THREE SEASONS in SANDWICH: SHARK! SHARK!

It's just about mid-November, and today was a beautiful day! After a rain-and-wind storm overnight, the clouds broke just after noon today. They were replaced by severe clear, calm seas, and a temperature of 73 degrees. On November 12th.

At about 1:30, Jim took off on a long loop of a walk. We agreed to meet in front of the beach house. If there were any doubt that it's November, the long shadow of our house already forming on the beach was a stark reminder that the sun now sets around 4:30 p.m. In early October, we would sit on the beach as late as 5:30 and still have sun rays bouncing off our faces.

Anyway, given the current position of the sun (or is it the earth?), when I went outside to set up my detrital (is this the adjective form of the word detritus?) beach chair, which had blown a few doors down on the beach overnight, I had to place it quite intentionally in between our house and the house next door so as to be directly in the path of the sun's rays, which were glorious. Even my ever present Fatty Wampus had positioned himself at the water's edge where the shadows had not yet fallen.

Fatty Wampus Sunning Himself

The sun's rays warmed my face, as I nestled my toes into the sand. All was well in my world, as well as the Wamp's.

Does This Sand Make My Toes Look Fat?

After a while, I decided to go to the water's edge. After all, if it was warm enough for Fatty Wampus, it must be warm enough for me. AND IT WAS!! On November 12, 2022, I waded up to my ankles in Cape Cod Bay without so much as the smallest "oh, that's cold" flinch when I stuck my toes in. That clear, calm water felt almost August warm!

Clear, Calm November Water

It wasn't long before I saw TSO ambling toward me. When we met, I talked him into wading in the water with me.

TSO's November Toes

Alas, James did not share my opinion regarding the comfort level of the water temperature, but he didn't shout "it's freezing," and run right out either. We stayed a while and then sat for awhile on the beach watching the shadows engulf more and more of the beach, slowly but with stubborn certitude. We then moved to the deck of the beach house where, a short while later, I took a picture of the shadows, which now engulfed my detrital beach chair.

2:13 P.M.

Detrital Beach Chair in Shadow

As we sat on the deck, we admired the water, which remained shadow free, the peaks of its tiny ripples glinting in the sunlight. We watched a pair of cormorants, who seemed to have settled in on a spot directly in front of our house. Undoubtedly, there were some good eats below the surface. Suddenly, TSO said in his typically matter-of-fact tone of excitement, "I think I see a seal." I replied, in my "oh, please" tone, "it's a cormorant." Unconvinced, he went inside the house to get his binoculars. When TSO emerged and looked through the binoculars, he uttered in the same tone as before, "I think it's a shark." Then he said, "It is a shark," and handed me the binoculars while he went back inside to get a camera.

I held the binoculars and watched that familiar Jaws-shaped triangle bob above and dip below the surface in close proximity to the cormorants. "Hurry," I yelled into the house. TSO replied, "I can't find my camera. I hid it when the kids were here, and now I can't remember where."

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME!" was all I could say while the fin kept circling. Was he going to eat the birds, I thought. After all, they were the only visible creatures in the area. Ew. I wasn't ready for that bloodbath directly in front of the house. And then, just as I lost sight of the fin, out came TSO with his camera.

So, dear reader, you are going to have to believe me when I say that we saw a shark today in Cape Cod Bay, directly in front of our house, about 100 feet from the water's edge. As the Tee shirt saying goes, "Kathryn and Jim saw a shark today, but all I got was this lousy picture of some birds."