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Different Perspectives

November 4, 2010 •

It’s won­der­ful how a change in scenery can shift your per­spec­tive, improve your mood despite Novem­ber’s typ­i­cally gloomy weather in northerly lat­i­tudes. I was reflect­ing on that while chat­ting with my dad ear­lier today. He was com­mis­er­at­ing with me about the stormy weather in Mass­a­chu­setts, won­der­ing if I wished I’d stayed in Seat­tle…

We were talk­ing about Novem­ber rain and cloudy skies — and how we respond to day after day of cloudy weather. He was feel­ing sorry for me, fac­ing an autumn storm alone on Cape Cod. But I was rel­ish­ing the look of the high tide fill­ing in the tidal meadow a few hun­dred feet away.

Talk­ing about my upbeat mood, he won­dered if long-time Seat­tleites are some­how immune to mood swings from dark and cloudy skies. Au con­traire… Was I happy despite the weather because I’m used to gloom, or was it the change in scenery?
Cotuit tidal marsh at a  very high tide, November 2010 I said it was the scenery… Here’s the view this morn­ing from a sec­ond story win­dow: our nor­mally grassy meadow awash with sev­eral inches of sea water, thanks to an unusu­ally high tide. Ducks were float­ing nearby.

Here’s the same meadow yes­ter­day at low tide. For this shot I was fac­ing east (instead of the southerly view from our win­dows). Fall sun­shine bright­ens Pop­pones­set Bay. (Cotuit Bay and the Nan­tucket Sound are out of sight, behind the dark pine trees.)
Cotuit tidal marsh at low tide, November 2010

Until last night the weather on Cape Cod has been sunny, crisp and chilly (down­right frosty at nights) — a sparkling cold that’s a wel­come con­trast to Seat­tle’s warmer but dreary Novem­ber.

As you can see below, the fall col­ors have faded but not dis­ap­peared alto­gether from Cape Cod, a col­or­ful frame for nearby bays and coves.

This shot shows the cove where we beach and launch our kayaks, now empty of boats or sum­mer vaca­tion­ers.

Fall foliage at a cove on Shoestring Bay

Cape Cod’s waters are back under the con­trol of the osprey and great blue herons. You hear seabirds call­ing, rather than the high-pitched drone of jet skis or motor boats. Except for the birds, the waters are quiet. The shore­birds rule until next sum­mer…

About This Blog

Reflec­tions on life, travel, books, and yoga. Think­ing out loud about the pur­suit of mind­ful­ness and well-being.

Learn­ing how to recover from the loss of a beloved spouse, and then to find a trans­for­ma­tive path for­ward.

About Me

Semi-retired marketing exec, transitioning from a career in high tech. Now "managed" by two Tonkinese cats. Missing travel and friends on the West Coast. Avid reader and foodie. Staying active with long walks, biking, kayaking and yoga.

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