My wife and I recently vacationed on Cape Cod. We’ve spent most of our vacations in the outer cape town of Eastham for the last 25 years. I find that I enjoy vacations in my retirement almost as much as I did when I was working.

While on vacation I was struck by several things that both stirred and annoyed me and sent me hurrying to my keyboard shortly after I got home and unpacked the car.

This year, on the way to Cape Cod we stayed in East Greenbush, N.Y., across the Hudson from Albany. This necessitated our taking Interstate 90 through the city of Albany. On our journey through the city in the distance we could see that monument to Nelson Rockefeller’s megalomania, the Empire State Plaza, rising above the city skyline.

It was a late Friday afternoon and traffic was heavy. My attention was drawn to the vehicles in traffic around me. I imagined them filled with lawmakers, legislative staff members, lobbyists and assorted lawyers of various stripes, and all the other “apparatchik” of big state government homeward bound for the weekend secure in their belief that only they know what is best for the people of New York

The next day on the Masspike I was reminded why Massachusetts drivers are rated the worst in the nation. They change lanes without signaling, will slow to rubberneck a dead raccoon along the road, and apparently having no sense of right of way rules, will stop to let you through when they have the right of way, in the process slowing traffic for everyone.

One of the first things I did when I got to the Cape was to check on the impact of global climate change there. I couldn’t do a polar bear census because none roam the Cape currently. However, I was able to clearly see that ocean water levels were not appreciably higher as the parking lot at Eastham’s First Encounter Beach was still useable and the beach itself still provided a dry spot for sunbathers.

The only things that have risen at the beach is the price of parking. A weekly parking sticker is now $70 per week, up from $55 in 2015 and a daily parking pass is now $20 a day, up from $15 in 2015. Eastham is in the midst of installing water lines so they must need the money. At least Eastham residents likely won’t get hit with a surprise assessment for water and sewer improvements, like residents of a certain village in northern Chautauqua County did recently.

I also determined that climate change has not yet had a radical impact on ocean temperatures on the Cape in the last year. On the Oceanside the water temperature is still a bone chilling low to mid-50s and on the Bayside still a Lake Erie like 72 degrees. Swimming in the bay I was able to determine, fairly conclusively, that as of yet no tropical fish have invaded Cape Cod Bay in response to warming ocean water. From this I conclude that while climate change might be occurring, it has not reached the point where human civilization will be endangered anytime soon. My view may not be politically correct and if some of you disagree with me let’s just agree to disagree.

Once again this year, on the weekend when I arrived on the Cape, dolphins and killer whales were entrapped near shore in the Bay at low tide. Some were rescued but several sadly died.

While these are wonderful animals, these occurrences do beg this question; if whales and dolphins have big brains and are as smart as some claim, why do they keep getting hung up on the shore?

As I have at home, on vacation I continued to note people, male and female, young and old, hunched over their smart phones and tablets in restaurants, in stores and on the beach. They ignore their companions totally.

Are we retreating into our own worlds cut off from and ignoring each other? This could signal a major societal breakdown and yet many see global climate change as our most serious problem.

At the beach this year I noted the increasing prevalence of tattoos on both men and women. Is this a sign of some change in society I am unaware of? Is it perhaps a generational thing as I note that few people my age sport tattoos? Or perhaps we are returning to some form of tribalism where the tattoo is a sign of belonging to the group? This is not a putdown of what some consider art, just an observation.

One final observation. While on vacation I observed two Toyota Prius Hybrids; one on the Thruway and one on the Cape. Both had “BERNIE” bumper stickers affixed. Any connection here?

Anyway, we enjoyed our Cape Cod vacation.

Thomas Kirkpatrick Sr. is a Silver Creek resident. Send comments to editorial@observertoday.com