Thursday 13: Mish Mash Vacation

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How fast can three and a half weeks go?
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This is my last few days in Provincetown. We leave on Sunday. What an interesting time. Time alone. Time with JB. Time with friends. Time at the sea. Time in the sun. Time on the couch. Time on the streets.
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I'll let this week's Thursday 13 catch you up:

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1.

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The Butts

Don't ask me why, but this picture makes me laugh. Maybe you had to be there to see the wiggles, especially from that certain doll in the yellow dress.

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2.

The Light

Here in Cape Cod and the Islands, the light is like no where else. It doesn't just reflect: it bounces. I took this just after sunrise.
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3.

The Poet

I hadn't been here two days before I became intoxicated by knowing there are locally signed Mary Oliver books at the Provincetown Book Store. I have bought three. One is currently earmarked for a special friend who I think will be willing to send me one of her unsigned (but touched and lived in) Mary Oliver books IF I send her one of my signed Mary Oliver books. I'll be happy with the deal.

4.

The Tall Ship

The Kalmar Nyckel sailed into Provincetown Harbor last week and is here until August 29th. It is a replica of a tall ship built in 1625 to serve the Swedish Navy and later take settlers to America. JB and I are not going to have the time to take the three hour sail it offers, but I kinda wish we could/would/should.

5.

The Seagull

I've already posted about seeing a glorious ocean sunrise. But did I add that when we got to the beach (a bit of a downward hike), my friend Liz saw these and said "Oh! Turkeys!" She quickly corrected such an uniformed identification and instead said, "Vultures!"

6.

The Men

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Some things I don't have pictures for. Like this: JB & I are walking back home the night of the Carnival Parade. 75,000 people came into this little town for this most outrageous parade, and into the night there was festivity and abandon on the streets.
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So we're walking up Court Street and these three guys are in front of us, very drunk. They are all tall. The one in closest to me says something like, "How are you, bitch?" and for a millisecond I freeze, on alert, until I remember I am in Provincetown. Provincetown is a safe place. I often don't lock our doors. So I stare him down and I say, "You're calling me a bitch?!" and he immediately gets embarrassed, "Oh my God," he says in an exaggerated and drunken slur, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean it."
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The guys proceed to invite us for drinks (we decline) while trying to pick up a small Brazilian man who is walking by. (I rescue him and he thanks me, we both shake our heads and laugh).
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This is Provincetown. If there is danger here, I'm glad I don't know about it.
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7.

The Sharks

Sharks have been spotted within a mile of shore at Race Point and Head of the Meadow beaches. Yesterday a seal was killed by a great white. So this is no fooling around. I'm told the beach(es) where we go is safe, but this is my extent of coming face to face with a great white shark.

8.

The Tarot

To ask the right question is already

half the solution of a problem. Carl Jung

I have an extensive collection of tarot books. My Mother bought me a James Bond Tarot deck when I was (probably) in middle school, and I read and actually trust the cards, most of the time. At the last YART art fair in our side yard, I charged $ 2 for a three card reading and I made $ 66 dollars. I was exhausted.

I bought this little reference book a few weeks ago and I so recommend it. If you don't know the tarot, and want to, this will be a good start. And if you already know what each of the cards mean, I think you will find interesting interpretations.

9.

The Breast

Hahaha, I offer this without comment for your possible artistic enjoyment.

10.

The Women

So JB and Anne and I are having coffee in a small very cozy general store here in town. It has been pouring all day and we are soaked. Two women walk in and they are even more soaked, they are drenched. They are both in their seventies. We make small talk with them about the rain and they tell us they have just arrived from Minneapolis. They are here to get married (Massachusetts in one of a small number of states that allows gay marriage.)

They are so excited. They ask if they can order a wedding cake at this general store and JB and I tell them yes, but they should also consider Connie's coconut cake (I bow to this cake). I have noticed in the very back of the store, near the bathrooms, there is one remaining bride-bride cake topping--those plastic little dolls that you see at weddings. I ask the women to wait and I go get it and buy it for them. I say, "Congratulations on your marriage" and they say, "This is our first wedding gift." The whole exchange was very sweet.

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11.
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The Dove

I should look up what it means when a dove appears. This afternoon, after the beach and before the outside dinner at Bubulas, where we have local mussels served in a sausage and cream sauce, JB and i are having drinks on our tiny roof deck when this dove lands and stays on the roof next door. I am totally willing to take this as a good sign. I don't even need to know the details.

12.

The Hearts

And more signs today. Thanks to Robyn ♥, I now look for hearts everywhere. But these two found me: one in front of the incoming tides and one lying by my blanket. No problem, I accept these signs too.

13.

The Collection

Mr. Ryan, seen here watching ScoobyDo (surely I should know how to spell this), gleefully gathered stones and shells from the beach and bay, carefully putting them in a green plastic strainer and a blue plastic pail, and calling it all his 'collection.' Which I guess is no great shakes except that he is only three, and I thought use of that word was a pretty sophisticated word for his little age.
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So will anyone join me in doing a Thursday 13? This week or next? Who cares if it's a day or so late? :)
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I will be making a not-minor transition in a few days: back home, different season, a return to chores, a return to work. It's been a good few weeks. There is still a little more to wring out and savor.

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Love

kj