Trying to Make Time

At 3:40 am a saw-whet owl was hoo-ing outside of our window. It's the kind of a sound you'd think a ghost would make, a mournfull "hoooo" but with the roll of your toungue. (as if you were saying hoooo and purring at the same time) Just before that, I had ignored the alarm on my cell phone and switched it off. But now, with the owl calling through the VERY still air of the early morning, I was recalling the perfect weather report and perfect fishing tides that I was looking at last night. So, I got up and got to the beach.

I had prepped everything the night before so I got out of the house quickly and was on the water by 4:00. By 4:30 I had my first fish. I fished all morning at all my favorite locations on the flat. The bigger fish were very skittish and wouldn't take my fly. I sure got plenty of little ones though with this nice 24 incher for my biggest. He took it in about a foot of water, and I watched him come up on it and take it, practically standing on his head, then turning and racing out to sea away from me. He was very strong for a 24 inch fish and got well into my backing before turning.

After I got him, I headed in, checking a couple other spots on the way, then packed it in to try to get to work by 9:00.

Low Tide, Windy and Bunches O' Clams

Sunday was another perfect weather day... except for the wind. Since Sunday morning is the only time of the week that I can go fishing, I can almost guarantee it will be windy every Sunday through the end of the summer. Since my boat is a canoe, the wind really pushes it around and it's just an absolute pain to try to fish AND paddle at the same time. So, the wind keeps me shoreside, and I really miss the early mornings, alone with the sunrise and the gulls, far out on the bay, but it does give me just one more excuse to sleep in.

In lieu of fishing, there is always SHELLfishing. The flats are a short walk from the beach, there is less cleanup, the kids can get involved, and it only depends on the tide. In the town of Brewster, a resident family license only costs $15, and you can take 10 quarts of quahogs a week... but only on Sundays and Thursdays through August. I'm the only one who eats them though, so we don't take that many. It's a fun activity for the kids and they've gotten good at feeling the clams with their toes under the sand. I steam them or put them on the grill, eat a few and chop the rest up for stuffed clams.

Rainy Night

It's raining out. There is no wind and the crickets have come out singing, and will stay out, for the rest of the summer. It's one of those soft steady rains that would ruin any day, but at night from the cover of my farmer's porch, in total darkness, it's a treat.

The only light is from a window way up the street and from occasional firerflies that are negotiating the falling raindrops. I wonder what would happen if one got hit by a drop... I guess he would be knocked to the ground. I dont' think his butt-light would go out, and he'd probably survive the crash. I guess he'd have to go dry off somewhere. Apparently, according to Wikipedia, it's the males that do the flying and the females wait on the ground. He blinks... she blinks... he blinks... she blinks and eventually, they've found each other!

The rain started to come down harder and the wind picked up so now I'm back inside. I have more photos up on my flickr site. Go join. Flickr's a great site.

Cooking Marshmallows on the Deck

We got our deck pit going again the other day, then again last night. The firepit was a gift from Kristen and Peter. We've got a lot of dead pinewood around and it makes for a nice campground-smelling fire. The kids love it, making s'mores and just watching the fire. And, even though it's been unbearably humid during the day, it's been cool at night. If the bugs weren't so bad, I could fall asleep out there. Oh... and I found my first summer tree frog on Sunday. It was only about a half an inch long. I almost mowed it up in the lawnmower, but he hopped away just in time. He even got away from the kids... lucky frog.

See more photos at my flickr site.

Max Gets an Up-Close with Big Papi

(click images for a bigger view)
This past Saturday, it was 97 degrees at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. The PawSox (the Red Sox AAA farm leaguers) were playing the Toledo Mudhens and we were there... and so was Big Papi! This was a stroke of luck since we were scheduled to go to the game with the Cape Cod Cub Scouts since back in May. And, since Big Papi, David Ortiz was back from rehab, he was making his 3rd rehab start with the PawSox. Through a strange set of circumstances, Max and 2 other friends from his Tiger Cub den ended up on the field with Pack 34 to help honor The Flag during opening ceremonies. Coincidentally, Big Papi wears #34.

It just so happened that Pack 34 ended up lining up at about shortsop position, which was just in front of where Big Papi was warming up. How could you not turn and look? Max was thrilled to say the least, and it certainly made the heat bearable. Meanwhile, Sophie, Amy and the rest of the families watched from the grassy berm in Left field. Luckily we had some nice billboards to shade us there.

Mimosa Tree in Full Bloom

We've had some absolutely amazing weather lately. The warm days and cool nights have not only sparked the crabgrass into high gear, but my little Mimosa Tree has exploded! This photo was taken two days ago. I cut down a huge branch from a scraggly choke cherry tree that was shading one side of it. I would have cut the whole thing out of there if Amy let me. Beach photos are up on my flickr site, so take a look. If you have an account and are one of my contacts, you'll see more photos, so sign up... it's free.

Squid Egg-Mops on the Brewster Flats

We had a great day on the flats this weekend. The kids and I walked way out with the low tide and came across some pretty cool things. The best thing we found was what's called an "egg mop." It's a pile of squid eggs that looks like a big jelly mop (sans handle). The one we found was about 3 feet across and a foot wide. You could actually see the tiny little squids inside the eggs flipping and wiggling around. They were transparent and had two tiny black eyes. Their bodies had the identical shape of the full grown ones, only maybe a bit squatter than the adults. I'll find a picture... I didn't have my camera out there with me.

We also found a giant quahog (which we couldn't bring home because you can only shelfish on Thursday's and Sundays.) We found big hermit crabs and some old, cranky horseshoe crabs. Max got pinched by a swimming crab and we found a whole bunch of moon snails, which the kids let crawl all around thier arms. We were looking for pipette fish, but never found any. Last year at this time they were everywhere.

My Mimosa Tree Finally Bloomed!

I got this Mimosa tree 3 years ago. It's about doubled in size in that time, and this year it's going to have a gazillion blooms. This is it's first bloom of the season! (Looks like a Dr. Seus Tree)

Flat Calm and Foggy on the Brewster Flats

On Sunday, I set out for my second day of fishing this year (sad.. I know). The first thing that happened, even before I left the house was that my left contact lens ripped. I didnt' have a spare so I had to wear my geeky glasses, that don't really fit. Next, although it was fairly clear at my house, the beach was socked in with fog. I paddled out anyway since I have a compass and can easily find my way back ... but when I took my compass out after racing a half-mile out to get away from the bugs, I found that my compass was broken... all the water drained out.

I was socked in by fog and there was no wind. All those land bugs that followed me out were hanging around too, but eventually after they all had their turns on me, I had killed them all... either that or they were all full on my blood so they went home.

The fog eventually cleard to the point where I could see land and I ended up catching a few fish. Max met me later and he got his first fish of the year. We also collected about a dozen quahogs (which turned out to be our only keepers for the day)

Click here to see photos of the trip.

A Gem from San Francisco

I found this at Lukes Liquors on Sunday. I've had the Original Anchor Steam and the Liberty Ale, but I've never seen the Summer Beer on Cape Cod before. I splurged and spent the $9.99 on the six pack.... Good stuff.

What to do on a Rainy 4th Weekend

The weather couldn't make up its mind this morning , but eventually settled on dense clouds and a cool north breeze. Andy and his girlfriend, Laura were down visiting for the day, and we took our chances with the weather. They wanted to go paddling around in the canoe, so we took them down to Paines Creek. It was just high tide and the kids had a blast playing in the fast-moving tidal creek

Happy Fourth of July!

(click photos for larger views)

In the town of Dennis, on Cape Cod, they shoot thier fireworks off on the 3rd. It was a perfect night for it. The wind was up to cool things down and, even better, to keep the bugs away. We arrived early and squatted out a patch of low tide river-basin-bottom for our hangout, hoping it would stay dry until the fireworks were done. No one else seemed to think the sandy mud river bottom would last the turn of the tide, so we pretty much got the "beach" to ourselves. It turned out to be a fine spot, low enough to get some good fireworks shots and we just made it to the end of the show with only having to relocate once.


Across the tidal river is the Northside Marina. They had a big party going on with a bonfire and live cover band. Max and I skipped pieces of old broken tile on the water that littered the beach - he wone with 6 skips. I got one to go five, but Max only gave me 4. We both tried and tried for 7, but it never happened. Sophie moved from beach chair to beach chair, adjusting each and testing each one with a blanket or towel, falling out of two and finally settling on sitting in Mom's lap.


Now Chase... doesn't this look like a fine spot to launch a rubber raft?