Bright sunshiney day

I learned a few things today…
1) There really is water in the Cape Cod Bay.
2) When you take a long walk on an unfamiliar beach, it’s best to start by looking back to identify the landmarks for where you started.
3) Weather forecasters are just as frequently wrong here as they are at home.

It was supposed to be a changeover day… nice in the morning, but clouding up by mid-day. My original plan was to walk Breakwater Beach after breakfast, then go into Chatham for some window shopping, then wind up back reading by the pool for the cloudy part of the day.

It turned out to be a spectacular Cape Cod day from beginning to end… sunny, breezy, bright, warm… just fantastic. 

On my morning walk on Cape Cod Bay, the tide was finally in!

  
Note the very gentle morning bay-side waves…

I then went browsing through the stores in Chatham, which has a quaint main street with lots of eclectic places to discover unique items. My favorite place is Where the Sidewalk Ends – the bookstore near the end of the commercial part of the street. Yes, I bought a book… a Cape Cod remembrance that is a compilation of stories about the history of the Cape. You know I never have enough to read. 🙂

 Windsurfer at Chatham Light. Click to enlarge.

As I was leaving Chatham, I spent a half hour or so in my car in the parking lot right at the top of the stairs on the beach at Chatham Light House, mostly talking to Maryellen on the phone. The whole time, I kept seeing glimpses of this windsurfer zipping back and forth across the ocean. What control it must take to make this work! – I mean, doesn’t the wind only go one way? I saw him get pulled several feet up off the water a few times as he changed direction and flew along the coastline. Must be a thrill. (But cold – it was really windy at Chatham, and I didn’t venture onto the beach.)

At Nauset Beach in the afternoon. Now thems are ocean waves!
 
Up close and personal…
   

I’m afraid I am a faithless beach walker. Today I would tell you that Nauset is my favorite beach. It was spectacular… flat, hard sand that made walking a treat. I was serenaded by a constant, high-decibel whoosh of ocean sound from never-ending breaking waves and ever retreating backwash water. I could taste and feel the tangy salt spray, feel the rhythm of the ocean, hear the beat of the earth’s heart. Just gorgeous. It was hard to leave.

Back at the Inn, I found myself the lone guest… our afternoon “repast” was set for one. (Slightly depressing, but it meant that the molasses cookies were all mine!) As I hung out by the pool, the temperature started to drop and the breeze kicked up. I headed out for a peek at the sunset at Paine’s Creek Beach (the beach closest to Brewster by the Sea, Donna and Byron’s other property) and dinner at my favorite restaurant, Mahoney’s Grille.

 A pink sunset at Paine’s Creek Beach.

For my reading today, I’ve been finishing up Tolstoy and the Purple Chair.  Here’s the quote of the day, which Nina Sankovitch included from a book called The Scarlet Ruse:

“Today, my friends, we each have one day less. And joy is the only thing that slows the clock.”  ~ John MacDonald

On the one hand, that’s a bit of a morbid thought. On the other, it’s a stark reminder that we need to live life to its fullest each and every day. Today was a good day. I hope yours was, too.

“It is a gift we humans have, to hold on to beauty felt in a moment for a lifetime.”  ~ Nina Sankovitch