Yesterday Timmy and I shared our first tomato from the garden sandwich.  He made it on bread bought at the Farmer's Market, tomato sliced thin, small amount of mayonaise (I would have used a bit more) and some fresh ground pepper.  Delicious.  It is one of the greatest pleasures of summer, that taste that is like no other.  Oh, sometimes the store bought ones taste close, or you think they do, but that taste is exquisite.

I remember one tomato sandwich Chrissie and I shared.  We were on a bus in Ireland, going to get on a ferry to go to England.  The bus stopped at a roadside stand, and we pooled our money to buy a saran wrapped sandwich.  It was a tomato, on plain white bread, thin slice of onion and Irish mayonaise.  We each took a bite, and then looked at each other in amazement.  "This is wonderful", we both said, and ate slowly, trying to make it last.  Later, licking our fingers, we asked each other, "Was it because we were on an adventure in Ireland that it tasted so good?", No, it was just the garden grown tomato and that little taste of onion. 

Timmy and I have a similar ceremony when we have reached the end of the garden and share the "last tomato sandwich".  It is not as happy an occasion as yesterday, but it feels right.  Every season must end, but there is also that hope, that anticipation of the next year's first tomato.

Back from vacation, our 27th year to spend at Wellfleet.  Quite different from 27 years ago.  No one had cell phones, or computers then.  What a difference 27 years makes.  Each of the teens had a cell phone and a computer.  The little guys had Wii and DS games.  The world has gone mad with technology.  In 2007 Maria brought out her laptop.  She loved it.  We were going to have a pirate party and we needed some riddles, and she pulled out the laptop and quickly came up with these:  What do you get when you cross a pirate with a zucchini?  A squashbuckler.  Where can you find a buccaneer's bathroom?  The poop deck.  Why coudn't the little pirate get into the pirate movie?  It was rated "Aarrrr".  We all thought the computer was a good addition at that time and even strangers on the beach tried to answer the riddles.

Best moments of the vacation?  The 4th of July parade was fun and I saw several people I knew.  Finding Maria's bench at the Preservation Hall.  Helene and I went to each bench, no luck.  Finally, the last bench, way in the back of the garden, and there it was Maria Ciancanelli Kelly.  When I brought my sister Maureen to see it, I had to ask a rather heavy person to move, so I could show Maureen the name.  Maria's bench wow.  Taking a picture of Timmy with his cousin Jer...Timmy whipped off his wool hat (he had sun burnt his head) and Jer with all that hair, arms around each other.  Can't wait to get that photo back.  Meeting our latest addition - baby Orson, cute as a button, and played bababutz with his Great Aunt Linda.  Sitting on the deck, morning with coffee, evening with a Miller Lite.  Wonderful view of the tides coming in and going out. 

14 days go by like a blink of the eye.  In fact, 27 years seemed to have passed the same way.  Good to go away, and always good to come back home.