A two-lane road with double yellow lines curves gently toward the sea, flanked by sand dunes, dry beach grasses, and modest Cape Cod cottages with green roofs basking in strong afternoon sunlight. Utility poles and their wires stitch the composition together, lending a quiet sense of mid-century American ordinariness to the scene. The deep blue of the ocean shimmers on the horizon beneath a clear sky, evoking the particular stillness of an off-season coastal New England day.