Arrival

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This is my first official day in Provincetown; my first day of a three week vacation. Unbelievable.

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Today we are four adults, one teenager, and one tweenager. We decide early on that we all want to do mostly nothing.

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We adults go out to lunch, chose a great place with a fantastic second floor patio. This is our view.

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I have jumbo shrimp from the raw bar and Caesar salad with fresh garlic and fresh parmesan cheese.

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We walk along Commercial Street and stop in the surprising zen garden behind a store front. It is hard and lovely to imagine such a sanctuary tucked away from the hustle bustle of Provincetown's one main street.

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We come home. Relax. Catch up. JB and I have not seen our friends in almost a year. Every year for about ten years we have met here in Ptown each summer, each year marveling and relishing in how magical and relaxed and lucky we feel, surrounded by the sea breeze and warm sand.

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We plan to go to the pool at the Provincetown Inn but we never make it. We talk, rest, stretch, catch up some more.

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Our friend Gordon fixes dinner: bruchetta with tomatoes from our gardens, breaded chicken breasts, pasta with Alfredo sauce. Besides for being a Canadian musician and songwriter who performed at Bush I's inaguration, Gordon is a wine buyer and he has brought the most wonderful bottles with him. I do not drink but I know he and my friend Heather and JB are having a great time savoring several different kinds of fine wine.

We eat on our patio, sit there as the sky turns pink and then dark. The breeze is incredible.

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Tomorrow Heather and Gordon and the boys will leave and JB and I will (probably) spend the morning relaxing, will head for either the beach or the pool, tomorrow night will celebrate my birthday at one of my many favorite restaurants.

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On Sunday, JB will head home and I will be here alone until Thursday, when she returns and our friend Liz arrives. Until then I will have four days to write, just Stella and me. I am excited to write because I've started to see the characters and the snippets come together. I am no longer worried about writing with integrity. I know I will.

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I am in Provincetown and it is a space and place I am always glad to be. I am at home here.

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I relax here, I think because somehow the rhythm of the sea encourages me to go with my own rhythm. Plus: this is a very very fun place. Most of the faces here are happy. That part is contagious.

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Thank you for all the well wishes for my first ever three week vacation. I am pretty sure I am going to make the most of it.

Love

kj