Saturday, March 17, 2007

Provincetown


This is Provincetown. I could make a compelling argument that it is one of the most beautiful places on Earth. It has a year round population of 4000 people and a summer population of 20,000. It lies at the very tip of Massachusetts in an area called Cape Cod. Its residents are primarily artists, Portuguese families with strong ties to the sea, and gay and lesbian folks who have found their way to the land's end to live and be themselves.

Commercial Street runs about 3 miles along the ocean. This is how you reach the harbor and the fishing fleets and the whalewatch boats. In the summer months, the center of Commercial Street is quaint and festive with restaurants. shops, art houses, and galleries, all majestically amidst the back drop of the bay and ocean. In the winter, it is desolate, just right for a writer or artist or contemplative soul to nestle into winter.

You can walk from one end of town to the other in about an hour. Every house and every sight is breathtaking in its own way. The sea is everywhere: you can see it and smell it and hear it and feel it.



The beach and provincelands are just beyond the downtown area, an easy bike ride or walk for most. These are photos of the dunes, where they surround the pristine beaches and incredible waves of the Atlantic ocean. The water temperature does not reach 80 degrees until early August, and even then a plunge in is chillingly stimulating, but it's worth it. I've bobbed in that salt water sometimes and I've solved all my problems and then some simply by bobbing with the sun on my face.











P-town is all about fun. Folks come from all over the world for a day or a season because this is a place that pushes its creative and expressive freedom to the limit. My friend Marilyn painted this mermaid cutout a few years back when I was involved in developing some businesses in town. The angels and little dolls sitting around a pond is a typical example of what you might see in someone's yard. And these two fine gentlemen are the Hat Sisters: brothers, really, they've been around for 25 years or more, participating in parades and town events with their classic whimsy and heterosexual take on life in Provincetown.


The light on the outer Cape is like no other. Artists come from everywhere to capture it. Sometimes you only have 30 seconds to mix your paints before the sky changes color. I've seen the sky brillant pink and unbelievable purple. These photos can't do it justice, but this is really truly what it looks like sometimes when you walk along Commercial Street, the bay, or the beach.












In the photos below, to the left is a dune shack. With no electricity or running water, for years artists and writers have holed up in the dune shacks, often with their dogs, to make their art through solitude and ocean inspiration. Food is brought in once a week or so. Now-a-ways, the town has a lottery every year for these coveted dune shack spots.
The middle photo is the strip of beach jb and I have walked along for years, often once or twice a day. Here we individually and together weighed and thought about our hopes, dreams, inspirations, and practical matters. We planned our restaurant, talked about the day that eventually came when we could move to Provincetown full time, accepted life simply as it was and is, and watched our beloved dog Rosie swim non-stop for hours.
The sign on the right is just a reminder that there is no room for hate anywhere. Provincetown has its own problems with that, although on a much smaller scale, but for a hundred years and to this day it remains a community where expression matters and it is ok to be different.












jb and I have always spent part of our summers in P-town. We have a 3 room place a block from the ocean, now rented out, that has always been a sanctuary. Almost two years ago we moved away after spending two years living there full time. It was not an easy time but my memories are driven by the sheer beauty and my deep love of the town. What more can I say? I hope I've done some justice with this tribute. The place is in my blood, my memories, my roots, my heart. It's a terrific spot. I recommend you put it on your list of "someday".

P.S. I can't tell you why, but you'll have to scroll down a bit to click on "comments". And please do: I love them!

31 comments:

  1. I am so there! Zappa and I want one of those beach shacks for the summer. Can you put is in the lottery?

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  2. This makes me want to pack our bags, pronto! We were there on our honeymoon for a whale watch, before we headed to northern VT. Thanks for this tribute!

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  3. Karen - I can feel a yearning in this post... and it awakens the yearning I have to move back somewhere near the ocean. I was in P-town only once - about 25 years ago - it is was literally the saving landfall, the first spot of land I and six other people on a boat named Gabriella reached after being wrecked in a storm 400 miles off Cape Hatteras (I wrote about it here). It was one of the most beautiful places to be.. .full of life and sunshine... and it felt so good to be on land! I had a hard time getting back on that boat to continue our trip to Bath, ME. Thank you so much for sharing these photographs and giving us the tour. Even though it makes me miss the water more, in a way, it makes me feel like I've just been there:>

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  6. okay, these photographs are just postcard-perfect. i love this post.

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  7. andrea, if you're serious, i'll check it out!

    melissa, northern vt: another beautiful spot...

    carla, what an hair raising adventure you had!! just writing this post made me yearn...

    ces,someday you will see provincetown and i know you will love it.

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  8. What a beautiful tribute! I hope to make it there one of these days to experience it in person.

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  9. WOW! I long for this place! It kinda reminds me of Marthas but more rustic and real! LOVE your pix and can't believe the gradations in the sunset. This place could change all the colours in my skies! I really enjoyed this so much!!!

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  10. teresa, how nice to see your comment. i will be visiting you too.

    val, you are right. it is more rustic and real than the vineyard. and definitely funkier. hhhhmmmm. maybe we should meet in provincetown sometime.....???? :)

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  11. Beautiful ... I feel as though I just had a mini vacation. I've actually been there, but it was powdered with snow at the time after most of MA received 26 inches in 24 hours.

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  12. bibi, ptown in the snow is something else again. i hope you pass through some time again with the sun gleaming and the sky shining.

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  13. I hope Ptown in the snow would make it on this blog.

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  14. blogger ate my comment. :-(

    i wanted to say that a place with a no hate zone sounds (and looks) like heaven.

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  15. Very interesting photographs. I like beaches very much. Special atmosphere. But I live near woods and that is my real habitat ;-) Thanks for visiting my blog. Do you think a 'much used words' list Dutch/English is a good idea?? No kidding, I mean it.

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  16. Ok, I wrote it in my list !
    It looks like a lovely and peaceful place!

    I do hope you get the opportunity to visit the Philippines!
    Since you know Ces you already noticed that Filipinos are charming and happy people.

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  17. Sounds like a terrific and open community. I am very fond of New England in general and people keep telling me I should visit Cape Cod. Thanks for posting those beautiful pictures! I suppose I´d love to hear some more about the artists shacks as well :) Only recently I spend a day and a half on an island in the Northern Sea and felt so balanced upon returning. I was at a performance where several authors read short stories they had written as resident island artists. We talked about how it is the special nature that inspires one to write: not that one especially wants to write about the nature. No, it is the calming effect of the long beaches, the ever secretive ocean moving in and out in waves - all that keeps you grounded and frees you from the unneeded, so you can finally hear your own thoughts.

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  18. I was in Provincetown baout 13 years ago - 7 months pregnant and on a whale-watching boat ride! It is a beautiful town, and so accepting. Also spent a sumer on the Cape as a young child, and have wonderful memories of it. I love the photos - a nice reminder of time there.

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  19. Terrific post! I loved the photos.

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  20. That looks like a place I'd love to live. I'm just not sure about the winters!

    Thanks for sharing those beautiful pictures!

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  21. It sounds & looks beautiful. i love how the water looks more red than blue in that one picture. How much do the winter lottery shack go for? Those dunes looked so peaceful & age old. Wonderful tribute!

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  22. Provincetown : 4000 inhabitants and nevertheless it is on my overview map of the US, must be an famous place and as you tell it : very special and very much worth while to visit, or to stay there for inspiration :-) It must have been very special to live there.

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  23. I really enjoyed reading this post. Thanks.

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  24. ces, i never think of ptown in snow as beautiful. but i may be able to find a picture or two.

    menchie, i like the idea of 'no hate' zones. people who see other people as "less than" often don't realize their perspectives involve hate, so it's like a wake-up call. i so appreciate your liking it too.

    wieneke, i can't wait to try the tranlation! you are so sweet to make this effort for ces and me.

    sidney, i hope i have the pleasure of meeting you in the philippines long before provincetown shows up on your travel list.

    cristosova, you are so thoughtful and wise! yes, i think the ocean goes clear the head. if you ever are headed to new england or cape cod, please let me know. (okay?)

    :)

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  25. csl, i'm laughing, since my first whalewatch was in ptown about 13 years ago! what a coincidence that would be!

    gautami, it is fun to share provincetown on my blog. i'm glad you liked it.

    liz, winters are desolate, really, except for saturday readings at the fine art center and sunday night open mike at the mews restaurant. it has a ghost town feel in the winter.

    slb, thanks. i don't know how much the dune shacks go for but they are inexpensive. many very famous writers and painters have used them. my friend won a week one year. one morning she was visited by another dune shacker, and it was the writer annie dilliard. i would have LOVED that!

    hildegarde, provincetown is actually quite famous. when i worked for the movie theatre, it was one of the top three places actors and film makers were willing to come to, after new york and paris. as a result there are always well known artists, writers, and performers around. there is a film festival in june that is awesome. i like that you take the time to look up my neck of the woods on your maps.

    ces, so you have started to actually read my blog, huh! that's good... (just kidding...) :)

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  26. Oh, KJ, I can not thank you enough for posting these wonderful thoughts and pictures!! I have missed New England so very much... This area in particular was one of my favorite adventures, not too terribly far from my Maine home.

    I doubt I will get to travel that far this summer. Falcon Ridge is about as far as I can afford to go, I'm afraid!

    Thanks for the heart-warmer!

    Peace,

    ~j

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  27. hello j! nice to hear from you. i'm so glad you enjoyed my love affair with p-town. how is your house? i'll bet it's cozy and beautiful...

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  28. Yes, KJ I read this one. Imagine that!

    SHE WHO IS TEMPORARILY NAMELESS

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  29. wow, it really is beautiful! one of my professors retires to cape cod every summer...he gets lots of writing done while he's there..i can see why. i must add it to my "places i'll get to one day" list...hehe...

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  30. absolutely, kj, that would be exiting!

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  31. If you saw a young woman with a big belly on the boat, that was me.

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