It’s funny how with bigger kids, the tempo of our Vineyard vacations has
changed. It is not nearly as exhausting as
when they were little, but we all drag around as if we ARE exhausted. Our beach days alternate between manic wave
jumping and sklathing in chairs and on towels, sometimes with books. Every once in a while someone takes a walk,
or throws a ball, but mostly we are relaxed to the point of room-temperature
buttah. We no longer have to keep the
kids occupied for every hour and watch over their every move. We
don’t have to tire them out in the morning for naps in the afternoon. We don’t have to stay at home at night or get
them home early for bed. It’s a
slothful new world and I rather like it.
On the other hand, they (or one of them anyway) can get the car for us
and drive us places. That’s a definite
plus.
We cram in one last day at Long Point, spent either diving through
waves or alternating sitting and reading and snoozing. It’s sunny but a little windy so not really
hot. To be honest, I can’t quite recall
if today or yesterday was the day that the wind was high enough that one side
of you baked while the other felt a little chill from the breeze. It’s nice to have a string of days so lovely
that the details kind of elide into one long beach day.
Time for another NEW ACTIVITY ALERT!
We’ve done about every program possible offered by Mass Audubon’s MV
outpost of Felix Neck, but they’ve a new one this year, a naturalist tour of
Oak Bluffs harbor. We sign up because
despite the aforementioned indolence, a little organized activity actually
keeps us all sane. But we’re all a tad
skeptical as we set off with a lot of other tired-looking vacationers and their
kids, on a boat that looks a bit like the SS Minnow. We can’t hear at the first stop, about the
osprey nest, although we do grasp the interesting detail that after they catch
a fish, they hold it in their hand-like talons in such a way that when they fly
super fast, the fish basically drowns in the air because its gills can’t handle
the rush of oxygen. Or something like
that. But the gal giving the spiel is in
the front and we’re in the back, so we just kind of watch. Next, another gal pulls up a lobster pot that
I suspect is seeded at the last minute a la the swamp tour[1]
but then decide there is no way they’d keep a lobster that funny-looking
hanging around to show the tourists. We
examine said seriously deformed lobster (his crusher was just a
barnacle-covered fist), and a cheeky spider crab, and a whelk and a hermit crab.
Then
we learn about some whelk egg sacs and this is all very nice but there is only
so much chatting up of the cute young naturalists that we can do. But finally we fish and then the fun really
begins. Three of us drop lines for scup
and we all catch at least one! Despite
some help for me from Captain John, who knew I was up for it when he saw me get
on board, he sez, Izzy is the master angler in our group, pulling in a
three-pounder. Captain John is a
seasoned veteran of the quick charter:
has every kid caught a fish? Now it’s time for them to drive the boat,
come on up in the wheelhouse, kids! And
so on. But he keeps it fun, and we did learned
about whelk egg sacs (they’re the things you find on the beach that look like
little bunches of white grapes) AND we caught some fish. Izzy can’t wait to go fishing again.
We’re in Oak Bluffs for dinner again, and you know what that
means. We’re up to six apple fritters
for this trip.
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