Thumpertown, Campground, Boatmeadow,
First Encounter, Sunken Meadow, Cole Road, Cook’s Brook
Beaches

The precise direction that the sun arcs over any body of water is not always
appreciated for its aesthetic value, anyway. For instance, to view the sunset
over at the Brewster or Orleans beaches, you need to place your lawn chair parallel
to the shoreline and crane your neck awkwardly to the left. You feel as if the whole
event is somehow out of alignment.

But in Eastham we are blessed. The sun rises directly behind you from the east,
browning your shoulders in the morning, and then much later, lowers itself
gently into the horizon, like a lady taking a bow on center stage. Right in
front of you.

There is more. If you’re lucky enough to catch the ebb tide, when the bay has been
drained almost dry and the tide begins its slow turning, you will sense its tug
along your whole body. You could heal yourself of almost anything this way.

And when the tide slides in on a hot summer afternoon, and you’re floating along with
it…well, you must give yourself this gift someday.

But if you are walking out on the flats at low tide when the sun is setting in
front of you, and you are heading into its golden path, you probably feel as if
you’re part of an unclaimed dimension.

And, I will say, you surely are.