Cape Cod Bay

We had been going to Bermuda for a couple of weeks vacation, every year for a number of years, with an occasional trip to the Bahamas and Florida as Eunice loved the beaches. We also had been to Virginia Beach, Myrtle Beach and beaches along the Gulf of Mexico. Then one day someone said that we should try Cape Cod in Massachusetts as they had beaches that rivalled the best in the world and only a four hour drive. So we decided to give it a shot and we found some of the most spectacular beaches we had ever seen. We were hooked, so for many years thereafter, that's where we would go.

Eventually, we wound up at the very tip of the Cape in Provincetown, a very old whaling town in the 18th and 19th centuries with many of the original buildings intact. Absolutely delightful place. As I liked to paint and Eunice loved the beach and we both loved Art museums, which were plentiful there, it had everything we could have wanted. We also would occasionally trailer our small speedboat, and moor it in Pleasant Bay, because Eunice loved to water ski. Suffice it to say it became our favorite vacation spot. In addition, it was a gay community and as we loved to go to Greenwich Village a lot so it was a perfect place for us and our dogs who also loved the beach.

Amazing vacations, sometimes with friends and sometimes just the two of us. We used to stay at places right on the beach along Cape Cod Bay. We would get up early and walk along the beach at low tide where the water would recede for great distances and we could wander forever until the tide finally came back in. There will be many stories in the future about Cape but at this writing I want to introduce you to Eunice, my wife of 42 years, who was a wonderfully expressive poet. I will do this with a couple of her observations of the Bay which follow.

SEA WALK

The sea surrounds me,
white, then black shadows
flowing past me as I walk
through endless corridors...
and upon the sand
a dismembered jaw, with
teeth like porcelain arrows floating on
the waters edge.
drifting right... drifting left... drifting...
a past life searching... separated
from an ancient soul...
mighty bones, fearless eyes!
Warrior of the deep!
I can see you as you soar the ocean's floor.
And now you just lie upon the sand...
Drifting...
Your strength, the flowing tides...
Your greatness, the thoughts of
Man passing through the sea...

LOW TIDE

Sea don't leave.
Waves flowing toward the horizon.
Whom do you run to...
Silently, fading in the light...
Leaving your lost,
Your lonely,
Upon the cool gray sand,
waiting for the night...

Sea, don't leave them...
Abandoned...
Unprotected life, lying
Upon the beach...
For the sun will scorch their hearts
And the birds will pick their bones,
And the wind,
The unrelenting wind/
Will whirl endlessly through their souls...
Sea don't go...
For they'll die
waiting for you.
Waiting for the night...

July 18th, 1979 - Cape Cod