Provincetown Finale

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I am winding down a summer like none I’ve ever had. Efficiently wrapped around three days of work each week, JB and I have hit the road every Wednesday afternoon and driven three and a half hours to Provincetown, a wild little peninsula where the light magically bounces off the water in pinks and oranges and Maxfield Parish blues, where we settled in until Sunday afternoons , when we headed back to work knowing we'd be feeling the salt air again in another three days.
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Ah, but not just that. We stayed put in Provincetown for the last two and a half weeks. Totally. No one sick. No unpaid bills. No calls to make. Just time. Just ocean waves. Just a corner seat on a red sectional couch, laptop propped on my knees, sad words and true words and hopeful words spilling onto each other, one by one. Eating out on a whim. Sleeping late, rising early
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The Wednesday to Sunday routine will take place one final time, this week, but here are some highlights of one damn good summer:
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--watching my friend Gordon paint—he is a master
--getting up before dawn to take pictures of the sun rising with my great little guy friend, Cam, age 14.
--eating fresh lobsters three times
--picking up a piece of charcoal and drawing a nude (!!!) model for the first time
--spending time with Heather and Liz, Marsha, Maureen and Cheryl, Johannes and Jim, Gary and Janice--all good friends, each affirming and reminding me that I know how to be a good friend.
--hearing Mr. Ryan talk to his “Froggie” for 15 or 20 minutes before anyone else woke up
--JB and Mr. Ryan I walking barefoot at low tide in early morning, when everything was still quiet
--getting to know Baby Drew, making him laugh, smelling him, holding him for hours
--knowing my beloved Jessica is happy, spending four magnificent days with her and Mike and the kids,
--catching up with old friends who live in Ptown
--seeing the success of the Artisan Cooperative and knowing I developed it from
scratch.
--having tuna sushi at the Mews, my favorite restaurant in the entire world
--drawing in my moleskine
--doing three book signings
--being introduced as a new author by Kate Clinton at her comedy show and having people clap for me
--kayaking and easily living to tell about it
--riding my bike for the first time in thirty years
--doing nothing
--doing everything

--celebrating my birthday with the people I love
--seeing Julia & Julie at the local movie theatre
--going to my favorite art supply store
--relishing two home made milk chocolate peanut butter cups from the local candy store
--eating breakfast out and easily talking to the people sitting at the next table
--finding a special shell for Renee
--going to the beach every day at 2 pm
--finding a perfect birthday present for my friend lo
And last but never ever least
--WOO HOO to my 25 year anniversary with my beloved partner JB

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Dear God, let me appreciate everything around me, the people who love me, the future that awaits me. xoxo