One week to our vacation in Cape Cod - this year I will be riding out with Kevin to a cottage Maria had booked in February. I have been thinkin a lot about last summer in Wellfeet. Last year we had decided for the first time in many years to get small, individual cottages right on the water, rather than a big house we all shared in town. I was sharing with Maria the first week, and then moving into the cottage that Sabra had rented for the second week, when Kevin would be joining Maria. Ria first suspected a problem when her lease included an item that read: "Tenant shall not cook bacon or pork products in the house or on the grill." "What the hell does that mean, Ma?" Ria questioned as she read it to me. "I guess we can't have bacon and eggs, or hotdogs or sausage and peppers", I answered and we both kind of snickered. We got to the cottage and Maria had already received several e-mails from the owner, asking her to check on and care for her "prize" flowers. They were the first things we saw as we walked on the deck, an assortment of dried out, dead flowers in the sun and plants in two inches of water on the shady side. Then we went into the cottage....amazement. Maria said, "I don't remember there being all this STUFF in the picture on the internet." Stuff was right. Every inch of available space was covered with knick knacks, trays, tacky vacation type souvenirs, the fireplace was filled with wood and there was wood piled high near by even though it was 80 degrees outside. The kitchen had no counter space that wasn't covered with crock pots, filled with spoons, pencils, everything imaginable. Utensils hung from hooks all over the kitchen walls as did pots and pans and barbeque items. "Where's the refrigerator?" I asked Maria as we stood in shock. "Here it is, Ma, here in the hall." Well, we unpacked the car - the kids ran to the beach only steps away, and we thought, "this isn't too bad, it IS right on the water." After a beer, a look at the beach, the realization that we were on vacation in the most beautiful place in the world, and we started to see things in a better way. "Look at this lamp, Maria" I said holding up a three foot white plastic duck that was the lamp in my bedroom. "That's nothing, Ma" Ria came out of her bedroom holding a large light in the shape of an electric bulb. "Who the hell would buy this shit?" we asked each other, over and over. "Looks like someone went nuts in the dollar store," commented Maria and it did. The living room did NOT have a couch, instead it had a wooden Adirondeck type outdoor oversized chair. Maria started her magic. She got two quilts and covered the "couch". There, that's better. Things began to come off the wall, as Maria shoved them into the closet. The wood was all taken out of the house, and put in an empty firebox on the deck. There, that's better. And it got better and better in the days that followed as slowly we shoved things under the beds or added them to the dumpster in the yard. The flowers even looked better as Maria arranged them, watering the dried out ones and caring for the drowned ones. The best night was one when Maria got acting up....came out of the bedroom with the electric light bulb, turned it on and said to Tony, "Hey, Tony, I got an idea!" "Look at me, I'm Uncle Festus!" And, the vacation that started out so thinly, got better and better. "Does everybody want bacon?" Ria asked, pulling out a large frying pan. "We sure do" and the bacon flowed. Maria could make anyplace a home, anyplace welcoming and full of life and laughs. This year will be different, but I can't imagine we won't be laughing at memories of the past and making a few of our own.