Thursday, July 16, 2009

Provincetown: Kind of a Thursday 13 Week 3 Mish Mash but Not Exactly...


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It's week three in Provincetown. What a way to spend the summer: three days of work-work and then four days of ocean living. I took these two shots of the bay and the town harbor today through an overcast sky. Honest to God, the town and ocean are so beautiful it looks like this all the time, in one color palette or another.
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Speaking of colors, hydrangeas are everywhere. And Provincetown, with it's high occupancy of gay, lesbian and artistic types, is rich with majestic gardens and gardeners all over town.
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Even the parking lots have amazing views. This is a nondescript shot view along Commercial Street. Most of the driveways and lots are comprised of beach stones or crushed oyster shells. I like this because, unlike the dark harshness of asphalt, the effect is light, airy, beachy.
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This small sculpture is hidden in an alley way in front of the Atlantic House, a gay men's dance club that welcomes everyone else as well. I've only been there once, and it was absolutely an awesome place to dance away the night.
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I love the town at night. You can walk anyway and it is completely safe. Many residents do not lock their doors and the small police force spends most of its time with occasional drunkenness and/or disorderly conduct. To the right is the famous Provincetown Monument. It's the first thing you see along Route 6A when you turn the bend and you are overtaken by expansive ocean and coastline.
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JB and I are eating out more than cooking at home. You are looking at the crepes of the day at my favorite restaurant Edwige, and at my favorite leisure sport: a strong cup of coffee flavored with good conversation.
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The sky and light in Provincetown is like no where else. And that's also true for special events. This week the Bears are in town. I may write more about this later but in a nutshell, the Bears are gay men who tend to have large frames and, well, body hair. They are named aptly. I would guess there are at least several hundred Bears in town for their Annual Bear Week. I wonder what kind of reaction some of my visitors and fellow bloggers may have to this. Does this sound strange to you? People who are "different" are actually commonplace in Provincetown. If you don't fit in generally, you will in Ptown. Before the summer's over, I'll write about this more.
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Here's a couple of different views of townies. The top could just has well have been home to a seafaring captain or a prominent Ptown family. JB and I have g00d friends who live in a single family small cozy rambling home filled with art and oozing with history. And the bottom photos are of a little sanctuary where JB and kj lighten up, sink in, and spread out. It is a blessed incredible gift that 15 plus years ago we were smart enough and lucky enough to buy this little place we could not afford today by any means. And yes, that bed offers a restful night's sleep as good as it looks.
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Please tell me if I need to change the subject. The truth is I haven't hit the surface in showing you all that Provincetown is--haven't shown you the Beech Forest, the Provincetown Lands, the dunes, the houses, the people, the art, the festivals, the funk. If you don't tell me enough is enough, I'll be doing a bit of sharing like this all summer.

27 comments:

  1. "gay, lesbian and artistic types" are you intimating that unless you have these qualities you're less likely to be a gardener? Ah well that explains my absence of a green thumb then! And I can't speak for the others but I love looking at people's environments and holidays . . it's the only way to travel these days.

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  2. please keep sharing p-town. i am desperate for the beach and this is as close as i'll get for a while.

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  3. baino, hahaha, i am not politically correct even when i try to be! let me try this: i am not saying others are NOT master gardeners. i am saying that certain groups are. i'm sure there'a a mathmatical equation to explain this: x3 + y - zz = ?

    kris, what a trip you're beginning!

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  4. Looks like a pretty neat town to me to be in- with "gay, lesbian and artistic types" .. sounds really creative place to be too. I have no problem with someone else's personal preferences, really.

    but this blows me away.

    ".I love the town at night. You can walk anyway and it is completely safe. Many residents do not lock their doors and the small police force spends most of its time with occasional drunkenness and/or disorderly conduct. "

    I want to move over there.

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  5. silver, the place throbs with creativity. i am working on a second book and the words slide out, sometimes effortlessly.

    i am always surprised at how safe it is here. i don't exactly know why....there are 3000 year round residents and the town swells to 20,000 in season

    thanks for visiting. please come back, okay?

    xo

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  6. keep sharing....please

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  7. How in the hell can you put up with such an environment KJ? I am shocked at the way you are forcing yourself to live!

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  8. mim, you know, i'm unhappy with this post because i had to resize the pictures to get two to fit on a line and they are no longer good quality. lesson learned.

    mark, it is combat duty. but somebody has to do it....xo

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  9. I love these post so go on please!
    It seems like such a wonderful inspiring place!
    I bought 2 Hydrangeas today for the front door, my disies have given up.....
    I think it is great Provincetown is a place where there is room for everyone!

    Enjoy your weekend!
    hugs
    Marianne

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  10. I LOVE these posts! What a charming place Provincetown is. It looks to me like it may be a more reserved Key West kind of place? (I've never been there, either, but it, too, sounds like the kind of place I'd like.) Anyplace with beautiful scenery and architecture, art, gardens, and good food appeals to me.

    I had to laugh at your description of the Bears! They wouldn't intimidated me, not even if they wear butt-less leather pants. Hahahaha!
    :0)

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  11. marianne, you would love it here. there is so much art and it's all relaxed, with the atlantic oeean as a backdrop.

    angela, oooooh your new avatar.
    angela, your reference to butless leather pants had me laughing on the floor. how true! but not the bears: they look like big teddy bears. how this group ever came together is fascinating to me, but they are here in town once a year in full force. ps i like who you are, angela. xo

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  12. "If you don't tell me enough is enough, I'll be doing a bit of sharing like this all summer."

    I'm a believer in writing that which comes to mind naturally, although I must confess that if I write about one subject today (and publish it), and then write about the same subject tomorrow, I often won't publish tomorrow's piece until I have published something on another subject. Like you, perhaps, I fear turning into what might appear to be a one-trick pony. Now that you have the benefit of my excellent advice, I'm sure you will know just what to do. Yeah, right.

    Thanks again for the award. In all honesty, I would have liked it even better had it come with a cash prize, but I guess such things are a bit too much to hope for.

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  13. snowbrush, cash? how much cash? how much cash would make you smile and enjoy that award as much as ever possible?

    because you know that emily says money is the radish root of all evil. but if the cash will do the trick, well, then, i might as well think about next steps....
    :)
    xo
    kj

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  14. please don't stop...i enjoy whatever you write...and love the photos specially the little sanctuary.

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  15. "Emily says money is the radish root of all evil."

    Somebody else said that it's the LOVE of money that's the problem.

    Say what you--or Emily--will, money is so well regarded because it's compact and versatile. As to how much money will make me smile, I picked up a penny yesterday from the middle of a busy street. I was biking at the time, and had to go back for it. Still, it made me smile because Peggy collects found things, and I knew that the badly scarred penny I was picking up would make her smile.

    As for you giving a cash award, I worry that you might not respect me tomorrow if you thought I was mercenary, so this causes me to ask whether I would prefer your respect or a million dollars. I vote for the million. How would you vote?

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  16. Tsup*!* LOL I was thinking along the same lines as Baino with the gardening aspect... I've never viewed my Hydrangeas as being gay before ;)

    I was also thinking bear appreciation as in Steiff, Merrythorpe - nope, not that sort of appreciation gathering.

    Sounds and looks like an interesting place ... yes keep the travel photos coming*!*

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  17. Very beautiful. Do you live there or go for the summer? And thank you for the award...I think Snowbrushes comment was so funny!

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  18. I want the crepes mmmm yummy and the clouds....DIVIINE...i could look at them all day.
    Im enjoying sharing your time in PTown, keep bringing it to us kj
    xxsm

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  19. soulbrush, i won't stop if you won't stop.... xoxo

    snowbrush, i vote for the fact that one penny is the obvious answer. and will i respect you in the morning sir? of course, you've earned that. and you big blowhard, let's face it: you wouldn't take a dime from me. so here we are: i think the two of us (oh,okay, emily too) are delightful together.

    kind of priceless, wouldn't you say?

    xoxo

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  20. bimbimbie, hahahahahaha! gay hydrangeas indeed! you are a doll, annie. i love your visits.

    deborah, we are here for the summer. we own a little condo that is rented out yearround, but this year we arranged with our tenant to have it back for july and august. i lived in this crazy place for two years and it suits my internal rhythm somehow.

    sweetsweetmango, i think you would adore it here, including breakfast at edwige. i would pick up the check. thanks for the encouragement. someday i want to master that camera and really "see". xoxo my crush... :)

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  21. I hope to soak up some of that creative energy myself this fall! And I'm mad to dip my toes in the ocean again-it's been too long.

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  22. deborah, i will try to find out what's happening in town in oct and tell you. the season will be officially "over" but they'll be some local stuff. unlikely, but you could hit mary oliver doing a reading at the fine arts center. and you'll have some good company :). and the ocean and art and light like you've never seen and maybe even a special clarity...

    xo

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  23. KJ,
    Thanks for the photos of my crepes and the lovely bakery. Yes, the crepes tasted as exquisit as they looked. The fresh macaroons melted in our mouths. Provincetown is an amazing place. One of the few places where you can be who you are, do as you wish, and feel safe and secure. There are many activities to keep you busy if that's what you chose to do or you can sit on your friends red couch and talk for hours. It's all good. I'm still relaxed from my wonderful time with my sister friends last week. Liz

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  24. sister liz! what a time we had.
    how was joey's party?
    love you,
    xo

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  25. "let's face it: you wouldn't take a dime from me."

    No, of course not! Far (and even farther than that) be it from me to take a dime from you.

    Someone (I forget whom, but someone famous) supposedly asked a woman at a dinner party if she would have sex with him for a million dollars.

    "Yes, of course, I would," she said.

    "Well then, would you have sex with me for $10?"

    "Sir, how dare you! What kind of a woman do you take me for?"

    "Madam, we've already established what kind of a woman you are. Now, we're haggling over price."

    Such is where we are, and your first offer is too low to inspire me to make a counter offer.

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  26. Ahem - it's your blog. You're in a place that rstores you, so post all the photos you want.

    I had to laugh a little, though at the idea of beautiful gardens being the domain of the gay, lesbian, and artistic types. She was straight and not remotely artistic, but a gardening fiend. And now that I think about it, that describes me, too!

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  27. Secret Agent Woman "I had to laugh a little, though at the idea of beautiful gardens being the domain of the gay, lesbian, and artistic types."

    For you to destroy our faith in the concept would be to rob the rest of us of a rationalization if not a bald-faced excuse. Would you really be so cruel?

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