Archive - 2010
August 28th
Turtle Attack on Cape Cod
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sat, 08/28/2010 - 09:17Toda is our final day on Cape Cod for this trip. We are drinking our coffee, thinking about packing and getting a quick swim in before the drive home.
Yesterday Fiona and I walked to the beach with the family of one of Fiona's camping friends. Along the way we ate some of the remaining huckleberries and the first ripe beach plums we could find.
We ended up a Coast Guard beach, but Kim had driven to Head of Meadow beach, so we walked a ways up the beach to meet her. I talked with Fiona's friend's parents about beachcombing, dune shacks and an artist we saw nestled in the dunes painting a seascape.
Later we headed down to one of the kettle ponds. There is a friendly snapping turtle that comes around looking for visitors to feed it. One woman warned that it is still a wild animal and feeding it or getting too close is not a good idea. We approached the turtle but kept a respectable distance.
The turtle moved over towards other folks who were less circumspect. A young boy offered the turtle part of his saandwich. When the turtle paid no attention, the boy reached into the water and moved the piece of sandwich towards the turtle. This caught the turtles attention and he snapped at the food, getting the little boy's finger.
There was much commotion and the little boy was taken away by his parents. Afterwards, the remaining swimmers kept a much more respectable distance.
This, along with many other experiences has provided me with considerable material to write about during the coming days.
August 27th
#ff @hynesyte from Cape Cod
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Fri, 08/27/2010 - 09:11Well, it is another bright clear day on Cape Cod after a rainy start to the week. This morning it is Fiona's turn to sleep late. Yedterday we swam and body surfed all day at Race Point. The water was cold which further drained our energy. Nonetheless we rallied to make it to a bonfire on Head of Meadow Beach.
A beautiful full moon rose over the sea and the stars were bright. We picked out several constellations as we sat around the campfire and toasted marshmellows
I am tempted to wax poetic about the day at the beach and the campfire afterwards, but blog posts written on a cellphone are better left terse with minmal editting. Instead, I will gather thoughts to draw on for a later day.
Yet before I hit submit, I should notes that today is my brother Doug's birthday. It is also Follow Friday, so in the nomenclature of Twitter: #ff @hynesyte. Hopefullly the greetings from the Cape, stories from this year and memories of childhood vacations will be a good brithday greeting for my brother.
August 26th
Initiative and Referendum
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Thu, 08/26/2010 - 09:59It looks like today will be the first good beach day of our vacation, so my post today will probably be more terse than normal. Even though I am on vacation, I am sitill trying to get at least a simple post up each day, even if I don't have as much time for research and editting as I would normally take.
I still get brief glances at the news and a few stories have caught my attention. In Connecticut, I am told that Republican Gubernatorial candidate is interested in limiting campaign expenditures and prohibiting negative advertising. The Malloy is reportedly circumspect about the offer. Not knowing the details, my gut feeling is that both sides should work towards an agreement on this. I realize that campaign managers and consultants may not like this idea. It might mean less money for them. However, I hope candidates will consider this as they think about what their staff recommends.
Also, the political positioning about minor party candidates participating in debates is starting to be played out. My bottom line is that if a candidate is on the ballot they should be in the debates. I hope to explore this more later, including the ethical considerations of news organizations.
I've heard that in Florida, another self financed candidate has failed. While I recognize that some wealthy candidates may have th public interest and not solely their self interest in mind, generally I think self-financd campaigns are a very bad idea and I am glad to see them failing.
As a final item, I hear that a recent poll in Connecticut has foung that 86 percent of people surveyed support some form of initative and referendum. I support ideas that will incrase voter participation. However, I believe there is a good reason that we have a representative democracy. Even as a political activist and news junkie who blogs from vacation, I find it difficult to be as informed about important issues as I believe I should be.
Initative and referendum seems to lead towards rule making by people who may not know the full story. I would love to see the survey done, broken down by whether people know who their state legislators are and how often they contact them.
Another concern about initative and referendum is that it seems like anoter avenue for the wealthy to try and impose their opinions and will on the rest of us. Perhaps if the was some sort of public financing of initative and referendum it might make more sense.
With that, it is time for me to get ready for the beach.
August 25th
Wordless Wednesday
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Wed, 08/25/2010 - 11:04
August 24th
Cold Wind and Rain
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Tue, 08/24/2010 - 11:19The cold wind and rain arrived on Cape Cod this week, soon after we did and an old folk song with 'cold wind and rain' in the lyrics has rattled around in my head ever since. Monday we went to Head of the Meadows beach to watch the surf.
A few lifeguards were standing in a huddle on the beach. Were they there for a training exercise? Had they just completed a rescue? Were they just checking to see that no one was fool emough to go in the water? Or, were they, like us, just stopping to appreciate the sea in its fierce majesty? We will probably never know.
The fierce wind tattered our ponchos. Fiona complained of the stinging drivenr ain, and we found brief shelter in a makeshift fort on the beach. Soon we headed for drier venues. Fiona and I climbed to the top of Cape Cod Lighthouse were we could watch the storm from comfortable safety.
Later, we climbed Pilgrem Tower. It was a great climb to the top but up that high, the wind was even stronger, so we did not tarry. In the museum we looked at various dolls which kind of creeped out Fiona. The faces portrayed a mix of sadness and steely determination. There were not smiles our other signs of joy. Was this from their creators' struggles with the elements or some religous belief espousing dourness?
In the evening, Kim and Fiona ran out to do some errands and I sat quietly in the trailer. The wind whipped around the trailer producing howling shrieks as it shook the foundation. There was the sound of some distant bass drum or at least something heavy hitting the side of any empty container such as a branch hitting the side of a trailor.
Outside, the light had an eerie light blue tint most likely as the cloud and rain captured the light from older mercury vapor lamps instead of the warmer orange light of newer sodium vapor lamps.
In the distance,there was a low constant roaring, similar to the sound of an old furnace that you could hear from the distant recesses of a large frarm house. Yet this sound was more likely from the constant beating of the surf on a far away beach.
Sleep came at last and this morning as light returned we saw the continuing cold wind and rain.
