A few days back, while researching story topics at Cape May Point on a windy, shimmering silver clouded day, I noticed a group of Pelicans circling around and around for the better part of 20 minutes. They'd drop into the ocean and scoop up mouthfuls of fish and then repeat the cycle over and over. It was a fascinating and continuous spectacle so I decided to try and make a record of it with the old, barely digital video camera in my bag. I captured images as best I could but with no tripod, and high winds beating down on me the footage came out mediocre at best. (video clip to follow)

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I love a good quote — simple words that jack the part of our brain that knows a universal truth when we hear it. Many a great philosopher and cultural observer has cemented their posthumous legacy via the perfect quip. One that forever holds in its rhetorical grip the zeitgeist of a forgotten time and place. Over the years I’ve recorded the better ones in a spiral notebook that I use for inspiration or to reclaim perspective. All time favorites include the likes of Emerson, Twain, Socrates, and Longfellow (hey, my story).

So when I witnessed two elderly ladies hunched over on Perry Street with half eaten ice cream cones dripping down their arms chuckling in front of a hand magic markered seashell that read “Is it time for your medicine or mine”, I knew I had discovered, in the least, new wisdom to add to my quote journal.

The seashell quotes hang along an attractive property located on the left, going towards the ocean and about two blocks before the Mall. The shells project the tactile feel of a next day due art project that must be completed only with whatever exists in the bottom kitchen drawer. You know, where you keep the old birthday candles, extra garbage bag twisties, magic markers, twine, and those crab imperial shells you forgot you had.

I can’t quite figure out the intended goal as the quotes are not particularly clever. And for all I know whoever executed this sidewalk craft was also the author, with short handed wit that ponders “So what’s the speed of dark?” or “Can you hum and pinch your nose?”

But watching the ladies you couldn't help but share in their enjoyment and the chuckling momentum that grew as they moved down the line. Maybe they had both just taken their feel good afternoon medicine and the joke was on me. Who knows? But as they laughed so did I. As they enjoyed a light pause from their afternoon Cape May business, so did I. And as these elderly ladies moved on with a noticeable bump in step and spirit, it brought to mind words I had scribbled in my notebook years back — "This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it." Emerson.

Cape May's Candy Onion Lady — Round Two
Returning from North Cape May, I stopped by to see what my old friend the Candy Onion Lady (TCOL) had cooking. For those new to capemayX, we ran a feature story a few weeks back that created a mini-buzz with her insanely tasty home grown candy onions that capemayX dubbed the best grilling onions in Cape May...

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Cape May's famous Pink House is the ultimate example of Victorian sawn ornamentation known today as Gingerbread trim. Those of you who read my article about the Cape May Stage building and its paint color know that the Pink House was probably not historically pink with white trim. More than likely it would have been painted in a mixture of earth tones accentuating the trim elements. Most of Cape May's wood trim was not designed by an architect, but was created by local carpenters who competed to make each home unique and romantically appealing. Copying another's design was unheard of, so each home had, and fortunately still has, it's own personality.

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Fresh cut flowers will brighten up anyone's day. That's as colorfully true as the sun is bright. Don't believe me? Well, try it.

The Taylors No Frills Farm in West Cape May sells fresh-cut mini-bunch flowers for a buck. So the next time you're crossing the West Cape May bridge, slow down, pull over and grab one or ten bunches. This simple act is guaranteed to crank your spirit a notch. Then give the flowers away and feel the joy as you spread good cheer in a used snapple jar...

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