We got our first goldfinch today! Those of you who visited my studio in Reno know that I love feeding the birds, especially goldfinches. Well, I finally got it together enough to buy some thistle seed and put out the single feeder I’ve been able to find. (The other two are down in the basement, because those are the only boxes left.) Then I waited. And waited. For four days. Sigh.

Then as I got ready to leave for our Grand Exploration daytrip to Gloucester, there was one little goldfinch chowing down. Yay!. So now I know things are almost back to normal.

We left immediately afterwards. Our mission? To boldly go where no person from this household has gone before. Also, to locate an Apple Store to cure my severe withdrawal symptoms and to scout out the main ring-road routes around/through Boston while all the Bostonians are away clogging the roads and beaches on-Cape.

Gloucester is a lovely fishing town that was first settled three years after the Mayflower reached Plymouth Rock. You know it as the Massachusetts Bay Colony from your history books. The countryside has a lot more hills and a great many more rocks than anyplace we’ve been on the Cape. We saw enough to know we’re going to come back when David has some time off built up and spend a few days. And yes, I will definitely have my paints with me.

I’m glad we braved Boston on a Sunday. There were still traffic backups and such, even with half the population celebrating Labor Day somewhere else. We drove close enough to the coast and airport to see what we think was Bunker Hill of Revolution fame from the highway...lots of old, interesting-looking buildings. We want to go back there, too.

So now we have a feel for the most obvious main highways and some plans for the future. Next time I write, I promise to get “back to basics”...painting, that is. I should have another finished painting or two by then.

Kate