Blue Skies and Cold Winds

Happy New Year

Hope everyone had a good New Years' Eve, and that your new year has started out on the right foot. Here in OMP we had another storm this weekend; not as much snow as the December blizzard, but the ocean's tides are running very high. Both yesterday and today, there was very little beach to walk upon.

This is a shot of SeaWay beach, from the Strandway jetty. You can see near the center, where the tide is licking at the staircase...
This is the lifeguard stand on Pleasant Road beach, also being kissed by the high tide. Our beaches are being sustained by the influx of sand blowing down from the dunes, but I hope that one of the storms brings more ocean sand our way in the next few months.

Happy New Year, and Happy Winter!

Blizzard '09

Just in time for the holidays... the first Blizzard of the winter season!

We had about 2 feet of snow on the Cape, starting last night around 10 p.m. It's still snowing now. We took the dogs to the beach to check it out around 2 p.m. this afternoon.

You can see that where the paths weren't shoveled at all, you can see the snow drifts were up to my knees - and up to the dog's belly!
The tide seemed exceptionally high, and it had washed sand over a bunch of the snow, turning the exposed sand into a kind of quick sand. The dogs sank in up past their knees, but fortunately didn't get stuck. The water came in over the tops of our boots. Thank goodness for wool socks!

Christmas Stroll in Chatham

This is the weekend for Chatham to roll out the candy canes and little white lights. The Holiday Stroll starts tonight at 7 pm, all throughout downtown Chatham. If you're on-Cape this cold weekend, bundle up and check it out! Don't forget your scarves and mittens!

Make sure to visit the Chatham Candy Manor, who claim to serve the "best hot chocolate in the Stroll" - I was there with my Girl Scout troop yesterday for a candy cane making demonstration. Cinnamon flavored. Mmmmm. The 13th batch of the season so far. They may be making more candy canes tonight - definitely will be on Saturday morning.

Have fun - stay warm - and enjoy the holiday season!

The Calm Before the Storm

Today there is a storm raging outside my window, but yesterday the ocean and beaches were calm. We are not having snow on Cape Cod, as so many of you are having off-Cape, but there are severe wind warnings and cold, pounding rain battering my windows.

It will be interesting to see what this storm does to our coast line. But I'm not headed up there with the camera at the moment!

Rocks and Docks

I had a surprise when I went walking on the beach this morning - lots of big machinery all around me! First, a large crane and an earth mover were on Strandway Beach, taking out that section of rocks. I had the dogs with me so I didn't want to get too close, but you get the idea from this picture.


At the docks, there was an oversized dump truck to haul away the granite from the beach...but there was also the barge that comes to Old Mill Point twice a year to put in and take out our docks.

Not the most relaxing beach walk, but interesting nonetheless.

Welcome December

December arrives once again on Cape Cod, bringing with it a mixture of fair and foul weather.

The first "storm" was actually at the end of November - on December 1st I took the above photos, showing the calm ocean and the slightest bit of erosion from our beaches. The SeaWay beach actually fared better, and seemed to gain a little sand, wither from the ocean or from the dunes blowing down onto the beach.

Last night another storm battered Cape Cod, and this morning the wind is still blowing. I can hear the ocean pounding from my house, even with all the storm windows shut tight! We'll have to wait and see whether this storm gives or takes from the beach.

Winter has certainly arrived on our shoreline.