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Remember the first days of school when you were a kid? If you grew up on Cape Cod, or anywhere in New England, you’d be buttoned up in your jacket at 7am, as you could see your breath at the bus stop in the chill air. By 3pm, on the way home, your jacket would be tied around your waist, as beads of sweat dripped from your brow. September is a changeable month to be sure.

The beauty of September on Cape Cod is that the ocean water, which has warmed all summer, provides us a so called “second summer” of warm beautiful afternoons, while our northern neighbors in Boston have already felt the first chill.

Soon enough however, the fall air arrives and we are treated to the old familiar scent of a wood fire in the neighborhood. Local craft fairs crop up, and warm wooly sweaters are again back in vogue.

If you weren’t a fan of the hot, hazy, humid days of summer, September was made just for you. Warm, but not hot, dry days and cool nights are perfect for an extended hike in the woods, or a walk along your favorite beach

There’s a reason why artists like Edward Hopper used cape Cod as a backdrop for some of their most important work. It all has to do with the light.

In August, you’ll be treated to the best sunrises and sunsets of the year. Hues of salmon, cobalt blue and aqua blend and pitch in the sky varying in intensity from iridescent to pastel. The night sky is equally breathtaking. Light pollution tends to be absorbed by the dark of the ocean, and so the sky above, weather permitting, can appear as a quilt of stars.

Kids start to get fidgety this time of year. Any parent can tell you that the first time they hear a “back to school” announcement, it qualifies as a traumatic experience. Quick, Mom. Wipe that sly smirk off Dad’s face. Back to school however is a reality, and the first to go are the college kids, around the 3^rd week of the month. School age children usually don’t go back to school until just after Labor Day, the first weekend in September.

Summer gardens are full tilt now bearing fruit. If you harvested a few tomatoes in July, you’re lucky. Most will ripen in August. As for the flowers, the luxurious Cape Cod hydrangeas are still dotting the landscape in all their glory. By mid-month, Rose of Sharon blooms will emerge, one of the first harbingers of fall.

Five gardens will be available to tour, $5.00 each per person in cash, to benefirt the library.

An Italian-Inspired Renaissance Garden

64 Warren St. in Osterville, (Take Wianno Ave. to SeaView Ave., right on Warren St.)

Saturday, July 9th & Sunday, July 10th from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.

A touch of "Italian-Inspired Renaissance" just off Seaview Avenue in Osterville! You've just got to see the gardens surrounding a 50-foot lap pool, set in understated stone, flanked by potted begonias, hibiscus and evergreen. The refreshing oasis of water reflects the tasteful palette of color...absolutely breathtaking under a sunny sky. Two Chinese lions and a tranquil buddha watch over this outdoor retreat that would be right at home along the Amalfi Coast.

Dorrit Kingsbury Designed 4 Season Sculptural Garden
113 Pond St. in Osterville, (park at Methodist Church corner of Main & Pond, near Fire Station)

Saturday, July 9th & Sunday, July 10th

10 a.m. - 3 p.m. on Saturday, 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. on Sunday

Designed to wow the senses with elegance and folly, this landscape invites both lively gatherings and peaceful respite. Using color as a sculptural element and evergreens for year-round definition and flair, the contrasting textures and forms feel luxurious yet accessible. Distinct focal points draw the viewer to visit the firepit shrouded by cherry trees, wind in and out of the hornbeam topiary arches, settle onto the bench at the end of the garden pathway and savor the sunset from the newest garden destination at the front of the property.

A Cocktail Garden
21 Bumps River Rd. in Osterville, (Off South County Rd, in between Ost. W. Barn & S. County)

Sunday, July 10th & Tuesday, July 12th from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Mint juleps and mojitos pair perfectly with the serenity of this backyard cocktail garden off Bumps River Road. But before you find your way to the secret retreat complete with an herb garden, cutting garden and potting shed, the front of the residence is awash in blossoms blue...with over 30 hydrangeas painting a panorama of Cape Cod class. Garden enthusiasts will find of especial interest the cutting garden and potting shed which pair with the landscape.

A Chorus of Color on Little Island
251 Bridge St., Little Island Osterville, (Parker Rd. off Main St. right on to West Bay Rd., left onto Bridge St. follow over bridge to #251)

Monday, July 11th & Tuesday, July 12th from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Old fashioned blue Nikko hydrangeas and pink fire hydrangeas welcome you to the front of this stunning property. Incredible white Annabelle hydrangeas paired with green and white hostas, white astilbe and more Nikko blue hydrangeas line the front of the house. Surrounding the flag pole area you will find limelight hydrangeas, white gaura and white potentilla bushes. As you enter the large, sunny back yard you will find additional varieties of hydrangeas, along with blue Russian sage and butterfly bushes that attract pollinators and connect the colors from the front to the back yard. In addition, perennials such as sedum, phlox, and guara guide you along the walk towards the patio.

Danny's Garden
21 Captain Alden's Lane in Osterville, (rt. 28 after Mahoney's, look for left hand turn onto Capt. Aldens, follow to number #21)

Monday, July 11th & Tuesday, July 12th from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.

This immaculate garden was created over the years from a typical Cape Cod pine tree lot. Sit in one of the outdoor rooms and enjoy the magic and peacefulness that bird watching and butterfly viewing provides. Seasonal color fills the gardens with azaleas, rhododendrons and hydrangeas along with old fashioned colorful perennials. You will want to replicate this garden in your own yard as you picture your grandkids frolicking on the lush lawn while you enjoy a book in your own peaceful oasis.

Azaleas, rhododendrons and landscape accents of every description are all in bloom! What’s more, your lawn looks like the cover of “Better Homes and Gardens,” as weeds and summer drought have yet to set in!

The kids can’t concentrate with just a few weeks left of class, and the first of the weekenders begin to cross the bridges and nearly double the local population. Native Cape Codders know all the secrets to preserving their daily routine. Shop midweek, and avoid Routes 6, 6A and 28 Friday through Sunday.

Notice a lot of out of state license plates? The snowbirds are back too. Half year Florida residents have completed their reverse migration by now. In addition to Florida plates, you’ll see quite a few from New York and Connecticut as well. Each will navigate rotaries (what the rest of the world calls traffic circles or roundabouts) with a different degree of skill, or perhaps none at all.

Cape Cod League Baseball begins in June! The league comprised of college kids from all over the country hosts games in most Cape communities. Major League Baseball scouts are known to survey the talent for potential future all stars.

Beaches will fill fast on sunny days, even if there aren’t many people in the water. The best advice is to go early, and on weekdays if possible.

For beachcombers, early in the season affords for some of the best shells to be found along the shore before they’re picked over. Those big shells that you hold to your ear in hopes of hearing the ocean? In the Caribbean they’re called Conch, on Cape Cod, they’re called Whelk. Early to mid - June is sometimes the best time to find them in the shallows!

It doesn’t get much better than May on Cape Cod, unless its June! The deciduous tree leaf canopy (primarily oaks and maples) fills out by mid-month, usually right after Mother’s Day. Don’t forget Mom!

The pansies and peas of early spring can now be joined by geraniums, marigolds and all the other usual suspects of summer. For vegetable gardeners, the old standby rule is not to plant your tomatoes or peppers until after Memorial Day. While a frost at any point in May is rare, the nights are still a tad too cool to promote growth. So, while your plants might not perish, nor will they thrive. When the nighttime lows no longer drop below 55, your vegetables will start to show progress!

In the mood for a dip? If you’re brave you might try a south side Cape beach, but even there, water temperatures will be hard pressed to surpass 60. If you want to turn blue, it’s entirely up to you. If we have a good stretch of 80-degree sunshine in June, you’ll have no problem by the 4^th of July.

At month’s end we remember those who fought, and gave their lives for this country. Memorial Day honors not only lives lost in service to the USA, but the ideals and principles of freedom for which they fought.

If spring is supposed to arrive in March, April is when it finally gets here. Usually. Cross your fingers. It’s a glorious month by most accounts with bright yellow sprays of Forsythia appearing every year to usher in the new season. Maple trees will be among the first to leaf out by month’s end, and if you’re an allergy sufferer, you’ll be well aware!

Are you a baseball fan? The first crack of the bat can be heard at Fenway Park as diehard fans shiver in the stands until May.

And, whether you celebrate Easter or Passover, you’re probably already aware the date for each holiday differs year to year. Why is that? Passover is held on the full moon of the seventh month of the Jewish calendar which begins its new year in late September or October.

Easter’s annual date is also determined by astronomy. Easter Sunday is always the first Sunday following the first full moon, which arrives after the vernal equinox.

You hear the plaintive wail every New Year’s Eve… a song that lends itself to poor horn playing and inebriated off key virtuoso singers. Sometimes the melancholy melody even prompts a tear or two, despite the fact most of us have no idea what the words mean.

What exactly is “Auld Lang Syne?” Sounds like a horrific disease of the tongue. Perhaps it’s a type of antimicrobial bread mold, or better yet, a process by which monoclonal antibodies are isolated to combat the latest surge of Covid. None of the above.

Roughly translated from the Scots language circa 17 hundred something, it means “Old Long Since.” Like this: “Should old acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind, bla bla bla my dear, in days of old long since. Doesn’t quite have the same ring. Famed poet Robert Burns, who perhaps you’ve heard of, translated the sentiment from a folk song which seems to date back as far as the 1500’s.

Okay, so what does it mean again? What the hell is “old long since?” Basically, the good old days. It’s a remember when kind of thing. Don’t even try to share this with your millennial grandchildren, as they are adamant that nothing of interest existed before mobile technology. If you really want to watch them squirm, make them watch Guy Lombardo re-runs in black and white. Forgive me, I digress.

Back to Auld Lang Syne. What’s confusing is that there is no recognizable interrogative inflection in the opening line, which in essence, asks, “Should we remember the old times despite these damn tears in our eyes, or let them fade and be forgotten?”

What do you think? Here’s food for thought. You remember your multiplication tables without much emotional fanfare, although I always seemed to like the fact that 7x7 equals 49. What about memories of Christmas morn as a child? Hmm. The memory is at once shrouded in, and catalyzed by emotion.  Auditory memories such as “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” can render even an emotionally frozen stoic misty eyed. The scent of Balsam Fir? That’s a round trip ticket back to the year of your choosing onboard the olfactory express

The point is, and I believe those moaning horns on New Year’s Eve are well aware of this… you have no choice. Old acquaintances, whether they be lovers, friends, or places, cannot be forgotten. The photos in our mind may no longer be high resolution, perhaps frayed at the edges, but they remain. We are, among other things, a sum of our experiences. If you’re able to suspend disbelief for even a moment, you’ll see that they exist in us even now.  Cherish your memories, though painful some may be.

As the song suggests,

“For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we'll take a cup of kindness yet,
for auld lang syne”

Happy New Year!

It wasn’t your imagination. It was a bad storm. Wind gusts on the outer Cape in excess of 80mph, with frequent 60mph gusts in and around Osterville. With the leaves still on the trees, and 2 – 4 inches of rain it’s no wonder over half a million people in Massachusetts lost power, most of them on the Cape.

The Osterville Village Library was one of only a handful of libraries to open in the aftermath of the storm thanks to a generator, which supplies power to the entire building. Patrons were able to come in to enjoy the warmth, a cup of coffee, and charge their mobile devices before heading home. Having power however doesn’t necessarily ensure WiFi, or internet connectivity, neither of which the library was able to provide due to downed lines in the area. Whereas many people come to the library to use the computers, they were faced with a seldom-encountered situation in modern times… What to do?

You could of course read a book. They still exist. Hard bound volumes of printed pages that tell fascinating stories. Instead of watching someone else’s vision of a character on screen, your mind fills in the descriptive blanks to your own satisfaction. The faces and landscapes in the tale come alive in your mind, uniquely yours, and yours alone.

There are 38,000 books on 3 floors inside the Osterville Village Library. Due to the internet outage, the age-old tradition of perusing library shelves for appealing titles enjoyed a renaissance. Patrons who normally use the library to access the internet, or email, found themselves wandering around the building discovering surprises around every corner. Featured authors on display caught their eye, as well as an extensive selection of biographies which piqued curiosity,

One library staff member remarks, “It was interesting to see, some of our regular computer users were browsing the racks, reading the first few pages of novels. It was as if they had discovered a forgotten world.” While the library’s regular circulation numbers in regard to books are quite impressive year round, it was the renaissance of good old fashioned shelf browsing that was witnessed as a welcome phenomenon. “Usually people request a book, or pick up a best seller, their choices by and large driven by research they’ve initialized on the internet,” the OVL staff member explains. “What we saw in the aftermath of the storm, was people browsing the racks, cracking open a book based on an appealing title, and making a spot decision to check it out, the way libraries used to be.”

What’s more, with computer technology inoperative, the staff checked out the books the old-fashioned way, with a careful record kept by pad and pencil. “Nothing against technology, not at all,” another staff member says, “but it was nice to see our collection of books stand on their own appeal, and if I’m not mistaken, people actually seemed to enjoy the experience, it brought them back to a simpler time.”

The way Osterville Village Library Executive Director Cyndy Cotton sees it, offering shelter from the storm is part of the library’s role in the community. “I don’t have power, and neither do a lot of people in the village. Your cell phone battery only lasts so long. People need to stay charged up to let relatives and friends know they’re ok, or to call a contractor to fix damage.”

“It gets dreary sitting around the house with no power and even though it’s not winter, it was starting to get cold,” says one library patron who expressed his appreciation for a place to go. “The library is warm, has bright lights, and as neighbors we all enjoy swapping stories about the storm. I’m really glad they’re open.”

As utility crews work to restore power and internet, and tree crews labor to clean up the mess, the inconvenience from our October nor’easter will surely pass. It’s also likely most will fall back in step with their modern habits and computer screens will once again cast their glow. But perhaps, the lost art of old fashioned discovery will have found its way back into a few hearts and minds. 

Summer 2021 - OVL Remembering Fun July 14th Osterville Village Library Reports Busiest Days Ever! Top Story: Fourth of July Weekend 2021 was underscored with "independence" in more ways than one. Osterville and all of Cape Cod stepped out to celebrate for the first time since the Covid pandemic changed our daily life. Even a rainy weather forecast couldn't dampen spirits as families and friends spent time together long overdue. As the holiday weekend got underway on Friday July 2nd this year, the Osterville Village Library boasted its busiest day ever. Not just since before the pandemic... but the library's busiest day ever. Over 290 people visited the library. Saturday July 3rd also reported a high number of visitors, coming in just shy of 200. While the Library was closed on Sunday and Monday in observance of the holiday, OVL’s “Paddleboard Sale” on the Calvin C Gould Library Green attracted an additional 200 visitors. Anyway you do the math, that’s a lot of people strolling village streets! Bravo OVL for bringing the village back to life! OVL – Remembering fun! In Our Next Edition – Don’t Miss These Exciting Stories! • Read about OVL’s 3rd annual Plein Air and Le Jardin • The Singing Trooper comes to Osterville • This year’s Summer Concert Series is underway • And… Was that a 45 foot whale you saw on the Library Green? Coming on the 20th.