couldn't see more than 100 feet ahead of us. Seemed like the perfect setting for a murder mystery.

Today is our last full day on the Cape. We have had only two days of sunshine while we have been here! This morning was overcast and filled with fog, yet despite this, our beautiful morning greeting on the marsh did not disappoint!

We went exploring another nature trail today in Provincetown. On our way to the trail, this is what we were driving through. If you look off into the distance you will see that there were actual dunes, but frankly it was impossible to see anything. This FOG did not burn off until 2pm. Nonetheless, the rest of the day was stunning!

MY FAVORITE PICTURE OF THE DAY!!!!!!!! We visited the Beech Forest Trail today. As we got out of the car, I noticed many birds started to flock around us. When we began walking the trail, a lady came up to me and asked me if I wanted seed to feed the birds. She handed me seed and explained what I had to do to get the Chickadees to land on my hand and eat. You need to understand that under typical circumstances, there would have been NO way I would have a bird land on me or allow it to eat out of my hand. But in this beautiful setting, I figured why not! The lady went on to tell me that over the last 40 years, the Chickadees in this forest have become acclimated to humans, and therefore land on people and expect to be feed. She said generations of Cape Coders have done this! So in essence she was teaching me a tradition, and when she saw my reaction to the experience, she called her husband over to tell him that she taught us the tradition and was proud of herself for passing it on. Needless to say, if I ever return to Beech Forest Trail, I am BRINGING SEED! As you can see in this picture, I had a Chickadee right in my hand. It was a priceless and touching feeling, and the only thing I can equate this to is Snow White. I literally felt like Snow White on this trail with birds fluttering and flittering all around me. The funny part is Peter did not enjoy this experience at all, and yet I was absolutely thrilled! Later Peter told me he wasn't sure how the birds would react to us once the seed supply stopped, but fortunately my ignorance was bliss and never thought for a moment that they would begin pecking at us!

After feeding the Chickadees, we then met up with a group of cardinals. As you can see this female cardinal came by to see if I had any seed left!

This week we have walked through a White Cedar trail, a Red Maple trail, and today a Beech Forest Trail. In this photo you can see the beech trees all around us.

The trail had several hills and climbs. Peter snapped a picture of me climbing up a hill. You can get a feeling for the steepness.

As we climbed up one of the hills, we found these dunes at the very top! The beauty of this part of the Cape is its seclusion. Last year this isolation truly troubled me, but this year I knew what to expect. With that said, I am very attuned to the fact that I couldn't possibly live here year round. The fog, dampness, and isolation would be unbearable to me. Clearly I am not alone, since one store owner told me that fewer and fewer people live on the Cape year round now for exactly the same reasons I have mentioned.

Along our journey, we came across this oak tree which had fallen along the trail. I had Peter pose next to the tree because from my perspective it looked like he was holding up this mighty oak.

The trail opened up onto a lovely pond that was lined with pitch pine trees and there were ducks floating on the water as well.

I entitle this photo I took, "Beauty of the Fall!"

I entitle this photo, "Fall is all around us!"

After our time on the trail, we then had lunch in Provincetown, right on the water. While having lunch the SUN came out! People all around us at the restaurant were cheering! We then spent the rest of the day exploring Ryder Beach. Ryder Beach is right on Cape Cod Bay and this particular sight captured me today with the Rose Hips blooming right by the dunes. This evening I will be packing up our rental home, and tomorrow morning, we will be heading back to New York for a night before returning to DC. It is hard to leave this natural beauty, peacefulness, and tranquility behind. I have visited many beach side communities, but I have to say I have yet to find one like the Cape. Peter and I are returning to Ryder Beach tonight, so it is my hope to share some photos of our evening visit tomorrow night.