Sunsquatch Sighting: Woods Hole
Well friends, the days are getting darker. Both literally as we approach the Winter Solstice, and figuratively, as my search for the elusive Sunsquatch grows cold (also literally). Climate action and community support feel more necessary now than ever, but where is that mystical yellow creature??
Feeling weighed down by the world and the approaching winter, I didn’t want to get out of bed, even after someone reported a Sunsquatch sighting on Cape Cod. Surely Sunsquatch wouldn’t be on the Cape in the winter. Does anyone even live on the Cape in the winter? I pictured depressing empty beaches and dark skies.
But then I looked at my phone again, at the photos I’d taken in Concord and Dracut, and that very first yellow blur I’d captured back on Katahdin. If Sunsquatch was out there, they had a purpose. If Sunsquatch could roam New England in these dark days, surely I could as well. So I packed up and once again headed South.
As I crossed the bridge, Buzzards Bay glittered in sunlight on my right. It was one of those cold blue winter mornings when everything seems sparkling and fresh and reluctantly I felt my mood lift a bit. A few miles down the road, solar panels glistened at Pocasset Golf Club. I kept driving. Perhaps Sunsquatch was at Nobska Lighthouse? A lighthouse seemed like a good place for Sunsquatch to hang out - a beacon of light illuminating the path forward in the darkness.
My tip had come from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, so I went there first. A beautiful campus located right on the water, it was bustling with activity. People were unloading collections off boats, scientists roamed the hallways holding seaweed samples, and a teacher was setting up a classroom. 517 solar panels rested atop the research center.
My friend showed me photos of Alvin - the deep-ocean submersible used to collect research from the ocean floor. Maybe Sunsquatch was doing that as we spoke? The sun doesn’t reach down that far though; Sunsquatch felt like a land creature to me. I sensed that Sunsquatch was nearby.
Although I wanted to stick around WHOI and learn more about their climate research, I knew I had to get to the lighthouse before the sunset. And with such limited daylight in December, sunset was quickly approaching.
As I walked the beach against the setting sun, I looked across at Martha’s Vineyard. I was trying to figure out how long it might take to swim there when I stumbled. Looking down I realized I’d tripped over a piece of driftwood, but then saw - giant round prints in the sand. Footprints? Huge boot prints? They had to be Sunsquatch! I took off running in their direction and just as I reached the lighthouse the sun set. The light at the top flashed calmly, hopefully, and in its beam a simple silhouette. Sunsquatch, surely.
