What a difference a week makes.  Driving home from Wellfleet, I could see the results of a hard frost, dead fields, sunflowers drooping and black.  Home to reality of winter setting in.  Even the juncos are back, and I turned on the heat for the first time.

Wellfleet was wonderful, in spite of a lot of rainy days.  It is the most beautiful spot in the world, I am convinced of that.  Watching the tide go in and out from our front window, is a sight you never get tired of.  We had birds, a new one, red breasted nuthatch.  The Cape Cod paper said there are flocks of them in the area, apparently due to a lack of pine cone seed up north.  A fox came to the deck to eat the seeds as well, a real beauty, with a fluffy tail ending all in white.  We saw seals at the ocean and even in the bay side at Duck Harbor.  And of course, the Cape Cod food, the best scallops, clams and oysters you can ever eat.

The festival was very crowded, probably even more so than last year.  People watching is my favorite sport there, after drinking the dark beer and eating oysters, and listening to the bands.  There are not many kids there - parents realize the crowds make it difficult to keep them near.  The people with kids park them at a bench and it is fun to watch them amuse themselves, some by dancing on top of the tables (I expected one little girl dancer to fall on her head any moment, but she didn't) or others acting up by tormenting each other.
Two boys across the table from me starting throwing popcorn at me until I gave them my church face.  The best time was seeing my old friend Caleb and giving him a hug.  "Are you my girlfriend?"  he asked and I said I sure was.  He is a special reminder in my life, and seeing him was a gift (maybe from Ria).

So we're back, another yearly ritual successfully completed.