Saved by a wetsuit

Jet skiers often aren't easy to coexist with, though a couple of them did move responsibly away from the beach when my daughter and I took a swim in Cape Cod Bay on Sunday (waves in the bay, giddy-up!). This guy is lucky to be alive, and he seems to realize it.

The most innocuous day at sea or even its shallow edge can put your life at risk. An off-shore breeze in August can push your raft rapidly away from the beach. Last week, I swam out to two kids whose raft had come unmoored. They weren't really in immediate danger except that they were trying to rescue themselves.

The Coast Guard is tax money well spent.

One hundred years

In a hundred years, the house I stayed in over the weekend will be so much luxury flotsam. Without global warming, it was already marginal, as the dune it sits on erodes and accretes depending on winter storms.

Maybe I'm just mourning the inevitable mouldering away of all bones, but it seems a crying shame to me that such a lovely spot should be doomed before its time by our collective unwillingness to step back from the deluge. At least Cape Cod Bay will still be there for swimming.