I was out of sorts, which can be mostly attributed to the most horrific driving experience I have ever had. Why, in the friggin' world did I plan to drive down to the Cape in the midst of a raging hurricane?? Leaving Boston, it rained quite hard, but once I got on Route 3 toward the Cape, things seem to have calmed down a bit, almost too much, since all of a sudden near Rockland the traffic came to an absolute standstill for no good and apparent reason. 20 minutes, nothing. And even when traffic started moving, oh miracle of miracles, even then, there was no explanation for the delay whatsoever, no flood, no tree branches moved to the side, no construction equipment, no accident flares, nothing. Continuing on, the weather situation gradually worsened to the point of my gripping the steering wheel so tight, it had impressions on it. Wilted leaves swirled wildly in tornado fashion in front of my poor little car. We got bounced around and drove through puddles the size of Lake Erie, and while I was driving a careful 45 mph, the other idiots on the street did not seem to be perturbed by the weather at all. The scariest moment of all happened right at my exit in Harwich when I was in the midst of one of the pond-size basins, my poor Ella was trying to decide if she should hydroplane or not and some dimwit decided to drive through the lake next to me at 65 miles an hour. At this point, we were completely surrounded by water - it was like driving through a swimming pool. By the time I ended up at the Simmons Compound in Harwich, my legs were shaking and I was ready for a Valium or two.
Once I calmed down a bit, and had some dinner in that anxious tummy of mine, Denise, Rick and I embarked on the fun part of the evening, also known as "games by candle light". The power had gone out right after dinner, so we retreated in front of the fire place and set up every candle we could find. Pretty soon we were all cozy, wrapped in blankets and did our best with a refreshing round of "Tabu", which happens to be my favorite game. Wouldn't you think that it was accurate on my part to describe "clapping" as "you bang the front of your upper extremities together"? I thought so. But, no response there, and when I tried the "you do it when you really like something", all I got was "you give it a hug". Oh well....
Sunday, in a complete turnaround, the weather was absolutely fabulous, as if the day before had never happened. We were still out of power and wanted a warm breakfast, so hopped in the car, and drove to Provincetown, a quite unusual community all the way at the tip of the Cape (my first visit there). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Provincetown_Spit_Cape_Cod.jpg Also known as P-Town, it is known to attract artists, hordes of tourists, but it is foremost known as a gay resort. Off season (which is right now), it is absolutely charming, with not many outsiders, and one can simply join the local crowds going about their Sunday business. One could visit the Pilgrim Monument, which was designed by William Sears after the famous Torre del Mangio Tower in Sienna, Italy. It was meant to honor the first landfall of the pilgrims in the year 1620. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:PilgrimMonumentbasrelief.jpg ). Rick, Denise and I walked along the Herring Cove Beach, engaged in some very relaxing and on occasion interesting window shopping and retail therapy, and frequented the local ice cream shops. Now summertime in P-Town cannot be described as relaxing at all - quite the opposite - the place turns into an crazy zoo to say the least, in particular around the 4th of July and "Circuit Week". If you are not prepared to mingle with 60,000 tourists or actively participate in the Mate's Leather Weekend or other such glam events, this may just not be your crowd and you are better off visiting in the fall or winter.
Meanwhile back in Boston, t'was yet another busy week, but believe it or not, I actually managed to get to bed early the last couple of nights (early meaning 10 PM), and I do feel a bit more rested.
Recap in one paragraph:
Monday night, planning meeting for next year's 10th Anniversary Party of Community Running with running mates Hillary and Laura. Tuesday night, ushering - this time at the Wimberley Theater in the South End (http://www.huntingtontheatre.org/season/production.aspx?id=4009&src=t) for the play "Brandon" - a superbly written piece by Ronan Noone, witty and genuine, it depicts the story of a young man from Ireland who immigrates to Boston. Ronan Noone happened to be one of the Huntington Theatre Company's Playwriting Fellows, and his recent play "The Atheist" which featured veteran actor Campbell Scott caused quite a stir. Wednesday night, as many of you know, was the opening for Illuminations, an art exhibit at the MGH Cancer Center and yours truly was among the featured artists. The reception was overwhelming but fun, and I kept running up and down to the floors with the art work, and then back down to pick up the next contingent of friends that arrived. Yesterday, I met up with my former landlady Marsha Orent and her newest tenant and our new German friend Dagmar at the cutest restaurant ever - the Black Sheep in Kendall Square. Nestled in the historic Kendall Hotel, a Victorian firehouse formerly known as Engine 7, it is small and comfy, has fantastic food (all of it locally grown and organic) and is definitely a place to revisit on a regular basis (http://www.kendallhotel.com/dining.html).
Not bad for one week, eh? Tomorrow morning I will fearlessly lead a group of volunteers from Community Running in a cleanup effort on behalf of the Charles River Conservancy and in the afternoon my friend Caroline will arrive from the UK and will be my guest for one night.
Before I go, I have to write about the Red Sox - I actually cannot believe that I forgot to write about this one last week!!! We won, we won, we won, we won!!!!! Unbelievable!! This is the most unbelievably crazy sports town, just the way I like it!!! The second World Series Title in 4 years!!! Tuesday following the glorious event, the city of Boston had a monster parade, and while I could not attend, the Sox did me a huge favor and dashed right by our building. Granted, the duck boats zipped by at 60 miles an hour, but I swear to you, Mike Lowell waved at me!! That pretty much made my day. Of course you have to know about the amazing connection between the Sox and my birthday - in 2004 they won the World Series 13 minutes prior to the start of my birthday. This year, they won it on my birthday. Coincidence? I think not!!!
Gotta go and get some zzzzs now my friends.
Be well.....
pet:)
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