I took a day from work last Monday.  I was on Cape Cod, as I often am, and it was a beautiful.  A friend was visiting from Denver, so we had a day for “flat country” activities.  On Cape Cod that means water.

In the morning we paddled up the Bass River, a large tidal body of water that separates Dennis from Yarmouth.  I was in the back of the two person kayak while two ladies traded off between the front seat of the kayak and a standup paddle board.

After a short while we stopped on a sand bank in the middle of the river.  Yes, it was low tide.  We spent a half of an hour wading and looking at the sea-life beneath our feet.  We left there and parked the kayak on a little sandy beach that was covered in little fiddler crabs.  We swam out into the deeper water and hung out around the standup paddle board.  We swam, floated (very buoyant water), hung off the board and just enjoyed ourselves.  We later moved to a new beach, a little less private, but nice and did the same thing, just splashing and not worrying about a thing.  After lunch we hit the “real” beach (West Dennis Beach) and swam in the ocean.  I only stayed about an hour, but it was fun. Continue reading →

Weekly Smile #WeeklySmile

I think this week it is fitting to write about the return of summer.

This has been a very odd year, weather wise.  Winter was milder than usual, but there were still some cold snaps and snow.  Spring didn’t want to arrive and was stretched out.  We had yo-yo weather, going from warmer than usual to colder than usual with no temperatures that were at all usual!  And it’s been wet.  Very wet.

After a very cold and wet start to June, temperatures warmed up.  The extreme (for June) cold of Monday and Tuesday gave way to a few gorgeous early summer days.  And then we had a heat wave (officially, a heat wave is three consecutive days above 90 F).  Although I complained a little, I wasn’t as uncomfortable as I often am in a heatwave.  The humidity was lower and the house started off at a much lower temperature because of the cold last week.  The heat broke last night and we are look forward to several beautiful June days.  The next week will see “normal” temperatures and a lot of sun shine.  I see some rain in there and a few cooler than average and a few warmer than average days, but all within a very normal range.  No more yo-yo weather. Continue reading →