Hot Chatham Day in October

Facing North from Chatham Light Overlook

It was another glorious day in Southeastern Massachusetts.  In spite of it being October, the forecast predicted temperatures in the eighties.   I packed up the Cube and headed to Cape Cod, specifically Chatham Center where I visited a couple of art galleries, including one of my favorites, J. Todd, before starting my paint-out.  I wanted to check out their new location and saw that it is right in the middle of everything, next to the gazebo.   I was not disappointed!  My fellow painters have supplied an exquisite collection.  I could have lingered, but I had "fun" to do - I mean "work."

Chatham Light which hovers over the "elbow" of Cape Cod is a popular tourist attraction.   The high vantage point is a spectacular place to see the shifting sand bars that shield Chatham Harbor.   During storms, the wild open ocean beyond the barrier islands cause tremendous variation in the shorelines from year to year.   They seem to change dramatically every time I visit.  To the south is Monomoy Island which is known to have changed its shape and even island status over the years. On this day, the vivid and bright blue Atlantic rivaled the hues you might see in tropical places.

There is a row of parking that overlooks the ocean, and in the past I have found it so crowded and chaotic that I haven't painted there.   Today, the dream spot awaited me (the last spot on the left), so I pulled in and set up.

Harbor from Chatham Light

I became mindful of the feeling of awe we humans experience upon seeing amazing things for the first time. Audible reactions I heard from people as they emerged from their vehicles, walked to the railing and saw the beautiful panorama...    "Oh my goodness!  ....Soooo blue.....Wow.....Beautiful! .....What a spot.....Can we go down there?  ....Where is my camera? ... No wonder you are painting here!"

And that's why it needs to be painted.   Experiencing the beauty of the location for the span of time it takes to create a painting is just as much of the enjoyment as coming away with a series of marks on a canvas that captures the scene.  Oh, lucky me, how exhilarating!   (And a stop at Marian's Pie Shop on the way back was only icing!)