When my now-35-year-old son, Jesse, was 18 months old I carried him out onto the flats at the Audubon Sanctuary. It was a warm September day, gray sky, gray sand, gray mist. When we reached the distant low-tide edge, I held him for about 10 minutes. We never spoke; he never budged. Maybe the best 10 minutes of my life — certainly one of the top 10. A silent, still moment, father and son, perfect harmony. Nowadays, I walk there a couple of times a week. When I return home, I text him in San Francisco: “The Walk. Love Dad.” He immediately responds, “Love you.” —Thom Schwarz, Wellfleet
Readers are invited to send their own mini-stories (word limit: 200) about funny, illuminating, only-on-the-Outer-Cape moments to [email protected] for consideration for “Incidentally.” We hope this will become a place for recording memorable snippets overheard at the post office, grocery store, beach, or wherever our stories take place.
