Summer Has Arrived

The day’s heat is by afternoon softened by the southwest breeze blowing in from off the sound, rustling the treetops. The water, like glass in early morning, is restless by midday, The sailboats out on their regattas take advantage of brisk winds to tack back and forth through the bays on their way to local glory.

Fireflies light the way along the dim evening paths as we wind our way toward the beaches to watch fireworks bloom overhead. This is a Cape Cod summer and like the many before it, one that should be savored—on cloudy days and sunny—through evening thunderstorms and afternoon heat.

This year marks 40 years since the research vessel Knorr sailed into Woods Hole accompanied by small watercraft and helicopters, triumphant in its search for the wreck of the Titanic. The world came to the small village witnessing the return on television and through the words of reporters who inundated the town. Unknown at the time was Knorr’s secret visits to two other wrecks on that trip, the sunken nuclear-powered subs USS Thresher and USS Scorpion.

The season also marks a time when wedding bells peel through the town and flowered arches spring up on beaches as couples exchange I do’s to the sound of the surf. Summer brings boating, a pastime enjoyed for hundreds of years on the Cape. It’s a time to visit your local fish market.

We can finally shake off the chill of winter and the indecisiveness of spring, and enjoy the summer sun.

John H. Hough