Enjoying Spring

For those of us that live here year-round, road construction and ongoing sewer projects have made driving anywhere an adventure. Fortunately, there are apps we can check daily to see where the latest projects may have closed a road, created a detour, or simply slowed down traffic. Driving anywhere on Cape Cod before Memorial Day can involve a certain degree of creative problem solving and a lot of patience, but we’re tough. We can do it.
I’m a seasoned Cape Codder, and I know a little bit of inconvenience now is better than a bigger mess during the tourist season, so I do my best to grin and bear it. Besides, sometimes sitting and waiting for cars to creep along gives me a chance to see and hear new migrants arriving in nearby treetops or to take in scenery in a slow and sure way. The blooming daffodils may be fading now but the cherries and lilacs are ready to pop. Add some beach plum blooms and there’s plenty to see and enjoy while waiting for the machinery and workers to do their things.
This past weekend I made my way to Chatham where I had rented a waterfront home and was hosting eight students for a multi-day sketching and watercolor retreat. The home belonged to relatives of one of the students and had been in the family for many generations. It was an old house that retained its ancestral and architectural charm, and it was the perfect setting for letting go of all the traffic woes each of us endured to get there from all over the Cape. If you’ve recently attempted to drive to Chatham from Falmouth, you can relate, I’m sure. Also, did I mention the home was waterfront? Our view changed with the tides and weather and was never anything but breathtaking.
An art retreat is a wonderful way to spend a few days. I provided the food and the itinerary, and we all spent many hours each day sketching, painting, laughing, eating, telling stories and taking long walks. We painted landscapes and flowers, people and dogs, shops and a lighthouse, boats and birds. 
The apple trees in the yard of the house hosted robins, orioles and house wrens as well as cardinals all declaring their intentions. There were bunnies galore, and on our last morning a small explosion of migrating warblers. The beach in front of the house was great for beachcombing and birding as well. 
Yellowlegs and willets were in abundance and there was a huge crowd of laughing gulls. Small flocks of late eiders and scoters flew by and double-crested cormorants flying low over the water were a regular sight. On one afternoon we watched hundreds, perhaps more than a thousand, cormorants fly in and sit in the water, all facing the same direction as if awaiting instructions. The tide was rushing in, and we assumed fish were rushing in as well. And then, without a sound, the huge crowd of cormorants rose into the air and flew off, wings flapping, necks outstretched. They disappeared as quickly as they had arrived.
Taking a day to be out in nature is always a treat. Taking several days is simply amazing, especially at this time of year. There’s so much going on everywhere we look. The world is waking up, or at least our small segment of the world. Being part of that, even for a few days, is life affirming.
The bay is full of whales. Go to Herring Cove or Race Point in Provincetown to see them from the beach. Last week it was rocking with whale spouts and flukes as well as surface feeding by right whales. We are so privileged to see these endangered giants just off our shores. 
The migrating birds are passing through now, so take a day off and go out to see what you can see. Sometimes you just hear them, but that’s OK, too. Being outside where the leaves are unfurling, the spring ephemerals are blooming, and the shadbush is having a moment can fill us up even without a special bird sighting. Taking big gulps of fresh spring air must be good for our lungs even if the pollen isn’t so great for our sinuses. 
Areas like Bell’s Neck are full of herring arriving to spawn and also full of the herons, gulls, ospreys and even eagles that come to feed on the fish. Perhaps you’ll catch sight of black-crowned night herons or spy a group of foraging glossy ibises. When you see over a dozen ospreys whirling in the sky waiting for the right moment to dive for their dinner, thank people like Rachel Carson for standing up for what is right and taking her lesson to heart, especially in these dark days for environmental protections.
By the time our retreat was over we lingered a bit, taking our last views, packing our cars, and sharing our last hugs before heading to the last beach where we would sketch, chat, and eventually disperse and head on our ways home.
Spring is as ephemeral here as the mayflowers and starflowers, the singing warblers and spouting right whales. It’s here today but gone before we know it. Never mind the traffic or the returning snowbirds. Get outside and enjoy this wonderful time of year here. Soon summer will be here in all her glory, but with her will come the crowds and the incessant buzz of things that must be done. 
Whether walking in the woods or on the beach is your favorite thing, just get out there. Spring is in overdrive, but she’ll be out of here before we know it.