Navy blue waves climb up the shoreline, smooth and piercing cold, while white, bubbly foam surfaces from the crashing waves. Chaotic, frothy water swirls about rocks jutting up like daggers. Chocolate colored snails cling to these rocks with their sticky undersides, as dark speckled crabs leap between them. Black & white gulls swoop and dive overhead, searching, searching for their next meal. Sunlight glints off of the water, shimmering like diamonds. The sea smells salty with hints of seaweed, and the endless blue stretches to the horizon and beyond.
This snapshot depicts a scene from my tidal flats experience, which was one of my favorite activities during the recent 7th grade Cape Cod trip (Wednesday, May 22 – Friday, May 24). Of course, we had upwards of three days, so in addition to studying marine life at tidal flats, we went to a lot of other fun places!
The air is slightly humid, and the atmosphere eerily silent, only disrupted by the trickle of water and the buzz of mosquitos. Tall, thin, scarcely leaved trees are nestled together, some even leaning on others, let in sparse rays of sunshine to illuminate the swamp.
This scene is a peek into the Atlantic White Cedar Swamp Trail, a short hike through a forest and a swamp. The interior of the swamp was very peaceful and serene, other than the annoying buzz of mosquitos referenced above. To me, this scene bizarrely resembles Yoda’s swamp from Star Wars.
The burnt caramel sand is rough underneath my feet as they slap down on its surface, sending small grains up into the air. A sea breeze blows over the dunes, whistling through the reeds, and ruffling my hair. Great hills of sand rise and fall in steep, and not so steep, slopes, like waves in a sandy ocean.
The sand dunes in Provincetown provided a fun place to “relax” with friends, while also not relaxing. Sort of like a recess, where the only thing to do is to jump off of huge mounds of sand and try not to fall. Or try to fall, depending on your appetite for adventure.
The Herring Run stream burbled noisily while huge seagulls played a game of musical chairs on the rocks by the side. Waterfalls crashed mercilessly as the herring tried with all their might to swim upstream. At one end of the stream, it eventually emptied out into a pool where thousands of herring had traveled to breed and lay their eggs.
While not only gaining valuable knowledge, we visited many sites around Cape Cod and had fun with friends. We explored the pools and crevices of the tidal flats, we fooled around on the sands of the Provincetown Dunes, and we relaxed a bit along the Cedar Swamp Trail. By the time we boarded the bus home, we all knew we had an amazing experience, individually and collectively. While the nature of each person’s experience is inherently personal, we all shared a collective experience that made this event special to me and to everyone else I have spoken to. Now, I only wish I had gotten better sleep…