Watery Pix Of The Cape

Yeah, Another Blogger

During the 11 full days my wife Sandy and I were on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, last month, my right index finger was busier than it normally is. For it is the digit I usually employ to tap the big button on my phone’s camera when I notice a scene I want to immortalize. I snapped 137 photos during that period, which averages out to about 12 per day. That’s a substantial amount of picture-taking, an activity I enjoy. And I thank the stars above for making digital photography, via camera phones, so very easy and so very convenient. If it weren’t, I probably would say f*ck this, and then look for another hobby. Yours truly, you see, likes things to be as simple and problem-free as possible. But enough about that proclivity. Let’s now spend a few minutes with some of my pix from the Cape. All of them are water-based.

I’m not surprised that water features prominently in a significantly high number of the 137 photos, because it was on Cape Cod, which Sandy and I have visited almost annually since 1998, that I fell in love with water. Open, endless waters particularly, and ponds too. I don’t know why this love affair blossomed when I was in my 50s, rather than much earlier in my life, as I spent plenty of time at ponds and lakes and the Atlantic Ocean during my younger days. But people — a category I’m fairly sure I’m a member of — sometimes evolve.

Cape Cod is the area shaped like a flexed arm. The land mass above Buzzard’s Bay is not part of Cape Cod.

Four bodies of water surround Cape Cod. I don’t know squat about one of them, Buzzard’s Bay, because it’s too damn far from where Sandy and I stay on the Cape. On the other hand, I am real good pals with the other three: the Atlantic Ocean, Cape Cod Bay and Nantucket Sound. They are majestic. As many times as I’ve stared out at them, I’ve never tired of their looks and auras. They make my jaw drop even farther than old age already has. If I had to choose a favorite among the three, the Atlantic would get my vote. It’s beyond mega-huge, and one never knows what temperament it will display on any given day.

Mill Pond (Orleans, Cape Cod)
Atlantic Ocean, as seen from Nauset Beach (Orleans, Cape Cod)

I’m continually amazed that our rented house, in Orleans township, is deliciously close to the ocean. A 15-minute walk will take you there. And what a walk! From the house, which is nestled in a wooded area, you stroll two blocks to luscious Mill Pond and then head eastward along Mill Pond’s marsh-grassed edges. Soon you reach low dunes, beyond which lie Nauset Beach and the big fella himself. The Atlantic. Sandy and I trod this route at the very tail end of our trip in October. We were not disappointed. Natural beauty bathed us every step of the way. The ocean was fairly calm that day. We took our time watching it, listening to it, letting the waters soothe our minds. Then we bid farewell to our friend, whom we hope to meet again next year.

During the first few years we vacationed on Cape Cod, Paine’s Creek Beach (in Brewster township) was our favorite vantage point from which to imbibe, figuratively speaking, Cape Cod Bay. Subsequently, we discovered other Cape Cod Bay beaches with exceptional views. But Paine’s Creek Beach remains high on the list.

Cape Cod Bay, as seen from Paine’s Creek Beach (Brewster, Cape Cod)

The scenes at Paine’s Creek Beach last month made us question why we haven’t moved to Cape Cod. The sea grasses poking out of the waters were showing off their autumnal amber hue. And the waters themselves were a dream, as calm and gorgeously blue as anyone could want. There is nothing even remotely close in beauty to Cape Cod Bay in the region we call home (southeast Pennsylvania). Unfortunately.

For one reason or another, we don’t feast our eyes on Nantucket Sound as often as we do on the ocean and Cape Cod Bay. However, I’d been impressed by Chatham township’s Hardings Beach, bordering Nantucket Sound, a bunch of times over the years. And so, after catching a movie (“Saturday Night,” which is super-entertaining) at the cinema in Chatham’s village section, we drove to Hardings Beach to watch a sunset.

A sunset at Nantucket Sound, as seen from Hardings Beach (Chatham, Cape Cod)

Though not a knock-your-socks-off spectacle, the feathery, misty sunset was way better than meh. And, as always, Nantucket Sound captivated us. Massive bodies of water have that kind of power. For two and half decades I’ve been losing myself in the Atlantic Ocean, Cape Cod Bay and Nantucket Sound. I doubt if I’ll ever get my fill of them.

161 thoughts on “Watery Pix Of The Cape”

  1. J. Kelland Perry's avatar J. Kelland Perry November 28, 2024 / 10:39 am

    Thanks for showing us your gorgeous pics, Neil. I was in my late forties when we moved to our home beside the sea. I instantly fell in love with the Atlantic at our doorstep, and we miss it if we are away too long.

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  3. Unknown's avatar Anonymous November 28, 2024 / 7:27 pm

    Lucky you. Enjoy all you can! I’m happy for you! Muriel

    Liked by 2 people

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  4. Ally Bean's avatar Ally Bean November 29, 2024 / 1:25 pm

    It looks beautiful and peaceful, I can understand why it calls to you. Not everyone finds a happy spot like you have.

    Liked by 2 people

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  5. tanjabrittonwriter's avatar tanjabrittonwriter November 29, 2024 / 1:29 pm

    Thank you for another beautiful post about Cape Cod, Neil. One of these days I hope to see it, all its bodies of water, and its many bird visitors.

    Liked by 2 people

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  7. andrewcferguson's avatar andrewcferguson November 30, 2024 / 1:04 pm

    Fantastic pics. There is something about the Atlantic – standing on our side of it, looking out and knowing the next landfall is Canada or the States, and that so many of our forebears made that chancy journey.

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  8. Ilsa Rey's avatar Ilsa Rey November 30, 2024 / 3:54 pm

    Looks like the pictures (and trip) were worth it! I’m glad you didn’t sprain your finger. My problem with picture taking is I take about 5 of the same thing, then have to sift through far too many from the trip to narrow it down to the best, most necessary pics. You did a great job. 🙂

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    • Yeah, Another Blogger's avatar Yeah, Another Blogger November 30, 2024 / 11:47 pm

      Hi Betsy. I sometimes do the same as you. If I see an outdoor sculpture I like, for instance, I might take its picture from a bunch of angles. I guess we do things like that because we don’t have to pay for film and film developing anymore.

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    • Yeah, Another Blogger's avatar Yeah, Another Blogger December 1, 2024 / 3:58 pm

      Hello, Andrea. The seas have a magnetic pull on a whole lot of people. A terrific non-fiction book about Earth’s waters is The Sea Around Us, by Rachel Carson.

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      • Dave Ply's avatar Dave Ply December 1, 2024 / 11:01 pm

        I use a “regular” camera, with interchangeable lenses. But I have the phone camera too, for those times when I don’t feel like lugging the gear, or want to pass a camera to someone else to get a photo of the wife and me.

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  12. Linda Pearce Griffin's avatar Linda Pearce Griffin December 2, 2024 / 10:01 pm

    Thank you for sharing your photos. I found the settings very serene. It is easy to see why this is one of your favorite places.

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    • Yeah, Another Blogger's avatar Yeah, Another Blogger December 3, 2024 / 6:50 am

      Morning, Linda. My wife and I are lucky that Cape Cod has become a part of our lives. Take care. Have a good rest of the week.

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      • Jeff the Chef's avatar Jeff the Chef December 9, 2024 / 9:46 am

        Well, it’s stunning. City folk like us don’t often have the opportunity to see nature in all its amazingness unless we really set out to do so. So often, I’m lucky enough to see things – especially in sky and seascapes – that I think if I’d seen it in a painting, I would think it was a work of imagination, and not an actual depiction of nature.

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  16. cincinnatibabyhead's avatar cincinnatibabyhead December 12, 2024 / 11:30 am

    One of the things that appeals to me is the “aloneness” of the pics, like you have the place to yourself. I can dig that.

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    • Yeah, Another Blogger's avatar Yeah, Another Blogger December 12, 2024 / 2:48 pm

      Hi CB. Right, there are some beach areas on Cape Cod where you don’t see many people during off-seasons. It’s good to have a beach pretty much to yourself!

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  17. alhenry's avatar alhenry December 15, 2024 / 4:11 pm

    I, too, love the Atlantic. The first day I arrived in Boston 41 years ago, all my worldly possessions in tow (not many!), I went down to the North End, dipped my hand in the Atlantic and whispered, “I made it!”

    And “We took our time watching it, listening to it, letting the waters soothe our minds” describes the perfect antidote to the stress of our times. So glad you and Sandy had a marvelous trip. I know the Cape means a great deal to you.

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    • Yeah, Another Blogger's avatar Yeah, Another Blogger December 15, 2024 / 6:30 pm

      It never occurred to Sandy and me that there might be a place we’d want to go to again and again . . . until we discovered Cape Cod.

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  18. D. Wallace Peach's avatar D. Wallace Peach December 16, 2024 / 2:54 pm

    12 Pics a day doesn’t seem unreasonable in the big picture. Hehe. Sometimes it’s hard to stop. And how great to be a short walk from the beach. Love the one of that beautiful blue sky, and the sunset is nothing to complain about either. Keep snapping those pictures – no reason not to. 🙂

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  19. rkrontheroad's avatar rkrontheroad December 17, 2024 / 12:35 pm

    Loved all these photos of what has become one of my favorite places as well of late. Stunning sunset!

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  20. Unknown's avatar Anonymous December 20, 2024 / 1:50 pm

    Incredible photos. As a professional photographer, I have had the chance to see some amazing places, but I have never been to Cape Cod. I am going to Baton Rouge next week to take some pictures for a dumpster rental company. After that, I may just have to book a trip to Cape Cod.

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  21. denisebushphoto's avatar denisebushphoto December 22, 2024 / 4:11 pm

    Love the shots you have chosen for this post. They fit together so nicely as a set. Someone once told me that water was the most photographed subject. When you think about it in all its forms … I can believe it, I guess! 😀

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  22. estricsek's avatar estricsek January 7, 2025 / 11:46 am

    Great story and lovely photos Neil. I’m sorry we missed your visit to the Cape. We were actually out of town while you were here. Hopefully when you next visit we can get together. Have you and your wife been to the Audubon Center in Wellfleet? Or the Natural History Museum in Brewster? Some wonderful photo ops there.

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    • Yeah, Another Blogger's avatar Yeah, Another Blogger January 7, 2025 / 4:30 pm

      Hi Ernie. We’ve been to those places. Sometimes I think I know Cape Cod better than I do my permanent-home region!

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