And stopping to smell the…well, you know the rest.

Even though I had a pattern project to finish, an interview to write up, and a laundry list of things to do (including the laundry), a perfect day like this is too rare to spend on chores.

So we packed up a few sandwiches and drinks, beach towels and a boogie board, and headed to the beach.

(I’m wearing my 40s beach jacket, which thankfully did not end up looking like Gertrude Stein’s bathrobe, and a pair of Tom’s shoes, needed to hit the clutch in the old manual Jeep Wrangler.)

We headed “up island” to the part of Martha’s Vineyard now known by the Wampanoag Indian name “Aquinnah.” The town changed the name several years ago, but the locals often still call it by the old name, “Gay Head.”

When you’ve turned onto Moshup Trail and can see the water over the windswept shrubs and poison ivy, you know you’re getting close.

We have access to a beach that has a parking lot you open with a key, but it’s not too far from the public beach called Philbin.

You’ve got to haul your gear over a big hill to get to the beach, so we pack light.

On the top of the hill is a beautiful view looking out over Aquinnah, with the Gay Head lighthouse in the distance.

Ahhh, that’s better.

We had our picnic, and I took a little stroll.

Those rocks get covered and uncovered, depending on whether a big storm has come through in any given year.

I turned and walked toward the multi-colored clay Gay Head Cliffs which have been drawing tourists for a couple hundred years, and were home to the Wampanoag Indians long before that. A number of Wampanoag families still live in the town.

Big waves today, so my son spent a lot of time surfing into shore on his boogie board, while we were jumping the waves. When I got home, my suit was full of sand and seaweed.

I love how the Hug Snug rayon seambinding on my jacket glistens in the sun.

(Oh, come on, you didn’t think I could do an entire post without bringing up sewing, did you?)