Simply Summer Waning

Labor Day on Good Harbor Beach in Gloucester.

The "unofficial" end of summer.

Time for one more play in the sand.

Time for one more game of beach football.

Time for one more walk in the waves, ...

or maybe one more boat ride.

Time for one more island excursion.

Time for one more (okay, four more) buckets of water.

Time for one more excavation and fort building project.

Looks like two of them found time for one more "mug up"!

Simply Summer Waning

C_A_B

Simply Summer's End

The end of summer at Good Harbor Beach. There may still be a few "beach days" to come, although the crowds have left.

There's plenty of sand for all now!

Might be too cold to swim but there's still time to surf.

Maybe catch one last fish.

Perhaps it's the last patrol of the year for this lifeguard.

Come on. I dare you. You go in first.

Simply Summer's End

C_A_B

Simply Surfing Fun!

More pictures from Good Harbor Beach on the first "real summer" weekend of this year.

Surfing Waves

I step in to the water
With my swimsuit on and my surfing board in my hand
I start with a simple paddle
Waiting patiently for the waves to start
Here comes one, a good one to start with
I paddle faster, and this time I am headed towards it
It’s here! I rapidly stand up and am in the tube of water
The tube is starting to fade I have to get out!
The exit is a little far about a meter or two
I get my courage together and head out
Crash! The wave collapse behind me
I head to shore, and lie on the warm sand
A little afterwards I look up and shout
“Here comes another one!”
I rise for the sand and into the water
To have a thrilling ride again

Simply Surfing Fun!

C_A_B

Simply Not Looking Hard Enough

Something about the cool snap in the air the last few days set me off to thinking about all those times I was forced to write a "What I did on my summer vacation" paper. I never liked writing those papers when I was growing up, mainly because I never really did anything during the summers.

I didn't grow up on Cape Ann, and the beach was a long (in those days) 40 minute drive away. My family and I didn't travel much and most of our family vacations entailed being stuck in a cabin somewhere in New Hampshire during a rainy week in August.

For the longest time, once I started working, I refused to take vacations in August because I "knew" it would rain that week. (It didn't scar me too much, eh?) By the way, this year I forgot and took a week off in August. If you look back over the weather reports for August, you should be able to pick out the week I was off!

Enough of my whining.

A second reason why I decided to put together this list is I overheard two teens talking while I was downtown this week. As some teens are apt to do, they were complaining that there was "nothing to do around here". As my tribute to them, and since I start most of my days watching the sunrise in my rear view mirror (sounds like a title to a country song "Watching the Sunrise in My Rear View Mirror"), here's a small list of the things I found to to do this summer.

1. Went to the beach ... Good Harbor, Wingaersheek, and even Crane's.


2. Looked for seaglass ... along Pavilion Beach and Niles.


3. Walked in Ravenswood Park a few times.


4. Walked in the Tompson Street Reservation.


5. Went to the Sidewalk Bazaar.


6. Went to the Premier Ultimate Gloucester Block Party. (May there be many more!)


7. Went boating (not enough... never enough).


8. Went kayaking in the Essex River for the first time (kayaking).


9. Stopped in at the Farmer's Market and Harbor Loop Concerts.


10. Went to a couple of the Rockport Legion Band Concerts. Okay. Went to 6 of them and the final one is scheduled for Sunday, August 24th. (shameless plug)


11. Watched a few baseball games at Boudreau and Wilson and parts of some softball games out at Plum Cove.


12. Particpated in one or two bike races. I only say "particpated" since I happened to try to drive down Washington Street towards Lanesville at the wrong time and got stuck in a race. (Driving along this road on a normal day can be a challenge but add a few cyclists and then it really becomes interesting.)


13. Went to a couple of church fairs.


14. Ate some really good, fresh corn from local farmers.


15. Ate one really bad lobster roll.... It was from Maine and looked very different from the one that the "Phantom" reviewed. Note to GMG. It had lettuce on it also!


16. The list goes on and could include the customary events such as Fiesta and 4th of July....

All in all, despite the rainy weather, it wasn't that bad of a summer. Next time you hear someone from Cape Ann saying that "there's nothing to do", tell them that they are ......

Simply Not Looking Hard Enough!

C_A_B

Simply Delightful

Last evening was one of those "perfect" summer evenings on Cape Ann.

The weather was perfect for sitting out on the deck. Dinner was fresh grilled haddock from Connolly's with grilled vegetables fresh from Marshall's Farm Stand. Topped off with a nice bottle of Pinot Grigio.

Even the mosquitos took the night off!

Just simply delightful.

C_A_B