Strange Interlude of the Tree In The House

an Outer Cape Cod off-season companion

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The eight or nine months stigmatized as the “off-season” is a side of outer Cape Cod unknown to many of our summer visitors. Like a report from the dark side of the moon, The Strange Interlude of the Tree in the House captures the flavor of the so-called off-season—the poignancy of an October swim; a winter solstice meditation; rising to the occasion of the winter holidays with the mall an hour away; the politics of Christmas; the fallacy of the new year; the pulse of a small, isolated town in January; indispensable winter chores; rooting for storms and other compensatory pleasures of an outer Cape autumn and winter.

Praise from notables of the season

“Changed my life.”
—Scrooge

“It's a wonderful book.”
—George Bailey

“Terrific stocking-stuffer”
—S. Claus

“Totally gets snow and ice”
—Frosty the Snowman

“Yeah, yeah, the saps in Whoville will probably go for it bigtime”
—Grinch

Table of Contents

  • Introduction: Thawing the Heart of the Writer
October
  • Last Swim
  • Getting Clear on the Woodstove Concept
November
  • The Price of Front Row Seats
  • Fairweather Sailor
  • Guys with Guns in the Woods
  • Home For the Holidays
  • The Importance of Rising to the Occasion
December
  • Nature’s Tough Love
  • The Politics of Christmas Movies
  • Here We Are Again
  • Santa vs. Schwarzenegger
  • A Solstice Sort of Moment
  • The Solstice-Christmas Connection
  • Dysfunctional Shopper or Dysfunctional Tradition?
  • Secular Spirituality
  • The Christmas Truce of 1914
  • The Story of How Sue Got Her Excellent Red Hat
January
  • A New Year?
  • Comfort Zone
  • Narrow Palette
  • The Strange Interlude of the Tree in the House
  • Our Pulse in Mid-winter
  • Rooting for Storms
February
  • Global Warming from a Snowbank
  • Indispensable Winter Chores
  • Local Blizzard in Perspective
  • Doing Something About the Weather
epilog
  • The Far Side
  • First Swim