We drove to Cape Cod on Tuesday, July 23rd just after three tornados had touched down in the towns of Harwich and Yarmouth. Our first indication that something has happened occurred as we drove past uprooted trees and debris in the road.

We stopped for lunch at Cap’t Cass Seafood at Rock Harbor, where we learned about the storm damage. The wait staff was discussion power outages and the missing roof on the Cape Sands Inn.

After lunch I headed to Nauset Light beach after we checked into our rental property. The storm had kicked up huge surf which attracted the kite surfers.

We stayed with my sister who had a rented a large sprawling house in the woods. It was an interesting place with eclectic collection of art objects. We slept on a futon, a type of bedding which can compress and deaden the nerves of half of your body as you sleep.

I woke up early to catch the sunrise over the Atlantic and spotted the parade of seals that swim parallel to the shore.

When we came to the Cape in the 1960s I don’t remember ever seeing a seal. As a result of warming water temperatures, they have arrived. Subsequently, where there is prey, there are predators.

This is the new sign that greets the beach going public at Nauset and Coast Guard beach. Have fun, try not to be eaten.

Family

We stayed with my sister Susan, her son Jesse and his son Alex. Alex is five and a very bright and enthusiastic young man. We ordered lobster as we have done in previous years. Jesse manages to finish a five pound monster which he explains has a better meat to shell ratio. Alex was impressed by claw size.

In addition we had a nice dinner with my cousins at Moby Dick’s restaurant in Wellfleet, another family tradition.

In conclusion we wrapped up our short stay on Thursday. It was a perfect beach day. Jesse and Alex had fun in the surf and I helped with a sand castle. In addition I was especially pleased with my choice of sunscreen.