The Trip...

Here it is, the one you've all been waiting for. I spent two weeks in Cape Cod, "blogging" in a little notebook. More like "jotting" because I only put down a few key points I wanted to flesh out later. To save time, I'm going to abbreviate wherever I can. Try to follow along. You're all smart I'm sure you can do it.

Fri. 7-20-07
Well, I suppose all my entries will be short while I'm in CC. 1) because I'll be copying them down when I get back, and 2) because there's not much paper here. Its so gorgeous and peaceful here, and I'd forgotten how it is. The birds and chipmunks here are so used to having throngs of other creatures around that they just assume we're part of the wildlife. The goldfinches and chickadees come in swarms in the morning, and the hummingbirds fight all the time over the sugar water. We have accumulated more boats over the years, so now our fleet consists of 2 canoes, a kayak, 2 sailboats, and a rowboat (no combustion motors allowed on the lake). I am excited about the sailboats because its been so long since I've been able to practice. There's even a great view- the house is up on a hill and the deck overlooks the lake. I feel like I'm in an eagle's nest- paradise- a place where I can survey the world without having to be a part of all the problems. I think its going to be good getting away. On the way up I let my mind wander, and it wasn't to good places. Perhaps here, my mind can rest and be at peace for a while. Perhaps here, I'll find the distance to be able to heal for real from the things that have been plaguing me for a long time now, instead of this mock healing I've been doing. Perhaps...

7-20-07 Quotes:
"The copper pig on the deck is actually a watering can but you can't fill it up all the way or its nose will run."

Sat 7-21-07
My aunt and uncle and cousin came out from Michigan to visit. Shane got to see Boston for the first time, and experienced the fanaticism that is a Red Sox game. I'm sure he's actually a Tigers fan (that's the same sport right?) but he's an 8-year-old kid. Sports are sports. Before they got there, Dad gave me a sailing lesson just to be sure I remembered everything. I've never been sailing without him anyway so he just wanted to make sure I knew what I was doing. After that my aunt Michele asked me to take Shane out sailing on the Sunfish and we did and the wind promptly died. Fun for him, I'm sure.

7-21-07 Quotes:
"The good ole state of Massatuchets!" (Say it kinda fast, just switch the phonetic sounds instead of the actual letters. You'll get it eventually.)

Sun 7-22-07
My uncle Scott took Shane out on the Sunfish cause there was some real wind this time, and I took the kayak. We went across into the sluiceway, into the next pond which was smaller. The wind changed, Scott said "duck" and Shane did, but for some reason Scott didn't. All the other canoers on the lake heard the "thump" the "d'oh!" and Shane's "This guy doesn't know how to sail!!" It was cute. That was the pond where Henry David Thoreau spent some time. Not Walden, where he wrote his book, but Williams Pond. It got me thinking about how great it is up there for photographers. When we got back, I gave Shane a quick kayak lesson and we went in the canoe catching frogs. I had always known I lacked the stereotypical Jersey accent, and I took a test once that told me I had a "midwestern" accent. But I felt like as soon as my Michigan relatives arrived, I started picking up the Michigan speech. I would say something and then think, "Why did I say it like that? I don't talk that way..." Anyway, after that we went to a drive-in theater to see Ratatouille, which was a really great movie.

7-22-07 Quotes:
"What are you talking about?? Three pair beats everything!!" (Gotta love poker.)

Ratatouille: ~If you focus on what you left behind you will never be able to see what lies ahead.
~Don't just hork it down!
~Change is nature, the part we can influence.
~Where are you going? ~Forward!!
~Why do I need to pretend? ~You never did (always, his whole life, pretending to be a rat, pretending to be a human, just depending on the crowd... i can feel that...)

Mon 7-23-07
We went to see the CC lighthouse, also called the Highland Light. It was pretty foggy, so it looked cool. My brother snapped some pictures of a sheepdog named Mala. No, not the Italian word meaning "bad." This dog was named after the wife of Chewbacca. What? Someone actually married that walking carpet? Yes. And what's even more sad is that I knew that already. Geeks, geeks everywhere. Then we went to Provincetown and did the touristy thing. Provincetown is known for its "Pilgrim's Tower" a tribute to the Mayflower Pilgrims who actually landed at Provincetown first and found it unsuitable for habitation and moved on to Plymouth. Then we went to Newcomb Hollow, a beach on the Atlantic side of CC. Shane had a blast, running along the waves, which are bigger than the ones on the shores of Lake Michigan, and wonder of wonders, they are salty to boot! We also saw a grey seal poke his head out of the water and watch the fishermen on the beach which was pretty cool.

Tues 7-24-07
Went sailing a little, and mom and I took the canoe out, with all three cameras! We don't really trust any of the other boats besides the two canoes with our cameras in them. Sailboats and kayaks... not too sturdy. We got some really great pictures, of flowers, a giant turtle, and dad on the sailfish before he ripped the white sail and had to switch to the smaller red and white sail. It still sails great though. I like that one the best I think. Too bad they don't make them anymore. Well, mom and I got pretty sunburned because 1) our sunscreen is probably 10 years old and 2) canoes are slow especially if mom's got a paddle in her hand. For the next two days I had to cover up my bathing suits with blouses. I don't want skin cancer! I have also developed the notorious "sealegs" which make if difficult to walk on land. I lie in bed at night and my inner ear is telling me my bed is gently rocking from side to side. I can't decide if I like the feeling.

Wed 7-25-07
I went to the library to get my internet fix. Its amazing how much I can do in just a half hour. I think I like the whole speed-reading concept. Another concept I discovered at the library is "Dune Doubloons." Basically its a local barter currency. You shovel a neighbor's sidewalk, he pays you in a gold or silver doubloon (depending on how much time it took you). You then take your doubloon and pay the girl across the street to watch your kids... and so on. The pamphlet I read gave some suggestions on things you could do to earn doubloons. They had the usual things like baking dinners, organizing paperwork for someone, whatever. Then one thing caught my eye. "Costuming someone for a drag show." Um. Ok. Guess that's in high demand here, and oh yeah I just remembered this is Massachusetts. One final amazing concept I have always loved is the out-door shower. A lot of homes up in CC have this feature, because of the proximity to the ocean and the abundance of sand that somehow finds its way all over your body. Instead of trekking through a clean house to the bathroom, you just shower outside. Another plus is that from our shower you have a great view of the lake, and the walls of the shower are just low enough that you can see out, but just high enough that nobody has to see your pasty white flabby butt. Well, that depends on who you are, you might have a great butt, I don't know. But lets just say you usually have some parts no one wants to see. Its a great experience showering and watching the sun go down, or the fog rolling in onto the lake, or whatever.

Fri 7-27-07
My dad and I went whale watching. It was pretty neat. We saw Finbacks, Humpbacks, and Atlantic White-Sided Dolphins. Two of the whales did that jumping out of the water thing, which is supposed to be pretty rare and also very difficult to catch on camera. My brother went home, my relatives went back to Michigan, and my mom went to a party. So my dad and I had some good nature-stuff that we like that no one else really cares for. We also went into a pirate museum. The CC shores are the home of the Whydah, the only known pirate wreck so far. That's kinda cool I guess.

7-27-07 Quotes:
"Thank you for ruining my favorite songs by enjoying them with me"
"Time flies when you're having rum."

Mon 7-30-07
I spent a lot of time just hanging out with my dad. My mom's friend Karen is here. I'm sitting here wondering what it would be like to pick up and go to the Caribbean in the fall with only 2 days' notice. As in, even I don't know that I'm leaving day-after-tomorrow. I hear that's the cheapest way to get a cruise. I am also thinking I ought to get a job. And I'm thinking maybe its time to find more friends. Like West Milford friends. I have some here, but we aren't that close. Maybe there are more somewhere around here. I have also been pondering stuff. I have noticed every once in a while that I get angry with a certain person in my life, not for anything in particular, but I am angry that they are in my life. I have been blaming this person in my heart for things when in my head I know I have a 50% share of the responsibility. Its the classic passion vs. reason conflict, but turned around. I'm not sure if I should work on that, or just ignore it. Being angry isn't always a bad thing, and I don't let my anger control me or even affect other people. Most of the time no one knows its there.

Tues 7-31-07
Dad and I went bike riding in the bike trails above Provincetown (ie, sand dunes). It was cool to see nature in that way, and I found myself meditating much like I do when I go running. Its quite therapeutic. I thought about jujitsu and how if you can't stime in life (let go of things) then you can't do it on the mat. I was also thinking that guys who don't wear shirts make me jealous. If I can't do that, you can't either. And the last thing was my dad and I kinda have a cool relationship. I think I'm more guyish when I'm around him. When a guy asks a question and another guy says "I don't care" it means "I don't care." When a guy asks a question and a girl says "I don't care" it means "you should know me well enough not to have to ask" or "I care but you have to read my mind to know what I want." When I'm with my dad, "I don't care" means "I don't care." Its kinda interesting how all this comes from riding a bike.

Wed 8-1-07
Today two hummingbirds had a dogfight and one nearly stabbed me in the face. I'd been sitting there reading for over an hour so I don't know how he could have not noticed me. I have been rereading all my childhood books. The series is about a girl in 1902 North Carolina who likes to get into adventures and solve mysteries and stuff. I mentioned to my mom that I couldn't figure out why every time Mandie and her friends sat down in the parlor, they ended up drinking coffee. When I was 15 I thought coffee was the most tantalizing smell with the most disappointing taste. I didn't know why she would want to drink that. My mom responded with, "Well, they DO grow tobacco down there." Right mom... and that has to do with coffee how? Guess that was a senior moment... I went down to the lake with my dad and took the kayak around the lake. We had seen a blue Sailfish and wanted to know who else had one on the lake, cause they are kind of a rare boat these days. I glanced at all the boats tied up on my trip around, but didn't see it. I did, however, see a little shih tzu jump off a boogie board into water that was over his head. I guess he thought he was a bigger dog or maybe didn't realize the water was so deep. But he sank right down and then popped right up and did a frantic doggie paddle for the shore. He sat down by "mom" and started coughing and wheezing. Since he was ok, it was kinda funny to watch. When I got back from my kayaking trip, I sat on the dock with my dad on the beach. It was kind of a windy day and we were watching a guy trying to un-capsize his sailboat. He would get it to flip right-way-up, the wind would catch it, and it would go back over on the other side. He did this about 4 or 5 times before dad got on the boogie board and paddled out to help him (guess he's a sadist when it comes to beginner sailors). I followed as well and basically the two of them got it to stand upright together and when it started to go over the other side, I added ballast on that side. It turns out the guy had the sail cleated so when the wind took it, it wouldn't turn to release the pressure, it would just flip. We got back to shore and dad just shook his head... "Rookies." But the guy was grateful because I bet he was paying by the half hour just to rent the boat.

Thurs 8-2-07
The sailing was good today as well- windy but not too windy. I also took some sunflower seeds and got the chipmunks to eat out of my hand. It was pretty cool.

Fri 8-3-07
We took one last swim before we left, and I managed to find the patience to sit there long enough for the chipmunks to actually sit on my hand and eat sunflower seeds. It was a pretty cool experience... I've always wanted a pet chipmunk so this was probably as close as I'm gonna get. He even let me run my finger down his side cause he was so into the sunflower seeds. And I touched that little cheek pouch full of seeds, just to see how it felt- that thing is really thin! Anyway... that was a great way to end the trip.

And then I got back and had that awful rant about my cactus... but the reason I had such a bad headache is my wisdom teeth have decided to finish their ascent to the surface instead of stopping the job halfway through like I thought they were going to do. So thats cool I guess that maybe they will be the same height as my other teeth now haha.