Friday, July 06, 2007

"Outies"

STELLA!
How's this for an attention grabber? He's one of the local fishermen.





These pictures are just a sampling of the allure of Chatham on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. You want to be part of it - the quaint village, the sea-side beauty,the great surrounding ocean, the fog, the Sun.

We've rented lovely homes here for thirty years. We should have saved our pennies, though, and purchased a place. If you don't own - you're just not an "In-ie".

Sitting on the spacious front lawn of our rental we watched as a large SUV roared up our driveway. A very attractive couple stepped forth and introduced themselves as the new owners of the recently remodeled house down the road. Bona-fide were quickly established. He's an oil executive living in Qatar - they both have families here on the coast. After we disclosed that we were the renters - you could feel the gears shift.

"Come on gorgeous," he called to his svelte younger wife as he scooped her back into their LandRover. "We'll come up your driveway and plan having drinks one of these evenings." I smiled inwardly at how smoothly he ended this dead-end encounter with essentially 'don't call us, we'll call you.'

Two evenings later we heard bag pipe music in the distance. It grew closer. At the foot of our driveway a piper passed in full-regalia as he marched toward the oil executive's new home. Strains of 'Scotland Forever' tingled the spine. Another couple and their little girl followed him at a distance and explained as we joined them that they guessed he was headed for a house-warming and they were just following because their little girl loved the music.

Tagging along we ended up in front of the refurbished house. The music drifted from the backyard where Gorgeous and her husband were entertaining.

I figure the day they'd come up the driveway they'd intended to invite 'the owners' to their house-warming. Hey,I understand. Why the heck would you invite renters - transients ? Still, there is something so inherently icky about this scenario. I mean 'hey'! Aren't we fun? Wouldn't we have contributed an element of serendipity to their party? Riigggght. Trust me. I do get it. But his smooth dismissal - the dramatic slamming of the social register - ick.

17 comments:

Lynne at Hasty Brook said...

ICK is right!

Mmmm...I like fish...... ;)
Your photos are lovely. I can understand the appeal of the area, even if it's not the nieghbors!

Larry said...

I'd rather be at your renter's party than at the Joneses house-but that's just me.

nina at Nature Remains. said...

The people you met are there for different reasons than you. The house on the Cape is just another "thing" for them. And, even though you don't own your place, you'll always receive more from your time there than they ever will.

dmmgmfm said...

It's THEIR loss. Snobby pooh heads don't deserve your company.

Hugs,
Laurie

KGMom said...

As long time visiting residents of the Cape, you could tell them a thing or two. But it's their loss.
Well, your friends in blogland will never turn you away, or snub you!

Mary said...

Cathy, I'm PO'd. Who needs hoity-toity? Ick. I'd rather be in your rental house with you any day. We would have a GRAND time! Much better than having small talk with snooty types.

Enjoy your lovely view! It's beautiful there...

LauraHinNJ said...

I'm sorry - you lost me at that first pic.

;-)

Patrice said...

Oh, I've been there (not Chatham, the neighbors). Years ago Bob and I attended a Stanford University alumni event in an exclusive gated community in Bellevue, Washington called "The Summit." The hostess gave me one thorough look up and down (guess I wasn't wearing Nordstrom) and I felt slimed. So sorry this happened to you, and especially after 30 years of making Chatham part of your life. Thanks for sharing the beautiful photos. I feel like I'm there with you. And I wish we all were there. Cheers to you Cathy!

threecollie said...

But we like you a LOT better than we like them!

Anvilcloud said...

Rich but shallow.

dmmgmfm said...

I had to stop back by for another gander at the fisherman. Sigh...

NatureWoman said...

ICK for sure! It took me a while to get past your first photo - mmmm, do all fisherman look like *that*?

Anonymous said...

Cathy, don't let shallow snotty people ruin your love of the place. Thank God, most people are not like that.

GREAT PHOTOS!!!

Bonita said...

In the graveyard we are all equal, and dead. Your photos are so soft. What a beautiful place, even if the neighbors aren't.

Cathy said...

Ah. Bonita has the last word. As always - filled with wisdom. Thank you - each precious one - for your particular insight into this most interesting experience.

Things are a little hectic for a bit - but I'll be checking in on your blogs as the schedule lightens.

P.S. "Bonita has the last word . . " Metaphorically - of course! - If anyone else wishes to wade in - please do!

R.Powers said...

I looked, but did not see any fish in the top photo.

Anonymous said...

What lovely photos you took here. They are so soft and look like paintings to me. What a wonderful a place to go to .