Out on the Cape

In late June we drove to Cape Cod for a reunion with Caren's family.  It was a great time for me because the house we rent there is spacious enough to give everyone some room, including a desk for me!  This is was the first time on the trip I had a good base of operations for reading and writing.  So each day I got to read, write, and do exciting things like finally cleaning out my email inbox!

The Whole Crew:  Caren's extended family.  Four generations from Grandma Sylvia in her eighties, down to Benny, the newest arrival.  Here on the back Side of Nauset Beach

Besides getting my study time in, I was able to do regular breathing exercises, some tai chi and chi gung.  I was also getting my energy back for the first time since I got shingles in May.  This week was a real turning point, as the cumulative effect of the previous three weeks began to register, and I finally felt myself able to slow down a bit.  

Another reason I was able to feel myself gaining strength and slowing down is that I got to do perhaps my most purely joyful activity: sail.  I sailed almost every day.  On ThursdayTom, pictured below, and I set ourselves the challenge of sailing a Sunfish sailboat out through a winding channel with its shifting sandy shoals in super high wind (for a Sunfish, anyway)  It was super challenging sailing as we had to follow a very specific, winding, narrow course, which is very difficult under sail, because the wind does not change its direction.  We probably saw fifty horse-head and harbor seals.  One reason there were so many was because, right while we were sailing, a great white shark was spotted on the other side of the beach just outside of the inlet connecting the harbor and the ocean.  We did see a huge shadow under the waves coming in through the inlet... which we told ourselves was an especially large seal...

Caren's mom, Cindy, with her three brothers, Ken, Tom,
and David as well as her mom, Sylvia.  If you're going to marry, you might
as well marry into a family as awesome as this one.  They way they care about
and for each other and yet give each other plenty of space to be
themselves has taught me a lot about family.

Benny was wondering where the water went...

Four generations of wonderful women.
Clara, Caren, Benny, Sylvia, Cindy, Lindsey, and Sadie

Benny's working on her fish act too.
Mama and child. Love it.

Clara definitely inherited a direct line of fish-like dedication to swimming in any and all water, no matter the temperature from her Grandmother Sylvia (pictured above) on one side, and her Great Grandmother, Dottie, on the other.

Caren's sister Lindsey and her husband Scott.  It's great to
have family who are also friends.

The House we were in was big enough for a good chunk of us to stay in.
From the top deck, where you can see Cindy standing, you could see the
harbor behind the beach, the barrier beach stretching away north and south,
and the atlantic.

Cousins.  Benny the nudist, Talia, and Clara.