Kindness in Wellfleet

Reporting a perfect day on Cape Cod happens often in this blog! We enjoyed yet another of the invigorating kind, the type of day that makes one happy to be alive. I also would like to report an excellent article in Sunday's Boston Globe. The reporter chose the title "Kindness of Neighbors," but, in my opinion, the piece is as much about the kindness of Caleb - dressed as Yellowbeard to the right, marching in victory one year after his accident - inspiration for the kindness of neighbors, and the grace of Sharyn Lindsay, his mother, who has us all awed.

Sven Starts "Distant Mirror" Blog

Sven does a lot of walking! Right now, he is asking me to head out to the ocean for a walk since our new Green Room guests have settled in. While walking is good physical exercise, getting out and doing it takes up a good chuck of the day. For months, I have been hoping my husband would start a blog of his own since he has so many interesting ideas to share and an incredible knowledge of history. He has finally agreed and even chose the title. The first posting went up today. My son is in Japan on business, so I cannot fix all of the features as wished for now, but it is a start. I hope readers of Wellfleet Chezsven Blog will visit Distant Mirror Blog and welcome our reluctant new blogger. Former students who comment get half-price on a bed & breakfast stay this winter. (If unable to post comments to the blog, contact Boe at svenolof AT comcast DOT net.)

Will the Sun Set on Wellfleet Tourism?

This fall GREEN was the big trend identified by TripAdvisor. While I am not a fan of TripAdvisor, a service pushing big hotels and discounted rates, I do pay attention to their travel trends surveys. Activities such as visiting national parks, hiking, and engaging in adventure sports were mentioned as becoming more popular. 34% of the respondents said they would visit an environmentally friendly hotel in the coming year, as opposed to 30% in 2007. This is great news, but these surveys were conducted prior to the economic meltdown. Today, in the New York Times, I noticed a survey by the Pew Center for People and the Press, Oct. 9-12, 2008. The first activity respondents said they would give up was Vacation Spending with a whopping 59%, followed closely by Eating Out Less Often, 55%. Now, that does not sound very good for Wellfleet whose two major industries are tourism and shellfishing….

Beach Erosion!

Yesterday I mentioned the erosion at LeCount Hollow Beach but did not post any evidence. Here are photos for those who expressed interest. On the left, a beachcomber returns home to play Martha Stewart with driftwood and brush, possible Halloween decorations? This photo was taken less than two months ago. On the right, only the upper posts of the staircase remain after last week's storm and high tide. The unusually clement weather this weekend brought quite a few people to the beach today, for the most part, with their dogs. The landscape was starkly beautiful. Sven and I walked at Duck Harbor, where I took the below photo of the sky.

Why Go to the Beach on a Cloudy Day?

Sven and I try to walk several times a week. Here in Wellfleet, we have a great variety of choices for our walks. Our most frequent pick: LeCount Hollow Beach. Some people do not understand the pleasure of walking on a cloudy day. What makes a beach attractive without blue sky to reflect on the ocean water, turning it greenish-blue? For one thing, most people do not proceed out if there is no sunshine, so the beach at low tide is clear of footprints. Walking there makes one feel like a child, faced with a sheet of glossy fingerpaint paper, somehow exhilarating even at 60! Today mist hung over the beach, and, with it came an air of mystery. The sun itself was shrouded in fog. After a few minutes, we could not see where we had been, nor where we were going. One becomes suspended in that moment of time. As we progressed, we noticed erosion from the recent storm. In the distance appeared the remnants of what must have once belonged to the Marconi Station. In Sven’s words, “The beach is always different from day to day. Sometimes one hesitates in the parking lot because of the mist. We went down anyhow today and had a very nice walk with the sea rolling in. Such silence, no sound whatsoever...”

Hope for the Future

Above, two adorable guests from Germany enjoy the old cedars in front of Chez Sven. What's the theme of the day? Obama's victory and hope for the children of the world! What's on the menu? Kale soup with organic kale and potatoes from the garden. What's important for your health? Using non-toxic products and foods. (Not sure about the sausage Sven loves in the soup though ...) I have written about body burden before in this blog. Now comes a conference, involving Seventh Generation and EWG, once more drawing attention to this problem. We are surrounded by chemicals. It is hard to avoid them. Many diseases are brought on by environmental triggers. According to the conference, there are environmental solutions, and that is the good news. We have to all work hard to raise consciousness about choices. Think twice every time you use a household product. Check the label. Don't buy beauty products until you have checked the ingredients. For a whole lot more information, read report on the conference in the Seventh Generation Newsletter and, as the year draws to a close, consider a contribution to the Environmental Working Group.

Wellfleet Votes

I saw half a dozen Obama supporters on the road outside the Wellfleet Senior Center and one lone man with a McCain sign. There was a steady stream of voters heading inside, a phenomenon apparently true across the country. At the voting booths stood young and old alike, eager to be counted in this historic election. How exhilarating it felt casting a vote for the Obama/Biden ticket! It is certainly time for change and a new direction ...

Persimmons and Pumpkins

Paula Erickson, who skillfully mans Hatch’s veggie stand during tourist season, stopped by the other day with her friend Nette to check out the bed & breakfast. While walking to the cottage, Paula noticed a tree that I had always thought of as obnoxious. Why? We sometimes stepped on the small bitter fruit that fell to the ground in the fall, tracking the pulp into the house. Paula, being a fruit person, saw our tree in a totally different light. She was ecstatic about it. The following day she left us a wonderful book, Cooking with Exotic Fruits and Vegetables. Sure enough, on page 30, after Pawpaw and before Pomegranate, came Persimmon and a recipe for persimmon fudge. Paula included the following note: "Methinks it is a common persimmon aka Simmon or Possumwood. Fruits are orange to purplish brown. Sweet when ripe but contains tannin; strongly astringent when immature. Here's to our local wild edibles!" Yesterday I could find no Halloween pumpkins on doorsteps. Today I spotted these beauties, evidence of such artistic ability that could not resist taking a photo.

Hard Times in Wellfleet this Halloween

Lots of pumpkins on sale at Marketplace this morning, but not many to be seen on the porches and windowsills of Wellfleet! The house beside the Congregational Church was all decked out, as usual, in cobwebs, and even sported a Jack o’lantern tree. While shopping, I overheard a woman ask how much tax there was on a $4.99 sandwich. Candy occupied its own niche beside the front door, temporarily labeled “Halloween Zone,” piles and piles of candy, as yet unsold. Meanwhile, across the street at town hall, the treasurer’s counter wore a cheerful garland of candy corn. Marianne Nickerson felt less cheerful as she prepared to send out tax bills. Apparently, some families are still trying to pay the sums owed from last year. The Lighthouse was offering a $6.99 lunch special. I didn’t see many people eating out though. Hard times in Wellfleet this Halloween ….

Sven & Edmund Wilson At Gull Pond

Mention of Wellfleet has been popping up quite often in the past few months. Two weeks ago, the Homes section of the Boston Globe ran a feature on the 10-acre estate, birthplace of Wellfleet’s Banana King, Lorenzo Baker, and later literary meeting place for intellectuals, up for sale in the National Seashore. This week Wellfleet reaches readers through the pages of the New York Review of Books. When I brought the paper in to Sven, I couldn’t help but notice the large print on the cover: EDMUND WILSON ON GULL POND. So, I set Sven to reading the article, while I did laundry, ironing and other bed & breakfast chores. Apparently the excerpts had been removed from Wilson’s published diary at the request of Mary McCarthy. According to the article, written by their son Reuel, the two lovers were gallivanting around Gull Pond in the nude, shenanigans that took place in the early forties, when there were even fewer people around than today. What I liked about the excerpts was the facility Wilson shows at invoking nature. However, I found some of his descriptions over-wrought and others objectionable: baby pine cones are compared to a woman’s nipples, for instance. I can only wonder of what interest the article can possibly be to New York Review of Books readers, unless it provides insight/proof that the couple made love one day and had violent quarrels the next, surely only of significance to Wilson/McCarthy scholars? It is weird to have the author refer to his parents as “Wilson” and “McCarthy,” and his focus on their lovemaking seems almost prurient, if not “perverse,” Sven’s choice of adjective. And yet, as people skim this week’s Review of Books, they will think of Gull Pond, which can only be good for local tourism …

Wellfleet Votes to Stop McMansions

I have often heard natives lament how much the coast, here in Wellfleet, has changed over the past decade as cottages are torn down and replaced with McMansions. Here is another photo taken from the shore at Duck Harbor yesterday. At town meeting last night, after a painfully slow start, Wellfleet voted a new by-law to limit the size of houses in the National Seashore. For details, go here. I have never seen such lines of people waiting to check in. Apparently, residents really do care about stopping the McMansionization of our town. How wonderful!

An October Day in the Life

Since we had no Main House guests needing breakfast, I was able to sleep in this morning and only got up at 8:30, in time to glimpse our cottage guests from the window as they got into their car and drove away. I did laundry and hung the sheets up to dry outside. Then I placed some phone calls to doctors, read email, and checked our stat counter. No one is visiting the Web site these days, but blog readers do continue to check out the blog and, for that, I am grateful. First on my agenda, the garden. I planted the remaining spring bulbs and filled four barrels with yard waste. Once Sven got up, we had lunch and drove them to the dump. It was turning out to be such a beautiful day, that it seemed criminal not to walk on a beach. Sven wanted to see the huge house, which has focused the town's attention on the rewriting of by-laws to prevent the desecration of our beloved National Seashore landscape, so I took him across the dike where it is possible to view the monstrosity rising on the opposite bank. We continued to Duck Harbor. Waves were lapping gently at the pebble-strewn beach there. We walked towards Truro and sat down on a log. On the way back to town, we noticed an unusual cloud formation over Wellfleet, and I snapped the photo below. (Often autumn clouds like these correspond to mist, over the ocean.) Tonight, town meeting and a possible vote on the new by-laws. What a busy, busy day!!

The Uncertain Future ...

Gale winds battered Cape Cod during the night, and raindrops still glistened on the windows as our last Liberty Coin guests trooped in for a cozy breakfast: organic brioche made from another great King Arthur Flour mix, fruit salad with organic melon, and my signature organic granola, which they pronounced, “delicious.” It was with mixed feelings that I watched the couple drive off in their Prius as Sven brought in the New York Times, wrapped in not one, but two blue plastic wrappers. The house is now ours again, but last year the season lasted longer, producing more income. We have one booking left: a long weekend for Seagull Cottage. A quick scan of the first page of the Times did not make me feel much better. Economists expect job losses to exceed 200,000 once the election is over. People will always want to go on vacation but will reality allow spending money on one? The hospitality industry is sure to feel the pain, especially during the off-season. Who knows what the future will bring?

To Fish, or Not to Fish ...

Part of the innkeeper experience is the opportunity to meet interesting people. Our Liberty Coin guests this weekend are dairy farmers from Vermont's Champlain Valley. I have enjoyed sitting with them at breakfast, chatting about this and that. I had no idea how hard it is for dairy farmers to get away on vacation, for example. Our guests had originally hoped to go deep-sea fishing this afternoon but decided to do other things instead once here, having quickly understood how very many options the Outer Cape offers for spectacular contact with nature: Marconi, the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, the Provincelands area of the National Seashore. Three days is hardly enough to fit everything in. Over breakfast this morning, I described Ruthie's Boutique in P-town, the ultimate thrift-shop experience, and the composting toilets at Mass Audubon. Yesterday they stood on the platform at Marconi, where it is possible to see both coasts, and noticed the remnants of what may have once been the Marconi Station, uncovered by the tide. Sven and I happened to walk the beach at LeCount Hollow yesterday, and I took a photo of this unusual sight. I love to record the little marvels as well, like bubbles of foam which sparkled in the afternoon sunshine at low tide. So beautiful!

Turning down the Heat

There was an article yesterday in the Cape Cod Times about Cape Codders who signed up for oil heat while the rate was at its zenith late this past summer and now regret that decision. Here at Chez Sven we were fortunate to have avoided being locked into a contract because of a credit, accumulated due to closing down for renovation a year ago. For innkeepers in economic hard times, heating is a definite concern. How much does one heat an inn? Should the temperature reflect personal preferences or be adjusted on a case by case basis? I have discovered that guests have varying temperature preferences, making it impossible to please everyone. This is not a problem for our Seagull Cottage guests, as stated in yesterday’s blog. They can program their own heat, using the thermostat, and do. Our Green Room also has its own thermostat. Sven prefers cooler indoor temperatures, and, over the years, I have learned to turn the heat down. I would like to suggest that in these tough economic times, turning down the heat might be a good idea for everyone, both at home and during holiday. People need to learn to wear sweaters, the new green fashion statement. Designers should stop showing skimpy clothing for fall, winter and spring. I advise guests who like hot rooms not to book Liberty Coin Suite in winter. This magnificent space was once a loft and has no heat, although we did install good insulation a few years back. We provide warm duvets and wool blankets. There is also an electric radiator, which can be turned on if necessary. It is old and sturdy. “The Incredible Heat Machine” by DeLonghi was probably NOT made in China. I make this offhand guess because the newer electric Holmes heaters, which we have had over the years for the cottage bedroom, have all broken, one after the other. Just this weekend we discovered the latest purchase no longer worked and carted it off to the dump. And yes, the radiator was Made in China. I have gotten so I truly dislike goods from China. Unfortunately, almost everything is now imported from that Asian country. The American media needs to turn up the heat on this problem. Shoddy goods mean replacing objects more frequently, bad for the wallet and the environment …

The Inspiration of Nature ...

On a day like today, when the wind is whipping through the trees and rain splatters against the windowpanes, it is comforting to remember how beautiful Wellfleet can be in the sunshine. Last week Sven and I walked to Great Pond, in the National Seashore. How serene it was there, and quiet. With few signs of civilization to clutter the mind, we imagined an earlier time when life was simpler. I couldn't help but wonder how the economic crisis and financial stress would effect the growing movement towards a more eco-conscious society here and abroad. The United States is far behind Germany, Holland, and the United Kingdom, for instance. Our guests over the past year have shown more consideration of the environment than just a few years ago. I hope we will continue to move in that direction, for the world's sake. Simple gestures are easy to incorporate into a lifestyle. Everyone has heard, by now, about changing light bulbs. It is also important to remember to turn off lamps when leaving a room. In the cottage, I have come up with a new protocol for the heating. I allow guests to program their own temperatures during the fall, but recommend turning the heat off at night and off during the day while out exploring the area. We provide a warm comforter so that it is even possible to open the bedroom windows for any Nordic sleepers like Sven who prefer the cold ...

Climbing Truro's Bearberry Hill

Today I climbed Bearberry Hill in Truro with my friend Virginia. We parked at the end of North Pamet Road, in the National Seashore. There were a few other hikers about, one who was returning the laminated guide to its stand beside the parking lot prior to departure, and a couple off on a picnic. I was struck by the scenery and wild beauty of the low windswept hills covered with bearberry. From the top of one hill, we read about the 13-acre cranberry farm, which functioned until the 1940s. On a second hill, we stood on a platform and read about the Halloween hurricane in 1991 which broke through the dunes at Ballston Beach. Virginia is familiar with Truro, as I stated in an earlier blog, so we did not need the Seashore guide to the winding trails. Had I been alone, it would have been an entirely different story. How easy to get lost in a landscape with so few landmarks!

Green Travel Merits Attention of Major TV Show ...

Today I received a phone call from the assistant producer of a television show, "World's Greatest," which plans to feature a green travel destination in mid-January and will be shooting November 1-15. Here at Chez Sven, we feel honored to be included in the green businesses under consideration. I congratulated the producer on having decided to feature green travel. Unfortunately, we were not able to accept the offer. November is not the ideal time period to film in Wellfleet with the fall wind whipping sand along the beach and days at their shortest. Nor is our garden at its most spectacular, dressed in seaweed for the winter and dotted here and there with fallen leaves from the maple tree out front. What's more, this opportunity came with a price tag that surpasses the budget of any seasonal bed & breakfast with only three rooms ....$9000! With much regret, I turned him down. But, it is definitely a good sign that green travel has entered the mainstream and now interests major television networks ...

Wellfleet Celebrates Oysterfest 2008

I feared the crowds might not come, due to the economic crisis and chilly weather. I was wrong! Throngs of partygoers enjoyed Wellfleet’s eighth annual Oysterfest this afternoon. On Main Street, there were people everywhere, a line moving east and a line moving west. “Wall-to-wall people,” I heard someone mutter as he attempted to break through to buy a hot dog. Cars were sent to the beach parking lots, and shuttle buses came and went like clockwork. As Sven and I strolled past Winslow’s Tavern, we looked up at the folks, watching the action below, Bloody Mary glasses in hand. Photos of Wellfleet, pottery, T-shirts, carved birds, and natural soap were just a few of the more frequent items for sale at sidewalk stands. SPAT had a constant stream of folks in search of Oysterfest T-shirts. And, of course, at several different spots, shellfishermen sold oysters on the half shell. When I tried to buy paella at 4:30, it was all sold out. Our neighbor David Lord reported that the most delicious food under the large tent this year was shrimp tempura, which I will have to get tomorrow. Today the line seemed way too long. Children hung out behind the future Preservation Hall for fun and games. The lucky ones had their faces painted. Some twirled new hula hoops. Of course, there were activities organized all day long. The cooking classes were well attended. Fifteen fortunate people even got to dig their own oysters and then savor them with an appropriate wine. David Wright recounted history at the library. At one booth, I admired woolen goods created out of recycled sweaters. “Our Lady of Perpetual Shucking, Patron Saint of Clean Harbors” showed up on rollerblades, drawing applause. Many festival attendees were intent on Christmas shopping. One very popular stand belonged to Liza Jane Norman, whose designs and bright colors stood out. While I was shopping, a customer danced up in a skirt purchased that morning to have a photo taken with the designer. Although I know new fleece is not good for you, even though it IS made from recycled materials, I let myself be tempted and purchased several items. Our guests spent the whole day at the festival, eating oysters. They returned exhausted but happy. Day One of Oysterfest 2008, a complete success!