Wellfleet in winter is so quiet the harbor seagulls don’t budge when pedestrians approach. Impossible to spook them. I tried waving my arms, but each seagull had staked out a claim on a different post and had no intention of losing its perch. There were a few more cars in town for Valentine’s Day weekend, and a few more organized activities, but not a lot going on, compared to summer. (Read Bruce B's report on what did go on here.)
Long Pond is still frozen. Sven and I watched a group of kids playing on the ice with their dog. Every winter we have a conversation along these lines:
ME: “Our reservations are down.”
SVEN: “You say that every year.”
ME: “No, really. Way down.”
SVEN: “It’s only February!”
ME: “This time people are going to stay home.”
SVEN: “Don’t exaggerate.”
ME: “No one can afford a vacation anymore.”
SVEN: “People always find the money for a holiday.”
ME: “It’s the recession.”
SVEN: “We live between two major cities. If they can’t afford Europe, they’ll come here.”
ME: “I tell you no one’s booking.”
SVEN: “Shorter trips will make more sense.”
ME: “There’s even a name for it now. The Stay-cation.”
SVEN: “You’ll see. They’ll book by summer.”
ME: “Do you really think so?”
We had a variant of this discussion in front of return guests this weekend, and one of them had the last word:
JODY: “Who wouldn’t like to come here! It’s such a nice place. Stop worrying!”
