A Cape Cod Notebook

One of the most beautiful spots in Wellfleet, or for that matter, on the entire Lower Cape, is Old Wharf Road. It is one of those headlands that, along with Indian Neck and Lieutenant’s Island, thrust out into greater Wellfleet Harbor.

Wellfleet journalist Seth Rolbein talks about the birthplace of American Theatre.

As we drove off, disappointed, I said I don’t want to JUST be on Cape Cod. I want to feel like I’m here, really here, sand between my toes, waves crashing, gulls calling out for a meal.

We are running out of space at the Nantucket landfill. I spent the winter driving by dumpsters, unable to stop myself from looking over the edge.

Despite what might be in your head, the 25-mile path from Yarmouth to Wellfleet is not just a bike trail. There are runners and skateboarders and walkers, many of us with dogs.

What really impresses me at this time of year, at any time of year, actually, are the lichens. These otherworldly beings, growing on tree bark and branches, spreading on the ground or on rocks or gravestones, seem to thrive in any weather.

On the Vineyard, it’s different. Spring, when it finally deigns to make an entrance, take the stage at a stately pace. Here, daffodils are soloists. Arriving to great applause, they get a seemingly endless overture.

The other day I took some old friends up to Great Point. The weather wasn’t particularly good — Nantucket in March, we kept grumbling. I don’t think they’d mind me saying old friends, as it’s true. Both are older than me by a mile, and they don’t get around as easily as they once did.

Those of you who travel the north side of Cape Cod know that Route 6A has been closed in Dennis for several months, and a detour sends drivers either north through Sesuit Neck or south to Scargo Hill Road.

There are gnomes hiding on Route 6A.And before you think I’m a little too far into the Chardonnay, let me reassure you that I know they are not real.