pretty confidently given that other places which might be equally or perhaps even more beautiful than the Cove don't have the sentimental value that Back Cove has for me. You see I have played in and around the Cove all of my life. In fact, I was baptized in Back Cove. I don't remember it, but my mom tells me that when the minister dripped cove water on my forehead, my eyes opened wide and I smiled. Not much has changed in 24 years. :)
As a young child I played under the footbridge catching crabs with summer kids. I didn't know then that we were catching and feeding green crabs, a very invasive species of crab. Regardless, we had a ball and widdled away many hours learning about intertidal marine life via exploration.
Back Cove was also the setting of my second love. He is a fisherman who still lives and lobsters out of there, whom I now consider to be a good friend. He is one of the few other people who appreciate the Cove as much as I do.
Just a few weeks ago, my mom had some extra pansies that I planted in front of where the fishermen park their huge pick-ups in Back Cove. The guys liked that. One of them encouraged me when I was planting them saying: "That'll fancy it up a bit."
My family's business is also located there. We have three cottages and a dock where guests can row around in our rowboats. My father and I are in charge of keeping up the dock. I gel coat the fiberglass skiffs when they need it. I made the signs and maintain those. I decked the dock with cedar and the ramp with pressure-treated decking a few years ago. Daddy and I take turns bailing out the skiffs after a hard rain. I usually help Daddy with the annual spring ritual of riding the float down from "The Pound," under the footbridge, and tying it to the float for summer use. Then in the fall we ride the float up the Cove to park it on a bank for the winter. The float is kept on the bank so that the ice doesn't push it around and do damage in the winter.
"The Pound" is the section of the Cove on the other side of the footbridge. It is called this because it used to be a lobster pound. There are still old stubs of pilings that supported the
pound house at the turn of the 20th century. Grandpa remembers when the pound keeper used to live there. Now there is just a footbridge for people to walk across. My father and a handful of fishermen have been responsible for maintaining the footbridge for as long as I remember.
Just today I went down to the Cove to eat my lunch on my family's dock and "hob-nob" with my fishermen friends. I helped one lobsterman unload traps from his truck (barefoot). The boys were worried that I'd drop a trap on my toes. After that, I put on my bathing suit and jumped in the Cove for an exhilarating dip. One sternman looked on in awe saying that I am "crazy." I had intended to go for a full-on swim, but I seem to be getting wimpy as I grow up. Just two years ago I was swimming in the Cove in May. Now it's mid-June and I can't even stay in for more than five seconds.
Swimming in the Cove used to be a daily ritual throughout my high school and college years. I would swim the length of the Cove and the Pound. Sometimes I brought my faithful lab friend, Liza, along to enjoy the briny taste and refreshing feel of saltwater immersion. We had a grand time cooling off together.
Now that I live in Town, my visits to the Cove aren't as frequent, but are every bit as cherished. It is just as easy for me to lose hours down at the Cove now as it was when I was eight years old. I enjoy talking with the locals to find out how the fishing is, chatting with artists painting on our dock, and going for an evening boat ride with my dad.
I look forward to swimming with my parent's 4-month-old chocolate lab pup, Zipper, this summer. Zipper was also recently baptized in the cold cove water. My dad brought Zip in the rowboat to row out to his motor boat on the mooring. On the way back, Zip was sitting behind my dad as he rowed, and Daddy heard a SPLASH! Zipper had taken a dunk and was swimming around cheerily. My dad scooped him back into the boat. It's hard to keep a good lab dry. So I have a feeling that I'll have a swimming partner once again before long!
(Photos by AOK)
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