Old haunts

It’s been five years since I was last on Cape Cod. (You can check out my musings from previous vactations via catagories on the right.) While being so long away is something of a tragedy in my book, I also recognize how very lucky I am to be able to make this trip at all. I’m soaking up every minute of it by revisiting some of my favorite spots.

Arts and crafts

Yesterday, I drove over to Chatham, which has a terrific Main Street with a seashore / New England shopping vibe – lots of cute stores and galleries that I wondered in and out of for hours. I spent a half an hour talking with the owner/artist of a brand new gallery, Steven Koppel. He’s a Cape photographer and has the most amazing photos of the Brewster flats and the national seashore wave action. Brewster is on the bay side of the Cape, and the time goes out for a couple of miles or so twice a day, leaving just wet flats that you can walk out on. If I had a few thousand dollars I had nothing better to do with, I would have bought this spectacular shot for my sunporch.

Steven generously shared with me some of his photography techniques (it’s about camera action and exposure time, not adjusted on the production side). And he runs a nonprofit that provides an art therapy app to help people to express themselves using editing techniques. It’s so cool when you can talk to artists like that – I so admire the talent and the vision.

My walk on the beach was in the early evening at Breakwater Beach, just before a bit of rain came in. Quite a different mood from other nights – no less peaceful and inspiring.

Last night, I had a (good) ugly cry finishing a book – Abby Jimenez’ Life’s Too Short. So glad I was in my room and not out having dinner when I came to the most touching parts!

Watching for whales

Today’s adventure took me to Provincetown to take a whale-watching tour. It was a spectacular day for it! The water was incredibly calm, and we got to see a couple hundred dolphin and about 24 whales.

Some of you will remember Jacques Cousteau, who introduced my generation to the wonders of the sea. Listening to the biologist talking about the whales and seeing her take research notes and photos reminded me of those Cousteau TV specials (when TV did “specials”). And of course, I also caught the echo of John Denver’s tribute to Cousteau’s work, a song which is as much about the joy of learning as it is the triumph of discovery in the oceans. (Calypso was the name of Cousteau’s research vessel.)

To sail on a dream on a crystal clear ocean
To ride on the crest of a wild raging storm
To work in the service of life and the living
In search of the answers to questions unknown
To be part of the movement and part of the growing
Part of beginning to understand

Aye, Calypso, the places you’ve been to
The things that you’ve shown us, the stories you tell
Aye, Calypso, I sing to your spirit
The men who have served you so long and so well

Like the dolphin who guides you, you bring us beside you
To light up the darkness and show us the way
For though we are strangers in your silent world
To live on the land we must learn from the sea
To be true as the tide and free as the wind swell
Joyful and loving in letting it be

~ John Denver

It’s quite a trick for me to take pictures with the action coming too fast and the sun making it impossible to see the screen. But I did get a few nice photos.

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Angles, Tangles, and Dangles

One of my often-used closing activities for workshops is an exercise called Angles, Tangles, and Dangles. Basically, you’re asked to share new angle (an insight you’ve gained), a smoothed tangle (something you knew, but for which you now have a deeper understanding), and an ugly dangle (unanswered question).

Here’s mine so far this vacation:

New angle: Ending the evening with some quiet music and reading is a true joy that I really should make more of a habit. Listening to news and podcasts during my morning and bedtime routines is, on reflection, more agitating than it’s worth. I still want to listen to podcasts, though, so I’ll need to figure out where to work those in – maybe when making lunch and dinner, or on my walk.

Smoothed tangle: As much as I love sunsets on the bay side of the Cape, I’m craving the sound of crashing waves. Off to the National Seashore beaches tomorrow! I can get that sound in southern Delaware, too, and I really must commit to a day trip once a month – even in the cold (as it was at Watch Hill), there’s nothing more transporting.

Ugly dangle: What’s next? I spent these last few years deeply exploring learning culture, modern blended learning, and self-directed learning, and I have products and services along these lines. I’m trying to sort out what my next big thing might be – where I can stand out and contribute something unique. Occasionally pondering this on my travels, without letting it crowd out the vacation vibe.

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