"You're only given one little spark of madness. You mustn't lose it." Robin Williams
Yes, hopelessly
behind yet again (as I have been lovingly reminded). But, that means I’ve been busy, which means,
happy. Correct?! For the most part that is indeed true. A couple of weeks ago I went “home” to play
with family and friends in the Boston area.
Getting ready to go I felt like a kid again, I was so excited. “Home” keeps getting put in “ “ because, for
the first time I’m beginning to feel like the man without a country. Where is home? I’m on the cusp, I believe, of admitting that
Boston is not it anymore. New York is,
at least for now. Weird, but good.
 |
| Sagamore Bridge (from its website) |
That being said,
it was wonderful to pull into South Station again, to familiarity. When I got into Katie’s car in Cambridge
(what was once my very trusty old Rav 4), a funny lump formed in my
throat. Driving through East Milton on
the Southeast Expressway, a black Saab convertible, with its roof down, pulled
up along side me. Oh, how I had loved my
little mid-life crisis. It was truly great
fun to drive. I thought “Okay, just stop
it.” as the lump grew larger. I turned
up the radio, and sang at the top of my lungs for the first time in a very long
time. By the time I reached the Sagamore
Bridge, I almost felt 18 again! (For so
many years, every time I hit one of the bridges to the Cape, I felt 18 again. 18…one
of the single best summers of my life: waitressing, playing, and falling in
grown up love for the very first time. Truth
be told, not anything can really bring that back again. But, all good.)
 |
| Freshly caught and made stuffed clams! |
 |
| National Seashore |
Pulling up to my
dear Friends’ home in Harwich, I was calm and ready to be spoiled with food,
wine, and laughter. And, oh, I was not
disappointed. The next two days were
spent on different beaches truly bringing peace to my soul. The
National Seashore is one of our greatest gifts. The pod of twenty seals that we saw
 |
| Red River Beach |
frolicking off
the beach made me want to go play. Thank
God I didn’t try as I was entertainment enough trying to stay alive barely 2
feet off shore, never mind going out to the seals. Grace never was, not will ever be, my middle
name. The next day at Red River Beach
was one of my favorite kind of days at the beach, a bit gray, with some fog,
but still warm. Even managed to have a
little siesta. Those evenings were
absolutely food, wine, (and margarita!), laughter filled. Perfect.
 |
| Cousins as Hat Ladies today |
 |
| As Hat Ladies a couple of years ago |
Heading north
early Sunday morning (I know I could not deal with being a summer weekend
warrior to the Cape), I stopped in the Duxbury/Green Harbor area for another
couple of days of Beach with Family this time.
An amazing lobster dinner (my first of the summer) surrounded by family,
extended and close (as always, a proud Mom as my Ladies made it a point to come)
to celebrate a beloved family member’s 50th birthday was awesome
(even if Mom Nature didn’t exactly cooperate).
 |
| Lunch overlooking the marsh |
Leaving that fun
cottage I proceeded to the next. My
Cousin’s Family’s new doll-house of a cottage overlooking the marshes and
Powder Point Bridge of Duxbury. (Oh, how
my Dad would have loved sitting there, for hours on end, reading and enjoying
the view!). Another awesome day on one
of my favorite beaches in the world, literally.
Also followed by wonderful food, wine!, and most importantly love and
companionship.
 |
| Dusk over the Marsh |
(Here I must
share yet another of my very small world stories. While at my Cousins’ I joined them at friends’
for cocktails. My Cousin in Law’s
brother has always been a very successful businessman. In recent years he has made a name for
himself in creating “green golf courses”.
While having dinner with one of my closest friends from my Officer’s
Wives life in the Air Force last December, he told me about a new business
venture he was involved with. A few
weeks later, my cousin texted to ask how she knew this retired 4 Star. (A retired 4 Star General! I met him when he
was a young Captain.) Now, back to the
cocktail party. I had never chatted much
with my Cousin in law’s brother beyond the formalities of hello, etc. But, now, we had someone much in common. We selfied ourselves (my first selfie,
actually) and sent it to our mutual friend, and asked if he knew who we were
talking about! Oh, my, the six degrees
of life.)
 |
| From Yelp |
 |
| Puritan & Co. from Yelp |
From those
heady, wonderful days of summer, I headed north again to my “hometown”. And, I must be perfectly honest and admit
that it was very tough this time. I had
to stay clear of “my” little home. But,
it was wonderful to “be” with Mom for a couple of days. Catching up on some Doctor’s appointments,
dinner with high school friends (at one of my favorite places, in Needham, at Sweet Basil, made all the sweeter
as it’s BYBO to soften the bill’s tally) and also a lovely dinner with my Katie
(at a very cool place, Puritan & Co. on Cambridge
Street near her home) to visit and for me to return her car.
Overall, a great
week at “home”. It’s where the heart is,
right?, So, home is where I want to it to be
at any given moment. Right now, at
least. As always, I am grateful, and
feel blessed.
"No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world" Robin Williams
RIP Sweet Captain
No comments:
Post a Comment