I turned off my alarm this morning and went back to sleep, a victim of end-of-season exhaustion. Our Green Room guest had requested breakfast at 8:30, since she’s from Newcastle and jetlagged still. Organic strawberries and granola were on the table by 8:25. We chatted for a while and reviewed options for her stay. (The weatherman is forecasting a three-day spell of rain.) She set off on a walking tour of Wellfleet while Sven and I prepared the cottage for our next guests. Sometimes this preparation feels like practice for a marathon. You do it over and over and over. You do it until you feel as if you could vacuum in your sleep, finding every corner, every cobweb. You arrange the bed just so, with ironed pillowcases framing the sachet of lavender …
Once the sun came out and the temperature rose, I opened all the windows to draw fresh air inside. I also cut back the phlox, planted a few perennials, and picked the final raspberries of 2010. Meanwhile, Sven was fixing the birdfeeder. Those lucky birds of his! He fashioned a new perch from wood so they don’t have to balance on a wire anymore. Then he filled the birdbath and, together, we watched the chickadees, wrens, and nuthatches splashing about... The rest of the afternoon was spent waiting and everyone who reads this blog regularly knows how I feel about that. Our guests planned to get here around 3. At 4:00 there was still no sign of them.
There was a meeting at town hall about Harborfest, a new early-June event to bookend tourist season with Oysterfest, but innkeeping duties take precedence over such meetings. So, instead, of heading downtown, I found myself raking leaves, and being grateful there are no noisy leaf-blowers in the neighborhood. (Great article in
The New Yorker on this scourge of suburban living, the leaf-blower, which kicks up nasty stuff in the air that makes asthma worse.) The guests arrived at 5:30. And, they apologized profusely for being late …
I turned off my alarm this morning and went back to sleep, a victim of end-of-season exhaustion. Our Green Room guest had requested breakfast at 8:30, since she’s from Newcastle and jetlagged still. Organic strawberries and granola were on the table by 8:25. We chatted for a while and reviewed options for her stay. (The weatherman is forecasting a three-day spell of rain.) She set off on a walking tour of Wellfleet while Sven and I prepared the cottage for our next guests. Sometimes this preparation feels like practice for a marathon. You do it over and over and over. You do it until you feel as if you could vacuum in your sleep, finding every corner, every cobweb. You arrange the bed just so, with ironed pillowcases framing the sachet of lavender … 
Once the sun came out and the temperature rose, I opened all the windows to draw fresh air inside. I also cut back the phlox, planted a few perennials, and picked the final raspberries of 2010. Meanwhile, Sven was fixing the birdfeeder. Those lucky birds of his! He fashioned a new perch from wood so they don’t have to balance on a wire anymore. Then he filled the birdbath and, together, we watched the chickadees, wrens, and nuthatches splashing about... The rest of the afternoon was spent waiting and everyone who reads this blog regularly knows how I feel about that. Our guests planned to get here around 3. At 4:00 there was still no sign of them. 
There was a meeting at town hall about Harborfest, a new early-June event to bookend tourist season with Oysterfest, but innkeeping duties take precedence over such meetings. So, instead, of heading downtown, I found myself raking leaves, and being grateful there are no noisy leaf-blowers in the neighborhood. (Great article in The New Yorker on this scourge of suburban living, the leaf-blower, which kicks up nasty stuff in the air that makes asthma worse.) The guests arrived at 5:30. And, they apologized profusely for being late …
