Look What You Missed!

Not able to get down to the beach yesterday? I was fortunate to have a friend invite me out on a walk, since Sven planned to attend a seminar on Celtic History at the library, a course he really enjoys.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” a woman said as my friend locked her car at Maguire Landing.

The stranger was just standing there, enjoying the view, a big smile of satisfaction on her face.

Here’s the real reason people choose to reside in Wellfleet, this wide expanse of beige and blue, magnificent at low tide.

My friend is heading off to Las Vegas, Hawaii, and India this weekend. “I feel like such a deserter,” she said. “This is where I’d prefer to be.”

We were able to witness extensive erosion of the dune at LeCount Hollow, similar to what I reported last week at Ballston Beach in Truro.

As we walked along, I told her how very worthwhile Food Inc., is, a sobering film everyone should see, out on DVD. The fact that Monsanto controls 90% of our seeds, through patents, staggers me. How could we have allowed this monster of a company to impose genetically modified seed on our farmers? The monopoly on seed stock has evolved since 1996 without anyone calling foul ball.

Later, with this information still bouncing through my head, I opened the Cape Cod Times and read about secret chemicals that exist in the environment due to a loophole in federal legislation, created in 1976 to make manufacturers report new chemicals, except for around 20%, which remain secret. Lyndsey Layton, of the Washington Post, explains, “The law exempts from public disclosure any information that could harm their bottom line.”

Excuse me? Who is the EPA supposed to be protecting? Citizens need to support the Obama Administration as it attempts to rewrite chemical regulations. We saw what happened with the health care bill. The public option seemed like a good idea to many members of Congress until insurance companies had their say behind closed doors, and it got dropped faster than Joe Lieberman’s integrity.

Do we really want a secret chemical in household dust, a chemical similar to one banned last year from children’s products because of linkage to reproductive problems and health effects? Look what you missed, look what we all missed.

In Food Inc., Monsanto bullies a holdout, who has saved his own soybean seeds, suing the brave farmer until he caves, bankrupt. Why was he unable to prove his innocence? Neighbors had planted the "legal" seeds and they contaminated his organic crops. Food & Water Watch is conducting a campaign to stop genetically engineered, ie. modified, alfalfa seed. You can join the movement to save organic seed here. At risk? Organic milk.

I believe the time to overturn the power of lobbyists and corporations has come. Enough already. Here in Massachusetts, the Republican candidate has pulled ahead of Martha Coakley in the polls. He is now poised to grab Ted Kennedy's Senate seat and offer up the 41st vote, defeating health care. Who do you think is responsible for this situation? Mr. Brown has not come from behind by himself.

We must demand clean air and water, safe food, control of toxic substances, integrity in our politicians. None of us have the means to stand up to giants like Monsanto. That’s what unions are for. Where does one sign up?

Thoughts & Conversation in the Woods of Wellfleet

It was treacherous walking through the National Seashore to Long Pond, above, and Dyer Pond yesterday. Icy paths, snowdrifts …

ME: I can’t remember a year when snow on the ground has lasted this long. (The woods are lovely, dark and deep. Impossible to gaze off into the distance and not have Robert Frost pop into one’s head. It’s cold. My feet are cold. Not a Nordic type like you, I forgot to wear wool socks and now must suffer the consequences. After sending a contribution to Haiti through the Red Cross, it feels good to turn off the television and get outside. What a difference a day makes. The Prime Minister of Haiti estimates losses at over 100,000. Mother Nature can bring disaster, too. I’m taking such long strides, longer than usual.) How fortunate we are to live in a place not subject to earthquakes! (It feels good to walk. Past the puddle where a green frog hangs out in summer. No frog today. Just a frozen puddle. Dyer Pond is white, not blue, covered with an inch of fresh snow. Not as lovely as usual, just stark beauty and extreme silence, so different from the chaos in Port-au-Prince.) Let’s take the quicker way back, past Long Pond. (A paved road to revive my toes, numb by now.)

SVEN: Why?

ME: My feet are cold!

SVEN: Okay by me.

ME: Wellfleet has a connection to Haiti, did you know? That international music group, students who went down with Lisa Brown? (I hope no one from Wellfleet was present during the earthquake!) How about a little history lesson on Haiti?

SVEN: It used to be a French colony. The slave Toussaint L’Ouverture led a revolt.

ME: Wild name! (How beautiful these woods are!)

SVEN: Papa Doc became the dictator in the early 1950s. Then there was Baby Doc. They pronounce it “Ha-i-te.”

ME: (If only our summer guests could see Wellfleet in winter!) Why was it called Haiti?

SVEN: Not sure. We’ll have to Google it when we get home. You know, the Caribbean colonies made men rich.

ME: Because of the sugar cane, right? (Also white, like snow. Sugar, honey, honey. You are my candy girl …. What silliness we retain as teenagers!) How different Long Pond looks in the snow.

SVEN: Port-au-Prince was a buccaneer town. Foreigners made fortunes there.

ME: (The only fortune anyone made in Wellfleet was bananas. Unusual foodstuff + eager consumers = $$$)

SVEN: Remember that exhibit on the slave trade we saw in France?

ME: I do. Look! People skating. Think it’s safe to walk on? (Wonder why there have been so few reservations for summer? When is this recession going to end?)

SVEN: It’s really a pleasure to go skating on ice like this. In Sweden, I used to skate all the time. You can go for miles and miles.

And off he goes, on foot, to chat with one of two ice-skaters, doing pirouettes on the frozen pond ...

This morning, the following email arrived in my in-box, sent to the Wellfleet community: "Over the past 18 hours, Partners In Health staff in Boston and Haiti have been working to collect as much information as possible about the conditions on the ground, the relief efforts taking shape, and all relevant logistics issues in order to respond efficiently and effectively to the most urgent needs in the field. At the moment, PIH's Chief Medical Officer is on her way to Haiti, where she will meet with Zanmi Lasante leadership and head physicians, who are already working to ensure PIH's coordinated relief efforts leveraging the skills of more than 120 doctors and nearly 500 nurses and nursing assistants who work at Zanmi Lasante's sites. We have already begun to implement a two-part strategy to address the immediate need for emergency medical care in Port-au-Prince. First, we are organizing the logistics to get the medical staff and supplies needed for setting up field hospital sites in Port-au-Prince where we can triage patients, provide emergency care, and send those who need surgery or more complex treatment to our functioning hospitals and surgical facilities. To do this, we are creating a supply chain through the Dominican Republic. Second, we are ensuring that our facilities in the Central Plateau are ready to serve the flow of patients from Port-au-Prince. Operating and procedure rooms are staffed, supplied, and equipped for surgeries and we have converted a church in Cange into a large triage area. Already our sites in Cange and Hinche are reporting a steady flow of people coming with medical needs from the capital city. In the days that come we will need to make sure our pharmacies and supplies stay stocked and our staff continue to be able to respond. Currently, our greatest need is financial support. Haiti is facing a crisis worse than it has seen in years, and it is a country that has faced years of crisis, both natural disaster and otherwise. The country is in need of millions of dollars right now to meet the needs of the communities hardest hit by the earthquake. Our facilities are strategically placed just two hours outside of Port-au-Prince and will inevitably absorb the flow of patients out of the city. In addition, we need cash on-hand to quickly procure emergency medical supplies, basic living necessities, as well as transportation and logistics support for the tens of thousands of people that will be seeking care at mobile field hospitals in the capital city. Any and all support that will help us respond to the immediate needs and continue our mission of strengthening the public health system in Haiti is greatly appreciated. Help us stand up for Haiti now. If you are not in a position to make a financial contribution, you can help us raise awareness of the earthquake tragedy. Please alert your friends to the situation and direct them here for updates and ways to help."

Shopping Sense on the Outer Cape: Got Fleece?

Simplify, simplify, simplify has become my mantra. When Sven and I left France, several suitcases of elegant clothing crossed the ocean with us. Sven had a favorite Dior jacket, picked up at Réciproque, an exclusive second-hand store, rue de la Pompe. He wore that jacket to holiday events, dinners with parents at the International School, outings to the Paris Opera. My husband looked quite fancy, too fancy, in fact, for rural Wellfleet. We have not given the jacket away. It sits at the back of the closet and got pulled out recently for my daughter’s wedding. However, most of our fashionable clothing, collected over twenty years and adorned with Made in France labels, became prized items in other people’s closets after our donation to Mass Appeal. How often does one go to the opera on Cape Cod, I ask you? In Wellfleet, casual has long been the new chic. I've become addicted to comfortable jeans and fleece, which I often find at our local thrift shop. Pickings are even better in Provincetown and Orleans. January is the perfect month for cheap fleece because people receive new fleece as gifts at Christmas and donate old fleece to charity. (Used fleece has already out-gassed its noxious fumes, so I'm hoping it's not bad for health because I could no longer go without.)

People say the recession has sent crowds pouring into thrift stores. Perhaps that’s true in some parts of the country, but not here. Racks still overflow with clothing. My favorite new place is The Hope Chest in Orleans, which has a Filene’s Basement system of discount by the week. This shop also offers what we called, in France, brocante, that is, nice but a bit shabby furniture that does not quite qualify as antique. You never know what’s going to turn up. The last time I peeked in there was a kayak for sale.

Cape Codders may not be thrift-shopping en masse, but people are hurting, and some clerks have resorted to short-changing customers. It happened to me in Hyannis. It happened to Sven in Wellfleet. It happened to a friend in Orleans. And, I fear we are not alone. So, when out shopping, check your change ...

Bayside Meanderings on a Winter Afternoon

Above, we have a view of the Herring River basin, photographed from the bridge at the dike yesterday. I had meant to attend a 1:00 meeting at National Seashore headquarters, but instead Sven convinced me to go bayside, warmer than at ocean beaches, and the meeting slipped my mind. Cape Cod Times reporter Mary Ann Bragg was in attendance, at least she reports today on the plan for a possible appeal by federal lawyers of the 5828-square-foot building, still under consideration, an issue that rankles many locals. Sven and I could see the Blasch house in the distance, below. My feeling is that, at this point, better to put energy and legislation into stopping future rogue construction rather than remove the McMansion already built. What do you think?

A frigid wind was blowing at Duck Harbor, so we did an about-face and returned to Powers Landing, a more protected beach, although my fingers were blue by the end of our quick walk. I take my hat off to the one shellfisherman who lingered on the flats, James O’Connell, according to the permit in his truck. How cold he must have been upon finally returning home! We could see Jim out there, as a dot on the horizon, with a low boat, presumably for storage of the oysters he was able to harvest.

At the high-tide line, we noticed red fibers and could not figure out what they were. At first discarded fabric, that had fallen overboard, came to mind, but there was too much of it. I asked the shellfish constable and he reported back that it's a type of seaweed, now prevalent throughout the harbor. Is there anyone reading who can put a name to this seaweed?

Ballston Beach Brings Back Memories …

Yesterday I mentioned Ballston Beach, where our friend, Nate Cook, found an ancient bottle in the sand. Although the recent erosion was reported extensively in the local papers, Sven and I decided to drive down to Truro and see for ourselves. Being at Ballston shot me back in time to the days when Gil Markle owned the magnificent house that is about to tumble into the sea.

I can still see Gil, sitting on the edge of his porch, dressed in a worn bathing suit. Strange how places, like music, can conjure up the past! He probably wore sunglasses below the curly hair, to his shoulders, no doubt, and probably was smoking a joint. It was the end of summer, towards sunset, and a rosy glow warmed the sand. I had come with my friend, Beth, who knew the popular (former) philosophy professor from Clark University. Beth was newly married to one of Gil’s students, a wedding that took place at Long View Farm.)

It was hot that day. Beth was brazen and beautiful, with her long dark hair flying in the breeze off the ocean, and a frankness that disarmed both men and women. We ascended the path, like two Alices in Wonderland, blond and brunette, both tanned, both eager for adventure. I remember Gil’s pleasure at our surprise visit and how he served rosé wine from France, where I lived at the time, in stemmed glasses. And, he spoke perfect French. We enjoyed ourselves, but it was clear Gil had more important matters on his mind.

First, a description of the beach house. I had never experienced an interior where the wrecking ball had basically gutted everything. No one did that type of thing in the 1970s, so the lack of interior walls already made the house unusual. I remember an outdoor swing inside, and the six windows with view of the ocean, the chimney in the middle, and stairs to a sleeping loft. There were built-in benches around the walls and a bar as kitchen. Everything was painted the same color, although I do not recall its being white, choice of the current owner. Sven and I peeked in a side window. I also snapped a photo from the porch. The view of the ocean, of course, still knocks your socks off.


Gil managed a very successful recording studio, as well as a travel business. When the travel business "crashed and burned," he lost everything, including this jewel of a house where sky and sand and ocean merged. I don’t know whether Gil invited his rock star friends to Truro. Rather, I think he saved his house on Ballston Beach for intimates. Beth was almost one, but not quite. I picked up on her sense of awe and excitement at being in Gil’s presence and that shivery feeling returned every time I met him afterward. I felt a bit of that same way yesterday.

I already posted a photo of the beach access path, closed to foot traffic. Now pedestrians must use another entrance, further north. Truro Selectmen warn people to use caution at the old access, beside Gil's former beach house.

(Through Beth, I also met Bruce Springsteen. Beth now lives in California where she raises a family and volunteers for Planned Parenthood. Her husband produces popular television shows. Gil recreated himself in 1992 as the head of Passports, a company that organizes educational tours for students. As for me, I’m back on the Outer Cape and work as an innkeeper ….)

Bonus Post: Erosion at Truro Beaches & Nicotine Bees

Ten days ago I posted a trailer for the documentary "Nicotine Bees" and, to my regret, only three people commented on this important New Year’s post. (SNIF! SOB! SNIFFLE-SNIFFLE.) Two days ago Sonia Shah wrote about how pesticides, and specifically those very same neonicotinoids described on my blog, may be affecting bees. Please read the article, picked up, apparently, by Yale Environment 360. (YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST!)

If you have not yet admired the very old bottle, discovered at Ballston Beach, please also see my earlier post today. Sven and I were in Truro for some cheap beach thrills. For those of you unfamiliar with Cape geography, Truro is located midway between Wellfleet and Provincetown. Celebrity homeowners include Sebastian Junger. Ben Affleck bought his mom a house here. Truro has been in the news because of erosion from last weekend's storm. Here locals gawk at the house now dramatically perched behind the dune...

Of Standard Oysters & Mysterious Bottles

Last Thursday I attended another Economic Development Committee meeting. Paul Pilcher convened the committee to provide an update on the future town Web site. He filled us in on "Main Street Shops Association," which plans to organize an arts weekend June 18, 19, 20. The final topic was shellfishing and plans for a Community Shellfish Garden. We also examined the elusive quality of the Wellfleet oyster and discussed how to create a standard. There were lots of different points of view expressed, but Paul still managed to adjourn the meeting by 5:50. Fortunate for me, because Sven and I had a guest for dinner at 6. My new favorite bean, onion, thyme, and tomato dish was already simmering on the stove at my return home. Sven had set the table, so I sat at the computer and worked until I realized the time: 6:45!

“Nate’s late,” I said to Sven, unable to hide the concern in my voice. “Think he forgot dinner?”

“That seems highly unlikely,” Sven said. “Why not give him a call?”

So, I did. Nate apologized and said he’d be over in five minutes. He walked in with a grin and a tall, angular bottle. Sven thought the bottle was a gift, but no! Our friend had brought it for show and tell. Late that afternoon he had taken a walk at Ballston Beach, where the town had closed main access to the beach, due to recent erosion. While walking along, he spied a bottle stuck in the sand. How cool!

BLANKENHEIJM NOLET was carved around an emblem. Below the emblem Sven read the word “Schiedam.” That was when I realized the reason for Nate’s tardiness was this unusual bottle, which had caused him to become lost on the Internet. From his research, Nate told us he had concluded the uncorked bottle was made in Holland and once contained an alcohol concocted with gin and juniper berries. It was not clear whether the content, less than half on the shake-o-meter, was leftover liqueur, or simply seawater, and the date is still a mystery – late 1800s, perhaps?

How do you think this old clay bottle ended up on Ballston Beach?

Observations Skills: Name Those Lines!

Sometimes I think about landscape and feel grateful Chez Sven is tucked into a picturesque rolling countryside, rather than being located on a boring plain. Hills and valleys are simply more interesting visually. I lived in Manhattan until age five, then Washington, DC, with four years in Poughkeepsie, NY before Paris, France. What all of these places have in common is relative flatness. Sven's different. He grew up in Eksharad, a small, rural town in the middle of Sweden. Eksharad is situated beside a river, in a beautiful, rolling landscape with many tall evergreens and lakes. Before moving to Paris in 1987, Sven taught for 17 years above the Arctic Circle, in Kiruna, where a friend of his built the Ice Hotel. Kiruna is surrounded by mountains, which are snow-covered many months of the year. This is why Sven immediately identified the lines in the photo above, taken at LeCount Hollow. Do you know what they are?

Walking Again, Dreaming Plastic Dreams

Chez Sven gets the New York Times Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. We love the paper, but are not at all enamored with the rain-or-shine packaging made out of blue plastic. For a number of years now the Times has come double-wrapped. I dumped a box of wrappers on Sven’s lap yesterday, a month’s worth, while telling him about Stephen Colbert’s interview with Captain Charles Moore, the man who discovered the garbage patch in the Pacific Ocean. I was especially struck by Moore's description of Hawaiian sand, full of colorful plastic bits. Here's some sand from a Wellfleet beach. No plastic is visible. Not yet, anyway. Thanks to Stumble Upon, I discovered an article about Daniel Burd, a high school student from Canada who won a $20,000 prize in a science fair for having found a way to make plastic bags degrade in three months. Let's hope this method bears fruit: “Burd’s strategy was simple: Since plastic does eventually degrade, it must be eaten by microorganisms. If those microorganisms, as well as the optimal conditions for their growth, could be identified, we could put them to work eating the plastic much faster than under normal conditions.”

Last week I saw tons of plastic on the beach in Truro: milk jugs, net bags for tangerines, balloons, lighters, toys, all washed up with the seaweed. What are people thinking when they throw this stuff away? Seagulls are not too bright. They gobble it up, in search of food. Check out the insides of this bird from Fake Plastic Fish. The EPA needs a mascot like Smokey the Bear, advising folks not to litter at sea, don’t you think?

I allowed Sven to convince me to go for a walk at LeCount Hollow, a much cleaner beach, to try out my new camera. Once spring weather makes travel easier, I plan to set up some camera lessons in Orleans. The beach was absolutely deserted. I love the mixture of wide stretches of sand and snow, almost perverse somehow in their juxtaposition, at least to our human brains. I thought about the rogue plastic problem while walking along.

It was exceptionally beautiful at LeCount Hollow. Winter walks on a beach are very different from summer walks, especially on days when a cold wind is blowing. Know why? In summer, one never wants to leave.

The Little Coffee Shop That Could

Nothing like a nice cup of hot cocoa after a brisk walk at the beach! I took this photo in Truro the other day, having left Sven in the car with his Sunday New York Times. According to the ad currently on television, everyone has a favorite section. My husband reads Week in Review in priority, then makes his way through the rest. (Last summer a Week in Review editor stayed at Chez Sven. You can imagine how thrilled that made Sven!) The section I reach for first is the decadent Sunday Styles because it’s, well, so incredibly decadent. Last Sunday an article on the second page caught my eye, Michael Winerip’s column Generation B, “A Coffee Shop That Is So Much More.” My eyes shifted down to the first few lines: “Every morning at 6:30 a.m., as sure as the ebb of the Cape Cod tides, the rise of the sun and the four phases of the moon, the front door at the Hot Chocolate Sparrow is unlocked, and the regulars – George Malloy, Bill von Thaden, Bart Randall, Jaan Vari, Bruce Bierhans – hurry in from the cold and the dark for their morning coffees.” Whoa! I know two of these now infamous regular coffee-drinkers! Since the feeling of suddenly being with the in-crowd doesn’t happen very often here in winter, I let some of the glow tinkle onto my shoulder like fairy dust, savoring the celebrity by extension for a minute or two, before brushing it off.

Unfortunately, Wellfleet doesn’t have a coffee shop of its own, which is why folks congregate in Orleans. George now lives there, so I can understand ducking out of his accounting office for java downtown, but three times day? Perhaps a way of drumming up business in a slow economy? Bruce reads this blog. (Yo, Bruce! The attraction of Hot Chocolate Sparrow for Comments in fifty words or less? Know what? I think Preservation Hall should have it’s own coffee shop, open year round, on Main Street. Nicholas, are you listening?)

I have wandered through on occasion, actually, at Christmas time, checking out the chocolate display. Hot Chocolate Sparrow is located in the same parking lot as CVS Pharmacy. I visited the ladies room once, big enough to bring a friend so the hot conversation you are having doesn’t cool down. At the time, the tables were anything but crowded. I don’t remember the place as particularly earthshaking or welcoming, certainly not material for a column, but it MADE THE NEW YORK TIMES, so, hey, I take my hat off to that accomplishment and give Marjorie Sparrow our High Horse Award.

If you want to hear the latest local gossip, as reported in the New York Times, go here. Why is there no coffee shop in Wellfleet? It has to do with permit requirements and restrictions from the Board of Health. Word is the dynamic trio at Mac's Seafood may be looking into loopholes, but I hope Prez. Hall figures it out first. Hot Chocolate Sparrow has a seasonal shop in Wellfleet, only it doesn’t serve coffee. The homemade chocolate creams are pretty good though ….

Bonus Post: Gray Days in Wellfeet …

Sven is watching television images of England, brought to a halt by a snowstorm. He spoke to some friends today in Sweden, huddled under a down comforter, due to extreme cold, determined not to raise the heat in their mansion. The weather seems to be on everyone’s mind. Will it snow again this weekend? How many inches? Old King's Highway is so slick Stephen Colbert’s Olympic bobsledders could use it for practice runs.

A first tenant is occupying the K/G house, in the Seashore. I hope the Cape Cod Modern House Trust organized snow removal. Tenants this summer will not have that problem. (It is now possible to rent this marvelous restored three-bedroom house for $5000/week, $3000 of which is tax-deductible. For details go here and download information on the right.) Northeast Pond is probably frozen this week, but next summer it will look gloriously azure blue.

Wellfleet is one place that is very influenced by sunshine. When the sun shines, a pond’s surface reflects the luminosity, the ocean turns green-blue. If clouds tumble across the sky, pond water looks gray, as does Cape Cod Bay. Most of the buildings here are shingled with wood. Without sunshine, they appear drab and uninteresting. What a difference weather makes!

A bright light did show up along Route 6 today. Philippe and Boris, owners of PB Boulangerie Bistro, hung out their shingle, indicating business will soon be starting up. I noticed the plumbing inspector's truck parked outside. Only a matter of days now. I can't wait to tell my friends in France. Everyone will want to come and try Wellfleet's spanking new restaurant. Cuisine française, anyone?

Article on Cape Cod Appears in Latitudes/Life

Edward Hopper has always been a favorite artist of ours, so I jumped at the opportunity to accommodate an Italian photo-journalist, on Hopper’s trail during fall, 2008. His article has finally been published. The online magazine is called Latitudes/ Life. You may not be able to read Italian, but check it out all the same. The photo collages are quite exceptional, melding Hopper paintings with Lucio’s photographs. The article starts on page 51.

I went bayside today, to photograph Hopper’s house for this post. His small, traditional Cape Codder is flanked by two monstrous houses now. One stands quite close by. A second, more recent structure, is low to the ground and further away, but it's construction prompted Truro to action, protecting the rest of the surrounding area. From the design, I doubt the owners intended any offense. Still, these two houses do dwarf Hopper’s humble abode.

Do you think construction on such sites should be limited to preserve the landscape as it was during the artist’s lifetime?

Nature to the Rescue ....

“Do I pour this over the meat?” Sven held a can of diced tomatoes poised over the beef patties he had just fried.

“No!” I shrieked. “Let me make the sauce. Later!”

It had been a hard day, after a tough night. Usually I sleep well, but this morning I woke up from a nightmare at 1:30: the huge wave of divorce crashed over me, and I found myself unable to protect my children. Sven was tense, too. He had some pain, two weeks after his procedure. Hard to know whether to rush him to the doctor, or hold steady and wait it out. I didn’t want to eat meat, especially after reading Nena Baker’s The Body Toxic, but you can’t keep a Swede from his meatballs. Time for me to get outside. Being cooped up by a winter storm is not good for the nerves. So I donned my winter parka, hat, scarf and gloves for a walk up Old King’s Highway. Our single-lane road was cleared of snow, but still slippery. From the mailboxes, I spied a young neighbor, with her dog and child, on miniature skis.

The town plows had done a better job of clearing Long Pond Road. During the day, the temperature had risen above 32 degrees, and by sunset, icing had already begun. I proceeded left with care, past the future water tower, which many of you may not have yet seen. The structure looked surprisingly nice, lit up like two clowns in a circus ring. Flamboyant, red-haired Ginny, who used to mount guard at the dump, sailed past in a pick-up, filled with worn shingles, from some work site, no doubt destined for her wood stove or a friend’s. I waved. At the real estate sign, I turned left and hiked up a driveway, too slick for passage later in the day. I snapped a few photos at the future house, the one with the incredible view of Wellfleet, surely one of the best views in town.

On the way back, I crossed several yards covered with pristine snow, a short cut that put me in touch with nature. There were tracks of mice and rabbits. During the day, a crust had formed, and the snow crunched under my boots. Lifting feet out of the foot-high drifts felt strange, as if someone had spread Marshmallow Fluff across the countryside, and the top had crystallized, like glaze on caramel custard. I paused and looked around. The only sound was the soft breeze, rustling pine branches. Behind me, the sun had begun to set. Ahead loomed a large shuttered home. How different the experience from summer, when the owners of these houses are in residence! As night descended, I returned to Old King's Highway, with rosy cheeks and high spirits, ready to give my husband a warm hug.

Library Showcases Local Geography, Circa 1858

The Wellfleet Public library has a book stand to the right of the counter for returned books. This past week, when I returned a book for Sven, I noticed a heavy volume on display, The 1858 Map of Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket. Adam Gamble put this collection of maps together with written contributions from local specialists like Wellfleet’s own Robert Finch. The original map was 5 foot square. It’s fascinating to see what has changed in 150 years. I noted Lieutenant’s Island was called “Horse Island.” The marina at Duck Creek had not been built, so the whole inner harbor is labeled Duck Cove, which allows viewers to realize how different the landscape must have looked at the time. There is no Ocean View Drive. No "backshore" beaches appear, although a road does run between Long and Great ponds, intersecting and continuing on to Cahoon Hollow, where the lifesaving station, now The Beachcomber, was built in 1897. What we now know as Wellfleet center is labeled “North Wellfleet.” “Fresh Brook Village” is also listed. It no longer exists as such. Dyer Pond is called “Hopkins Pond.” The landscape along the Herring River must have also been dramatically different, since no dike existed until 1909. You can even see islands in the Herring River. Billingsgate is still shown as an island. It sank, and only remnants remain visible at extreme low tide.

Christmas is past, but here is a worthwhile gift for anyone fascinated with maps, and especially old folks who love Cape Cod & the Islands! All profits from the sale of this book go to support the million-dollar renovation and expansion of the William Brewster Nickerson Cape Cod History Archives at Cape Cod Community College's Wilkens Library. Listen to Robert Finch describe this incredible find here.

First Guests of 2010 (almost) Swept Out to Sea!

We had our first guests of the year this weekend. I tried to convince them to change their plans due to the weather forecast, accept a credit and come in the spring instead, but no go. These hearty folks had decided to take a road trip from Philadelphia to Cape Cod, with stops along the way, and that was what they did. The purpose of the winter trip? To see the ocean. (You’d be surprised at how many people crave salt air and sand between their toes. I know, I know. Too damn cold for sand between the toes, but it’s the idea that provides the motivation.)

Our guests got their money’s worth. At noon yesterday, the ocean put on quite a show with twelve-foot waves crashing behind them, on what was left of the beach at extreme high tide. Imagine trying to take a photo! The husband took a step backwards, in an attempt to get both the wild surf and himself in the shot at once, and offered up a smile but before he could say cheese, a wave knocked him down. The couple returned to Chez Sven, feeling rather sheepish, not because of this dunking but rather due to the fact the wife had managed to capture only her husband’s booted feet on film, what with the emotion of almost losing him to the sea. I threw long johns, socks, and trousers in the drier while they took a breather. Not discouraged one bit, our guests headed back out an hour later, destination, Dyer Pond, after sandwich and soup at Box Lunch ...

Their final challenge will be driving to Providence today on snowy roads. Snow is still falling as I write. There are several inches on the ground, and Old King's Highway has not been plowed. How fortunate some guests seem to thrive on adventure!

Chezsven Blog Starts Fifth Year!

I wrote a first post on January 2, 2006. 80,000 hits later, Chezsven Blog is still going strong. Along the way, it acquired a second name – thanks to a regular reader, who linked to this blog, calling it Wellfleet Today on the first page of her own site – and expanded in scope to include more coverage of environmental issues. (I thought of starting a separate blog but decided against it. Since Chez Sven is a green bed & breakfast, covering green topics seems like a logical progression.) Chezsven Blog now has 31 followers. Individual posts have received up to 20 comments and 400 hits/per day of issue. Wellfleet has fans all over the world. Some of them stay in touch with this beautiful place through my writing and photos. Chezsven Blog hasn’t won any awards, but the appreciative looks of movers and shakers in town, tell me I must be doing something right. What can readers look forward to in 2010? Hopefully even better photos, thanks to my children, who gave me an amazing digital camera for Christmas. I will try to respond to questions raised in the comment section, follow Sven on walks at the beach, when the weather permits, explore Wellfleet, and report on life as a green innkeeper. Thanks for your continued interest!

Call to Action: Nicotine Bees

Happy New Year! Our younger guests love the bees and butterflies in the Chez Sven garden, so I thought it would be nice to start the new decade with bees:

“Isn’t it funny how a bear likes honey? Buzz, buzz, buzz. I wonder why he does?”

I’m sure you know the origin of this quote. All former children do: Winnie-the-Pooh! Let’s try another from the famous bear:

“If there’s a buzzing noise, somebody’s making a buzzing-noise, and the only reason for making a buzzing-noise that I know of is because you’re a bee. And the only reason for being a bee that I know of is making honey….”

Well, actually, there’s another important, if unintentional, reason: pollination!

We really need our bees.

Here’s what I’m hoping for 2010. May it be a year of environmental enlightenment and environmental action by citizens. I hope scientists will figure out why one in 110 children is born with autism and prove the link between toxic chemicals and certain types of cancer. Locally, I hope we succeed in stopping NStar from spraying up to six herbicides under the power lines. I hope the regulation of chemicals will be fast-tracked by the EPA, and a ground swell of energy will rise from the nation to prevent the chemical industry from its inevitable attempt to stop any new regulation of toxic chemicals.

My resolution for 2010 is to spread the word that toxic chemicals should be regulated and that GM crops may be good for corporate interests but are AWFUL for people.

Beekeepers are worried that their bees are dying. We should be, too. If the bees are dying, there must be a reason. Those in the know suspect GM modifications to seed coatings could play a role. Read all about it here.

Sierra Club’s Genetic Engineering Action Team chairperson Laurel Hopwood urges everyone to react. How? To begin with, contact Steve Owens at the EPA, (owens.steve AT epa.gov) and request a suspension of the neonicotinoid seed coatings until independent scientists verify safety. First, watch this trailer for the new documentary, Nicotine Bees.