Initial Impressions 2.0 Blog #76: Party Boat, 4th of July, Hairy Observations, etc.

1. While out for a walk on a sunny morning, I stopped at a favorite spot. It is a small dock on Bass River, approximately 1.5 miles from where I live. As luck would have it, a boat was coming down the river, so I waited to get a photo of it at the end of the dock, sort of a perspective shot. This was one of those pontoon party boats, which you can see in the photo. Within seconds of me snapping the photo, the boat got wedged on a sandbar in the river. They must not have been from Cape Cod because those familiar with Bass River know that there is some shoaling in that area. They were going full throttle in reverse, trying to break free of the sand. They got free and went on their way. I didn’t stick around. There was nothing I could do since they all had phones and it didn’t seem so dire that I needed to run for help like Lassie.

The moment before they got stuck

2. Updating my hand injury. It ended up with the back of my hand being a massive bruise for days. For those who don’t know, I got my right hand smashed between 2 steel bars that are a part of a piece of exercise equipment at my day job. Anyway, we’re almost 2 weeks out from the injury, and I can finally attempt to use my right hand to lift things heavier than 3 ounces. The interesting thing is that the better my hand felt, the more the enormous bruise on my hand started looking more like I had done a bad fake tan on it.

3. From the My Life Is A Movie Department. As many of you know, I developed a very close connection to Cape Cod’s infamous Lady of the Dunes murder mystery. I met producer Frank Durant, who created the Lady of the Dunes documentary that helped spur on the case’s resolution after nearly 50 years. I then wrote the book based on the documentary. I still consider it to be my proudest moment of my professional career. Through the resolution of the case, we found out that the titular ‘Lady’ was a real woman named Ruth Marie Terry. Not only that but she had a son. This is where the story becomes even more like a movie. This week I got a letter in the mail addressed to myself ‘and Guest.’ Inside was an invitation to Ruth’s son’s wedding. It is a surreal moment and an unbelievable honor. If you had told me even 5 years ago that not only would I play a very small part in the solution of the Lady of the Dunes case, but that I’d also be going to her son’s wedding, I’d have said you were crazy. But here we are. I might not be exactly where I want to be in my life but one thing is for sure: my life will be a pretty good movie someday.

4. Fourth of July can be fun with gatherings of family and friends, cookouts, and of course, fireworks. They are illegal in Massachusetts but of course, loads of people shoot them off every year. You’d think the drunken yahoos shooting off their boom sticks would be the ones to get injured, and sometimes that’s the case. This year in Mashpee, which is about 20 minutes from me, the town was setting up for a fireworks show later in the evening. So these are ‘professionals’ handling the fireworks. I don’t know what the cause was, but in the late afternoon, nearly the entirety of the cache of fireworks exploded in a massive plume of smoke and color. I know that several people were hurt, but luckily, I think none were life-threatening. The photos of the immediate aftermath are wild. It looked like a bomb had exploded on a golf course. It just goes to show you that accidents can happen whether you’re a supposed pro hired by the town, or some drunk stumbling around their backyard after their 10th Bud Light.

5. It was madness on July 4th. The weather was perfect so I went out for a run. On a favorite route, which is mainly back roads, I must have seen 100-150 people walking, running, or cycling. It felt like I was a part of a road race where I was passing people but also smiling and waving. It always amazes me how overcrowded Cape Cod gets in the summer. It’s like pouring 50 gallons of water into a bucket that holds about 5. In the end, the water gets everywhere and you have to run away to keep dry. Or something like that.

along my favorite running route on july 4th

6. During that same run, I ended up down at the local beaches. The craziness there was off the charts. There is a strip of beach with, I believe, 5 different parking lots down the entirety of the street. The line of cars to get into the first beach was at least 20 cars deep. It was like trying to park at a concert. The big difference was that unbeknownst to the drivers, there was a sign at the entrance saying the lot was full. It was a cluster to end all clusters. Me though, being a runner, was free and easy to go wherever. I thought of it like an episode of Seinfeld. I saw the sign, looked at the growing line of cars, and thought to myself, ‘well, that’s a shame.’

7. A funny observation. For about 14 years, almost straight through, I shaved my head probably weekly. I did it because I didn’t like my hair, plus it helped me stay cool when running. I know I got looks from people when I was super thin and walking around with a bald head. Now I have spent several months growing my hair out. It’s the longest it has been in I don’t know how long. I am getting comfortable with wearing it spiked up. This look gets me looks also. I’m not sure if it is people thinking of how good my hair looks, or if maybe it is people who remembered when I had no hair and are wondering what in the world is going on. Yes, I have a full head of hair. I didn’t shave it because I am going bald.

8. While out for a run on a different day, I had to stop at a porta-potty. It might have been the worst one I had seen yet. It was as if the people who had used it went out of their way to not use the actual toilet. I won’t get too graphic for those who might be eating, but you can imagine the horrors I saw. I felt so bad for anyone else who had to use it, especially women. When I walked out, I was only a few feet away when a woman walked up and went in. She’d have had better luck just going to the bathroom on the sidewalk. It was so awful. Yay tourists!

It really was this bad, sorry

9. I love fire pits. That being said I do feel like I am a magnet for smoke. It seems like no matter where I sit in the circle around the pit, the smoke from the fire finds me. I can change seats, and it doesn’t matter. I end up with a cloud choking the life out of me. So I am a smoke magnet. I’ve heard of guys being called ‘chick magnets,’ I guess I’m the first ‘smoke magnet.’ It does not evoke the same level of cool, however.

10. For as overcrowded as tourists make Cape Cod in the summer, they do pay the price when it comes time to leave. Fourth of July weekend is one of the worst for exit traffic, right up there with Memorial Day and Labor Day. There are two bridges leaving Cape Cod. Unless you’re flying out of the airport in Hyannis, you’re stuck going over one of those bridges. Before 9am on Sunday, traffic was either stopped or slowed down on the Mid-Cape Highway for nearly 35 miles. My goal on those types of days is to go the opposite direction and try to find an empty spot to enjoy a quiet moment, until they all come back the next weekend, that is.

Initial Impressions 2.0 Blog: #47 - Holiday Photo Trips, Laptop Blue Screens, My Nana's TV, etc

1. One of my recent favorite holiday traditions is snapping photos and videos of a little boat in Allen Harbor in Harwich, MA. I found it maybe 5 years ago by accident. My only issue until this year was that the boat was in an area where if I parked in front of it I had to jump down almost 5 feet to the dock below to be eye-to-eye with it. This year it was moved down where I could easily step my old bones down. Granted I could just walk down the dock to where the elevation was lower, but hey I’m in photo mode. Also, photos of this boat are guaranteed to blow up on social media, and I’m all about the clicks and likes.

2. My final author event of 2024 was one of my best ever. Speaking at the Hyannis Yacht Club was amazing. Very fancy, and very friendly, and all of the people who came out to see my presentation gave it rave reviews. The woman who organized it said the people loved it. I could tell by the number of books I sold. To top it off I got sent home with some choice selections from the lunch buffet. I was busting with happiness when I left, and then busting with food later on.

It was a fun and classy book event.

3. People who know me and have come to my speaking events are shocked I am the same person they know. This comes down to me being far more introverted in my daily life. With my dreams of being a writer came the issue of having to learn to speak in public for events. It was not easy. My first few events back in 2014 consisted of me speaking into an open copy of the book I was presenting. I needed to craft a visual presentation to take eyes off of me. Plus a friend of mine at an event said I looked ‘bush league’ acting like a scared rabbit talking into my book. That influenced me too.

4. My event at the Hyannis Yacht Club was made even better by my cousin Dale being there. She and her husband, my cousin Richard, have always been special to me. As everyone grows older, and some start passing away, we see each other less and less. Last year I saw them both at a family event and she asked me to stay in touch. I did briefly via email but that didn’t last. So seeing her at this event was a thrill. It also helped to have family in the audience to put me at ease. As I just mentioned I am way more introverted than I appear at these events, so any sort of home-field advantage I’ll take.

5. One morning this week I woke up and turned my laptop on as I do every day. I was horrified to get the dreaded blue screen. It mentioned something not being installed or some other issue with an update. My heart was in my throat. I’ve had this happen several times before on old laptops. The worst incident was in the spring of 2020 when my hard drive basically cooked itself. I ended up losing well over 1,000 photos and videos from my amazing 6-day 2,100-mile road trip in November 2019. I turned the laptop off and back on and wouldn’t you know it everything was fine. Granted I’m now expecting another issue anytime now, but it’s almost like the computer gods wanted to remind me not to get too comfortable with my technology running smoothly.

6. As the holidays go along I start to realize just how many places on Cape Cod are a part of my annual photo trips. I start to get memories popping up on social media which remind me to visit these places. By my count, I have close to 10 places that likely will span several trips. It’s almost like an obligation now to get my fair share of holiday cheer. I don’t mind though. Any excuse to take night drives and get some really nice photos is alright with me.

7. When it comes to this year’s first shoot my luck was both good and bad. It was cold, hovering around freezing. It wasn’t very windy, even by the ocean, so that was good. However, a few of the spots I visited are typically lit up either with a spotlight or actual Christmas lights. This year two places were not lit up, at least not when I was there. I guess it could be worse, it gives me an excuse to go back again before the season ends to try to get more photos.

A festive scene on the Eastham town green.

8. Wandering through Stop & Shop one evening this week I passed by Marty the robot that glides along looking for messes for the staff to clean. If you walk near it the robot stops because it has a sensor so it doesn’t just plow into people. But it can be kind of slow and get in the way at times. Me? I just step around it because it’s not a big deal. This angry old man though felt the need to plow into it a couple of times with his shopping cart while badgering his wife. A. He’s a jerk and I feel bad for his wife. B. He looks exactly how you think he looks. 60-something, mustache, some garbage phrase on his shirt that needs a wash, and jeans that look like they’re going to blow away like dandelion spores.

9. I made a typical foolish card for some friends and family for Christmas. What I end up doing is creating a card and getting it printed through Walgreens. I do have an account with them but use it probably once a year. When I got ready to have this card printed I needed to sign in. Fine. Since I don’t use my Walgreens account much I needed to check my email to confirm. Sadly my Walgreens account uses my old AOL email. So I had to go sign in there for the first time in forever. When I went to sign in there because I never use my AOL account I then had to verify myself for that through my Gmail account. I did that and was actually expecting to have to verify my Gmail account next through my Subway account or something. Cards are ordered though and all is good.

10. Finally after having my Nana’s old giant CRT TV for 15 years since she died I decided it needed to go. I haven’t turned it on in many years. Basically, it’s been a huge paperweight on an antique stand that I remember her having since I was a kid. As far as I know, it still works. It even has the remote. When it came to carrying the TV down the stairs and out to the street I noticed that it felt far heavier than I remembered. I thought maybe I’m just older and weaker which was pretty depressing. Then I noticed I had the TV still hooked up to the cable wire which made it feel like a thousand pounds. The fact that I forgot to check that was more depressing. I left it out by the street with a ‘free’ sign on it. 

How I thought my move of my Nana's TV might end up.

Initial Impressions 2.0 Blog: #38 - Vanilla Ice, Cricket Whisperer, Northern Lights, etc.

1. It’s the time of year when people start pulling their boats out of the water. This past week one guy was pulling his 30-foot boat out at a ramp at a local beach. It was a weird dichotomy as it was definitely a cool boat, but he decided to blast Ice Ice Baby while hooking it up. I think within a few months of that song coming out in August 1990 I was embarrassed to play it and I was 13. Granted I didn’t see the guy super up close so maybe he was Vanilla Ice. That would be the only person on Earth I could see proudly blasting that song in 2024.

2. This week marked 15 years since my infamous Caught In A Rising Tide video. It was one of my first YouTube videos and was a funny experience of me walking out to Wing Island in Brewster to get some photos only to return an hour later with the tide coming in. I ended up walking through nearly 2’ of water, soaking my shoes and pants. People asked why I didn’t take my shoes/socks off and I figured I’d end up with splinters from the boards I was walking on which would lead to infections and then maybe losing a foot. Soaked shoes made more sense. I went back to Wing Island and shot a sequel video. No, I wasn’t stuck in a rising tide but it was a fun and fitting follow-up video.

3. I decided to treat myself to a pizza from Domino’s. Now I know that some people don’t like Domino’s but they do have over 20,000 locations worldwide so they’re doing something right. Anyway, I ordered a 3 topping medium pizza from them and went to pick it up. They were super busy inside so what happened next was understandable. They handed me my pizza and I immediately noticed it was a large. I checked the receipt and it said medium so I got an upgrade for free. It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows though. In addition to the pizza being a large, it had additional toppings including mushrooms which I am not a fan of. I will say that picking mushrooms off a pizza was a fair trade for getting a free upgrade to a large.

4. I am approaching 47 years old and yet every year I am still amazed at how quickly the sunset times roll back in the fall. It’s like one minute you blink and the sunset is 8pm and then you blink again and you’re walking out of work at 6pm at dusk with an owl in the trees near you scaring all of the little creatures below. The way I found out it was an owl was not that I saw it, I didn’t stick around. No, my co-worker saw it do some swooping over the parking lot in search of dinner.

5. I was pretty zoned out at work trying to get caught up on some paperwork. I was so focused on my computer screen that I didn’t notice the encroaching intruder. A small spider was slowly descending from the ceiling on its web. I was so into my work that I didn’t see it until it was quite literally an inch from my face right between my eyes. Only then did I let out a yell in surprise. Don’t worry though the spider was not smashed. I grabbed its web up above and coasted it to the floor behind my desk.

6. In other insect news we have had a stowaway cricket inside my work for weeks. Sometimes it’s quiet, other times it chirps so loudly that it seems to echo off of the walls. Today its chirping was loud enough that I actually tracked it down. I grabbed a paper cup and a tissue and went to work trying to coax it into the cup. To my surprise, after I asked it nicely to get in, and promised I wasn’t going to just crush it, the cricket crawled into the cup. Then he got smashed. Just kidding, I brought it outside and let it go in the grass.

Am I the cricket whisperer? 

7. There are 2 days each week when I have to be at work early, typically around 6:40am. My body is now used to waking up around 4:45am. However, getting to bed the night before is still a harrowing task. The routine I have now that is working relatively well consists of popping 2 melatonin at 7:30pm followed by a 3^rd at 8:30. This usually results in me being knocked out by 9pm. It was easier in the summer to wake up so early. Now with sunrise being close to 7am when my eyes open at 4:45, it’s easy for my brain to try to trick me into thinking it can’t be time to wake up yet. Each time I get up on time is still a minor miracle.

8. Nothing better than being awakened from a deep sleep at 3:30am by thunder so loud that I could feel it shaking the house. I spent a half hour trying to go back to sleep for a little longer but the thunder and lightning were so severe I just gave up and got out of bed at 4:30. Despite being tired I would much rather deal with a few severe thunderstorms than the once a century Hurricane Milton that is wrecking Central Florida.

9. A fun memory that popped up on Facebook this week dates back to 2016. My sister Ashley and I were at Longnook Beach in Truro, MA which is very remote with little to no cell service. We spotted a middle-aged man with a bicycle walking up the 50-60’ sand pathway to the parking lot. Out of nowhere one of his bike tires popped. The weather was a bit misty and feeling bad we offered to pack him and the bike in my car and drive him home. Luckily he wasn’t far but it was another remote section of little Truro. Then things got weirder. We helped him get his bike inside his house and he offered us tea. We politely declined as it was a little odd. He was insistent on giving us something as a thank you. This ended up being in the form of a random CD. It looked like a mix of tracks by some unknown artist. Maybe it was him, but who knows since once we got back in the car I was already looking for a trash can to throw it in.

Longnook Beach in Truro, MA

10. A first for me happened this week as I got to see and photograph the Aurora Borealis, aka the Northern Lights. They are rarely visible this far south, typically being seen in Canada or maybe at best Northern New England. I took the long way home from my mother’s house and stopped at Gray’s Beach, aka Bass Hole, in Yarmouth Port. It was not even 7:30pm and I could see the pinks and greens in the sky. It was beyond words. I was mad that I didn’t have my regular camera, or my tripod for my phone, but still what I got ended up being some of my best photos ever. The atmosphere was like a rock concert. A chilly Thursday night at the beach on Cape Cod and there must have been 200 people there. The parking lot was overflowing. It was an experience I won’t soon forget.

Aurora Borealis at Bass Hole in Yarmouth Port, MA

In My Footsteps: Cape Cod - Nickerson State Park

My first book, In My Footsteps: A Cape Cod Travel Guide, is available at SchifferBooks.com, BarnesandNoble.com, and Amazon.com, and stores everywhere!  Follow me on Twitter and YouTube for more on In My Footsteps.


Come and see me at  Books By the Sea, Osterville July 5th


Falmouth Public Library, July 31st, and


Yellow Umbrella, Chatham August 4th


Read the review for my book in The Boston Globe

Brewster on Dwellable

In My Footsteps: Cape Cod - Bourne Recreation Area

The 4th video presented by In My Footsteps features another hidden gem. Although hundreds of thousands pass over the Bourne Recreation Area each year on the Bourne Bridge few know about it or stop there.  It is a unique mix of humming highway traffic with boats and birds.  There are picnic tables to relax and the Canal Bike Path passes right along.     
     My first book, In My Footsteps: A Cape Cod Travel Guide, is now available at SchifferBooks.com, BarnesandNoble.com, and Amazon.com, in stores everywhere!  Follow me on Twitter!

Bourne on Dwellable