Friday, February 20, 2009

Thoughts About What Constitutes A Perfect Day


Yesterday I wrote a piece for ILOVEINNS about a perfect day in Wellfleet. It was a tough assignment because a perfect day is different in summer, spring, fall and winter. Also, a perfect day from the perspective of a tourist may not make for an ideal day for local carpenters who are trying to ferry materials to a job site from Shepley’s or Mid-Cape Home Center. Anyway, the topic got me thinking about what constitutes a perfect day for me personally and here’s what I came up with: a perfect day starts with perfect weather after a rain shower has cleared the atmosphere: the bright blue sky above is reflected in the ocean, ponds and bay below. The temperature should hover around 75 and a slight breeze would be blowing from the west, bringing the musky smell of low tide and the promise of oysters for supper. Chez Sven would be full of happy guests. Sven would be here, not in Sweden. We would drive out to Duck Harbor and revel in its beauty. To make my perfect day complete, I would include family members in the scene I am imagining, and preferably, my granddaughter who enjoys splashing in shallow water much more than any adults ever could. Since ILOVEINNS is a site for tourists who are planning to visit the Cape, of course I described activities and restaurants, not weather and family. Everyone hopes for a string of perfect days during their vacation and the Outer Cape is quite generous in that respect. There were a lot of families down this past week on winter break. I captured the folks above, clowning at LeCount Hollow, and, on the beach, the blue sweep of ocean, glorious and breathtaking.