sunset anarchy

Provincetown.

Wild sunset--so many things going on in the sky that I was giddy.

The scenes in my last post, part of the same sunset, were like outer space, deserts, volcanos. 

In a span of an hour I saw clouds like mountains, mesas, tornados, Turner landscapes, Constable clouds. There were soft pinks and blacks, luminous orange, a palette of blues, whites, and grays, even a rainbow. 

These and the pictures in my last post were taken at Herring Cove Beach in Provincetown, Massachusetts between 5:37 and 6:37 p.m. 

It was exhilarating.

peonies & rain

Around here, it's peonies and rain.

When I was in Provincetown I went on a whale watching boat--it was raining and windy, I was soaked and cold, but somehow that made the whole experience more fun, more real, and yes we saw whales which was awesome. Truly.

I love boats and spent a lot of time looking at the fishing boats. That's a hard life, and a dangerous one--commercial fishing is the deadliest job in the U.S. (more on that here) I am fascinated by it though. If you haven't read The Perfect Storm,  you should. It's a page-turner.

The kitties say this is the way to spend a rainy day.

Hope you are warm and dry.

Jen

blues

cobalt cerulean turquoise 

aqua 

azure 

cornflower sapphire navy 

indigo periwinkle teal

I've gotten used to the gray greens of the New England Atlantic. The oceans of my life have always been toned down---the gray blues of the Pacific near San Francisco, the mid-blues of the Jersey shore and Fire Island. It was a shock to see the colors of the same ocean a thousand miles south, in Florida. It made me want to get out my paints and a giant canvas and explore every shade of blue for the rest of my life. It made me wish that I could paint like this artist:

Cape Cod weekend

A cottage by the sea.

Pink roses everywhere.

That is the house I dream of.

The air smells of wild roses, hydrangeas, and salt air.

A day at the beach segued to an evening Cape League baseball game. (A league of the best college players, memorialized in the wonderful book, The Last Best League.) The stands were full; suntan lotion, bug spray and grilling hotdogs threaded the scent of the ocean breeze. Children and dogs ran around, cell phones were ignored and the crowd stayed until the very end, because it was that rare kind of evening, one you want to remember when the phones start ringing again.

 The ocean was everything it's supposed to be.

I walked for hours, and was rewarded by the playful antics of dozens of seals. My little pocket camera wasn't up to the task, but trust me, they were captivating. If you click on the picture you'll get a better glimpse of one of them.

Is there a house you dream of?

Jen

summer reading

I've recently read two good novels--and enjoyed them so much that the next books I read will be by the same authors. Beautiful Ruins, by Jess Walter. Well-written, warm, amusing--back and forth between 1950's Italy and present day Hollywood. I'll read his previous book, The Financial Lives of Poets (great title!) soon.

The House at Tyneford by Natasha Solomons was recommended to me by a bookstore owner, and it is a rich old-fashioned novel--World War II, England, Vienna, romance, heartbreak...It takes place in Dorset and now I want to go there--the book is filled with wonderful imagery of the beauty of the place. Such as:
 "I loved the wildness and the salt water cracking against the black rocks and the greylag geese crying overhead and the sea pinks reaching over the cliff tops and the adders basking on the heath, the song of the fishermen and the rainbow bellies of the mackerel, the silent church and the glimpse of Portland in the mist and the way the weather was changeable as a Mozart opera..."

I am going to the Cape* this weekend and taking her other book Mr. Rosenblum Dreams in English.

 * People in the know say The Cape, and not Cape Cod, in the way that in New Jersey you don't say, I'm going to the beach, you say, I'm going down the shore.

I bought the chair in the picture above at an auction this week, and I'm keeping it! That is a glimpse of my guest room, and the colors I love--beach colors.

This glorious trumpetvine now grows above the roofline and is thick with flowers. Rabbits come and eat the fallen ones. There is one big old rabbit who lets us walk right up to him. I impulsively bought a biography of Beatrix Potter, but it is very large and I'm having trouble getting into it. I should just read her books again--spend time with Squirrel Nutkin, Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle, Benjamin Bunny. And of course, Peter Rabbit.

Enjoy your weekend.

x Jen

ocean, mountains, lake or poolside?

Where would you like to vacation? 

via

That's the theme for my latest treasury.

Me, I like all of them. But a house with a view of the ocean would be my first choice.

                                                                     Martha's Vineyard

gray, blue, white

like the ocean

                                                                                       vase here

new treasury on etsy