What do all these changes and transformations teach us? It may be, most importantly, that we still confront what the First Comers faced: the land itself, sea-born and sea-shaped. When we learn its history and observe the age-old forces that continue to work today, the lesson seems to be that any human occupation of the Earth is, at best, tentative and transitory, and particularly so here. The waves, beaches, dunes, and trees of the Cape continue to dance, and we have begun to learn to dance with them—to understand and adapt to the land’s rhythms, tempos, and limits—so that we and those who come after us may continue to enjoy all that it has to offer. For it is we, residents and visitors alike, who are today’s Cape Codders.
Wildflowers
White water lily
Pink ladyslipper
Dewberry
Purple aster
Seaside goldenrod
Beach plum
St. Johnswort
Sheep laurel
Bittersweet nightshade
Prickly pear cactus
Creeping bellflower
Star-flower
Beach heather, or poverty grass
Beach-pea
Canada mayflower
Cypress spurge