Colorful Shopping in HarwichPort

Ask any kid in Harwich where to stop and shop and most will tell you the Kite Shop. Dr. Gravity's Kite Shop has been here a long time and just keeps getting bigger. That is, it spreads out more onto the main street. I love painting the place and usually do it from across the street. This is from imagination and what I remember seeing on my walk. The Cape has been very warm for the past week. The humidity is very high and we keep hearing that it will break with a storm. The storms veer off. Weather forecasting is very difficult out here. Fortunately, our cottage has central AC.

Hanging by a Thread

This is the old fish shack. It has been a subject for my painting for years. I just learned that it is to be torn down and replaced. Someone said that the power line from above is the only thing holding it up. My kids have fished from it and crabbed from it. It was also a site for music lessons and kayak rentals one year. One of the attractions for en plein air painting was the two women, both concert pianists, who lived across from it and practiced all morning. You could have charged admission. It was wonderful. Both women have died and the music stopped. I painted during the morning which was bright and sunny. The wind did blow my umbrella down several times. I will miss it.

Quiet Streams

The Harwich Conservatory maintains many wooded areas and lots of streams. I escaped to one of them this morning and it was so peaceful. We do have a house that is filled with guests, young and old, and it is a bit chaotic. I love having all the grandchildren but the older ones are easiest. The yellow green of the meadows and the sudden splash of a fish is a welcome contrast. I don't know birds but there are plenty of them and different bird calls. The very distant trees have a white spacer so I continued this in front of the closer trees. Just little puffs of clouds were there at the start and then disappeared. It was a good morning and thanks for my bug spray which is needed in these woods.

Left Behind

High and dry, for sale, but little interest. This power boat is in a field with long grass growing beside it. It is hardly a boatyard. Judging by the long grasses and weeds it probably was there all winter. I just returned to Cape Cod and found some time to paint. I find it so relaxing to get totally absorbed in painting. This subject was chosen because there was shade under a nearby tree on a hot day. It is the 4th of July holiday and many people are here to celebrate the holiday.