Awakenings

Every year at the end of the holidays, I look forward to the winter respite. I don’t even care if it snows or not, although not having to shovel much this year was something of a bonus. It was also a fair winter in terms of my firewood lasting the season: There’s nothing like a cozy fire in the woodstove to warm up one of those dreary winter nights.
Here at the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts & Humanities (MAC) in Cape May we have a brief lull between the hectic holidays and the start-up of spring, but it’s hardly what you’d call real down-time. It’s more like “take a deep breath” time. It’s the time when we recharge our creative batteries for the seasons ahead in Cape May.
It seems, at the beginning of January when the decorations are down, the house is closed and tours are suspended, that the winter days stretch endlessly ahead of us. Now, I find myself sitting here in March and wondering where they went and how to finish up my “to do” list in the remaining days before we really gear up for spring.
The Physick House is once again open and the trolleys are about town every day. The house has that “just-opened” sparkle it enjoys after its winter cleaning, when the staff gets to all the nooks and crannies and makes it shine for the whole year.
They’ve been busy, too, preparing for this year’s theme: “What the Heck is that Thing?” which explores Victorian household innovations. You’re going to be amazed at the things those inventive Victorians came up with to make life easier that would leave most of us stymied. But for the folks back in Dr. Physick’s day, they were as essential as your iPhone is to you. No well-dressed Victorian could begin the day without a button hook, and entertaining visitors was a breeze with a magic lantern. Truth be told, I’ve often thought some of our kitchen implements are close relatives to torture devices.
But those are the kinds of things visitors to the house museum will learn about this year, beginning in late April, on tours of the Physick House. I have a feeling there’s been a lot of laughter in the preparation of the scripts for these tours. It should be fun. But that’s a direction we’ve taken a lot with our tours in the last few years, as we try and show our visitors that history can be fun.
You’ll also see some differences around the grounds at the estate this year, and those should be fun, too. We’re expanding our family activities and festivals, and want to let everyone know they’re welcome to just come and visit any time. When you think about it, the grounds of the Physick Estate are as close to a “park” setting as you can get in Cape May, and you’ll be seeing more picnic benches, places for bikes and things like that. We already have lots of folks who use the driveways and paths for walking for themselves and their four-footed friends. It’s so beautiful and tranquil, it’s a perfect place for a walk to start off the morning or end the day.
Although we haven’t been able to document it, over the years there have been rumors that Dr. Physick had peacocks. Since we don’t have the resources to replicate that, not to mention that their temperament doesn’t match their beauty, we do have a family of three turkeys wandering the grounds. Hope they keep a sharp bird’s eye out for those nasty tools in the kitchen.
Barraclough is director of publications and website at Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts & Humanities (MAC).