The spring season has a subtle presence on Cape Cod. Surrounded by cool waters, the land warms up at a glacial pace. While inland friends begin to talk about picnics, baseball games, and sunbathing, we are still bundled up in fleece, trudging along our beaches with wind-burned faces. Still, there are days in March and April when the sun feels so warm that you can lay down on the sand and almost believe you are sunbathing . . . so long as you keep your parka on.

There is an austere beauty to the beaches and the marshlands at this time of year. The first week of March as my husband and I walked along Centerville’s Long Beach, the light on the ocean was so bright, we had to put on sunglasses. The marshes glowed gold and it was warm enough that our 15-year-old Lab dove into the ocean after a flock of Mallards.

We said to each other that we are lucky to live here, natural riches all around us. Sometimes when I look at the Cape landscape in the winter or early spring—the spiky marsh grasses, stunted oaks, twisted pines, scrubby cranberry bushes and prickly cedars, I think of what Mayflower pilgrim William Bradford wrote about his first sight of the Cape on a December day in 1620.

Bradford described the Cape as “a hideous dessert (sic) wilderness  . . . of a wild and savage hue.” I think that description is still apt, even though we try to tame this unruly place with our manicured lawns and perfect gardens. Still, we all know that nature can blow away all our orderly impulses in a heartbeat. After every winter storm our beaches and marshes are altered, sometimes dramatically. That is what happened this winter to the shell tree on Long Beach.

For years we have admired the shell tree, a scraggly, long gone cedar festooned with shells by walkers. The first time I saw it, I thought something magical had happened on that cool April day and that the tree in the distance bloomed with some kind of rare flower. The tree was a white cloud in the distance, limbs heavy with shells.

There have been some bad storms this winter and when we saw the shell tree on our recent walk, several limbs were gone. The shell tree is a sad sight now. But we discovered that something wonderful has happened. All along Long Beach’s trails, shrubs and trees are covered with more shell flowers.

Our daffodils may be late and our lawns slow to green, but on Long Beach there are flowers blooming year-round on this, our splendid wild desert.

Happy Spring,

Susan Dewey, Associate Publisher & Editor
sdewey@capecodlife.com

Diversity Around Us

One of the best things about my job as Cape Cod HOME’s editor is that I meet so many knowledgeable people, from an antique expert who can tell you where to find an authentic pub sign for your living room to a woodworker who will handcraft a table from old Nantucket cottage floorboards. Especially in this issue—our Annual Resource Guide, which covers countless local home and garden subjects and services–I find myself marveling at the diversity of skilled, knowledgeable businesspeople on the Cape and Islands.

The truth is that even though we may be limited in terms of geographic space, we have experts in just about anything you need to transform your home into a Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, or Nantucket dream. Just like the gorgeous home on our cover, which is the work of one of this issue’s featured businesspeople, Falmouth architect John Dvorsack. Our talented writer, Mary Grauerholz, who interviewed all the Business Focus people in this issue, has a gift for getting to the heart of each person’s special ability. When she talks to Dvorsack in his office located in Falmouth’s historic Highfield Hall, you can hear the man’s love for the skill he shares with lucky homeowners.

“As a small practice, I am able to spend a lot of time working closely with my clients to understand what’s really important to them,” says Dvorsack in the story, which begins on page 36. “I really enjoy the owner’s reaction when it all comes together.”

Looking at Dvorsack’s work—and the work of all the featured BusinessFocus people here—you can see why our coastal world is so well known. Folks seem to be determined to have their home—whether a grand manse or a simple half-Cape—reflect the natural glory that surrounds us all.

So whether you are remodeling your kitchen with exquisite kitchen cabinets (read about Lewis & Weldon on page 62), dreaming of putting in a spectacular infinity pool (listen to John Viola of Viola Associates on page 74), or planning to finally transform your backyard into a gorgeous landscape that makes the most the most of Cape Cod’s natural glories (find Mary LeBlanc on page 68), this issue is for you. I promise if you call any one of these folks to help you shape the Cape Cod or Island home of your dreams, you won’t be disappointed.

Thanks for turning to Cape Cod HOME.

Susan Dewey, Associate Publisher & Editor
sdewey@capecodlife.com

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