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Land of the Lost
June 05, 2005
Rob took me for a drive all the way up the National Sea Shore on Cape Cod when I was visiting a couple weeks ago. First on the list was taking a walk through the Enchanted Chickadee Forest, and then we headed all the way up to the tip of the cape to Provincetown for lunch. Provincetown, also called P-Town, is a quaint little community... notable for it's art community and the high percentage of gays who live there. I've never seen so many gay folks at once place in my life. As a matter of fact, Rob and I were so totally in the minority, I felt like we were kind of sticking out. As we walked down the sdewalk, I whispered in his ear, "Do you think it's okay to hold your hand in public here?"
He whispered back, "I don't know. We may get some odd looks... we could get run out of town." (We're such big risk-takers.)
Later on we both had a good laugh when we drove by the Prince Albert Hotel. The place has sense of style, and obviously, a sense of humor. I loved P-Town and I hope we go back!
Finally, we headed out to the beach to take a "stroll" through the dunes and hopefully get some good landscape shots. Perhaps this is where the Mars/Venus thing comes into play.... Rob's idea of a stroll was a 2 hour long death march up and over endless dunes the size of the Washington Monument. I got an incredible workout, though. He was just like those aerobics instructors who lie to you just to keep you going... saying, "you're almost there!" with a big grin on his face ... "the ocean is just over this dune..." only, we'd reach the summit of said dune, and there'd be ANOTHER dune the size of Mt. Rushmore behind it...
followed by another...
...and another. (I realize they don't look so big in these shots... but they were HUGE... and, we were walking in sand, and my ears were freezing.
I'm just being mellodramatic... I really loved our hike. Cape Cod is beautiful on a big and wild scale. The image above was taken someplace in the middle of our march. There's a fascinating mix of beach grass and crusty lichen growing all over the place.
I happened to spot this sandy toad hiding inside of some lichen. He was teeny weeny tiny. Maybe an inch long.
Rob kept saying he couldn't fathom how in the world I spotted a toad in the middle of all that sand... I just kept saying, "God is in the details!" Plus, I shoot macro images... I'm tuned into tininess. (I just love those little orange dots on his skin... aren't toads amazing?)
Here's a closeup Mr. Toad's front lichen lawn.
Pine cones were everywhere....
... and the pines were blooming.
... and finally, the summit! I felt like one of those lost mountain climbers who suddenly reaches the peak and can see civilization... "Thank God Almighty! We're going to LIVE!!!"
Big huge thanks to Rob for taking me out there. It was so much fun to see him run down the side of the dune with his huge telephoto strapped around his neck. The man is insane... completely, wonderfully insane.
Posted by vincent at June 5, 2005 12:48 AM
Comments
i love that he's telephoto - big picture - and you're detailed macro lens - opposites draw us both to the center where we meet don't they?
liam and i are like that - love the same things - just the far spectrum difference of those things - and we appreciate what we love all the more because the other can show us a different perspective.
i loved mr. toad's orange dots - i would have NEVER noticed them without your nudge though - i guess i'm a telephoto kind of girl! :)
Posted by: bobbie at June 5, 2005 04:45 PM
I've never seen pines in bloom. That's wonderful. All the rest is too, from your clear happiness to your stunning images.
Sounds like your hike was a Masada. I keep blaming Ian for that long walk UP UP UP UP UP even though it was a joint decision to go on that particular adventure. Someone had to take the blame and it's gonna be him since he could walk up faster than I could.
Posted by: joy at June 5, 2005 05:07 PM
I love your images. Your pictures never cease to amaze me.
Posted by: Andrea Lemieux at June 6, 2005 08:56 AM
Thank you for these photos - I love your blog. I particularly liked seeing these because one of my favourite books is Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt and it starts in Provincetown and they lived in a house on the beach. I'm in the UK so I'm not likely to go there, so thank you for showing me them!
Posted by: Liz at June 6, 2005 09:15 AM
Mr. Toad and his front lichen lawn made my day. Thanks so much!
Posted by: G. at June 6, 2005 09:44 AM
I absolutely love your blog too. I love that you see the tiniest details and take such fantastic photos that bring them to life for us. I am a detail lover also. And my husband is a big picture kind of a guy. It really does work! And I love love love Cape Cod.
Posted by: candy at June 7, 2005 09:36 AM
I like hearing your happiness in your writing. Really nice photos, too.
Posted by: Wandering Willow at June 7, 2005 01:38 PM
AWESOME journal of trip Susan!!! Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us, for sharing your pictures also - it is wonderful :-)
Posted by: Kirsten at June 7, 2005 06:17 PM
Susan, your photos are just beautiful! And I had to laugh at your "death march" description, because I too was taken by a new love on what I called a death march. He too kept saying, we're almost there! I was not reassured because I knew we'd have to hike BACK, too! We had no water and no food, because he claimed it would only take 45 minutes or so. I did not do nearly as well as you did. I had to lie down right on t he dusty ground for a while . . .
Posted by: Nola Figen Perla at June 8, 2005 09:30 PM