Thanksgiving Day and Friday the temperatures were in the 20s with windy conditions here on Cape Cod. I took a ride to Rock Harbor In Orleans on Friday to take some photographs of the ice on the harbor and on Cape Cod Bay.

As I was taking some photographs of the harbor, 2 teenage boys came riding down on their bikes. They had just a hoodie on, so they were not dressed for the weather at all. They parked their bikes on the dock closest to the water. One of the boys went and sat down on the edge of the dock and took some photographs with his phone. So far…ok.

He then decided to stand up on the ice. I could not believe it. I was afraid if I yelled, he would get scared and fall in. There was a woman that they knew also on the dock and she said to him, ” Oh, you can stand up on the ice?” He said, “Yea,” and then proceeded to fall in. Thank goodness he was within arm’s reach of the dock and grabbed on and pull himself out. He went in just over his knees and his pants and shoes were soaked.

All I could think of was that if he were another foot away, he would have fallen in through the very thin ice and drowned. It was such a scary thing to witness.

The moral of my story is… don’t EVER take ice for granted! Stay off of it, especially in salt water.