BLESSED SUNSHINE

Friday morning and we are blessed with another day of sunshine. This is absolutely marvelous. I am looking out the window, past the computer and I can see two rabbits hopping around in the front yard, munching on the green grass. Barbara and David live in a cedar shingled home, just a short distance from the ocean. In the winter, when the leaves are off the trees in the back yard they are able to see the ocean from the upper deck on their home. Orleans, Mass is on a narrow strip of land, a little over 2 miles wide, going out toward the tip of Cape Cod. The majority of the houses here on the Cape are cedar shingles, which age with the weather. The lawns are beautifully manicured and landscaped. The most of the homes have been handed down from generation to generation over the years. Quite a few of the homes are only used for a few weeks out out the year as vacation homes.
Life could not be more perfect. We had a fantastic day yesterday. David, Robert and I sat out on the back deck for a little while in the morning soaking up some sunshine before we started a few tasks. My goal was to mow the lawn - as weird as it may sound, I really enjoy that - however, the guys could not get the lawn mower started. That shot down project number one, so David and I gathered up tools, seeds, plants and all the necessary supplies and headed to the garden. We planted eggplant, tomatoes, peppers, lettuce plants and onion sets. Then we moved onto all types and varieties of lettuce, carrot, pepper, spinach seeds - you name it and we planted it. It was awesome. I have not planted a garden in many years and it was so nice to be out and about doing something other than riding in the truck for hours on end.
We took a break after we finished planting and watering the garden. We sat on the deck for an little lunch, soaked up a little more sunshine, and reminisced about the past. I have not seen my brother for 5 years so we had some catching up to do. Bob had some tales to tell about he and his brothers when they were younger and some of their escapades. I've heard them before, but David got a big chuckle out of them. It's a wonder they all survived their childhood. I decided to get cleaned up after all our hard work and hit the outdoor shower. It was awesome - who would have thought. It is common for houses on the cape to have outdoor showers. Barbara and David's is located on the east side of the house between the main house and the garage. It gets the morning and early afternoon sun. I wonder why houses in Arizona don't use the same concept. After David took an outdoor shower, he took us on a short tour of some the houses in Orleans and out to Chatham to see the the light house managed by the Coast Guard which is now part of Homeland Security. Chatham is an old fishing village and there are some magnificent homes there especially along the cliffs on the ocean side. There are also some large hotels - Chatham House being one of them. Robert was able to take some pictures along the way.
I have not been here in 5 years, and during that time some of the beach area has been destroyed by storms. Stretches of beach that we drove and walked on have been washed away. Houses along one stretch were totally washed away in recent winter/spring storms and only a few are remaining. "Mother Nature" has not been kind to the area in recent years, but it is still a beautiful area. We had dinner with the Barbara, David and their family yesterday evening. Cassandra made some awesome deep fried zucchini for an appetizer. I called it an early night and headed back over to the 5th wheel to caption pictures.
Barbara does not have to work today, so they have volunteered to take us sight seeing. It looks like it will be a beautiful day and hopefully we will have some more pictures to add to the blog.