Wednesdays have produced a particular magic for me this summer and it is because the Sandwich, Mass Flea Market is how I start my day. The market is in full swing by 6am. They serve sausages and hot dogs because it’s lunch time for these folks by eight o’clock. Here are my treasures from the day: an unfinished rug (I think this will become an overnight bag with a wooden bottom and leather sides), some $1 jewelry, 3 cheese knives and a few paintbrushes. The flea market was fun but I needed adventure and exercise and some time alone.
I went out in my kayak alone for the first time. I left in midday sun (which I generally won’t due, but I needed to hit the tide right). I have the kayak on wheels so I can walk it the mile to a beach where I put in next to the Cape Cod Canal. It’s a great little beach for watching the boats come through the canal and an easy walk to Seafood Sam’s for fish bites.
I put in without a plan except that I wanted to be alone and I wanted to go far. The water was like glass. It was very calm and the bay was unusually clear…a magnificent color. I could see to the bottom for a majority of this journey. It was amazing to me with all of that clear water that I only saw a couple of crabs and seaweed. No fish. I suppose it had to do with the tide time.
My imagination runs wild when I’m out on the water alone with my thoughts. I thought about what I used to have to ask my son, Ellis when he was little, “Ellis, is that something that happened, or something you wish had happened?” He would think about it for a minute and then would say, “wish”. I get it. I really wish I had seen a humpback whale and a pirate ship on my trip. But, I just saw some people tubing, water skiing and enjoying themselves in the water or on the beach.
I made a deliberate attempt to talk to people along the way—in case I needed some help. I made myself known. I started hatching this plan to just keep going into Barnstable Harbor, get something to eat at the Mattakeese Wharf http://www.mattakeese.com/ and ask if I could get someone to tow me back to the Sandwich. I basically wanted to hitchhike back to Sandwich (either by water or land). When I got to Sandy Neck Beach which I estimate is about 6 miles (please e-mail me and correct me if I’m way off, my sea faring friends) the wind was coming up and I now had to face it all the way back to Sandwich and the canal entrance.
I had water, but it was running low. I was getting a rash on my legs from the wind and the salt. However, I was so damn proud that I pushed myself that much—I could hardly stop grinning. I was really wiped out by the time I pulled the boat back up the hill. I was so dehydrated that it took a while to get my “land legs” back. Water. Shower. Nap. Water.
At 48, with a newly discovered passion, I can’t even describe what I’m feeling.
Except I want everyone to feel this way sometime.
We all should get to feel really jazzed from learning something new.
I ended my day by attending a Bernie Sanders gathering in East Sandwich, Mass. Josh Hoxie, a Saint Michael’s College graduate who interned for Bernie in Vermont and then worked for him in DC for 3 years spoke before Bernie’s telecast message to the 3000 house parties happening around the country. I met some great people and had the opportunity to wear my old Bernie t-shirt from his VT Senate race.
I think it’s incredibly refreshing (regardless of your party) to hear a politician talk about getting things done. Bernie isn’t taking “Big Money”, he doesn’t have to check which way the wind blows to decide what his position is on any topic and he’s packing in huge crowds that the other candidates are dreaming of (or willing to pay for). Presidential election years are always interesting and this is starting out to be a grand one indeed. It’s going to be a wild 15 months in America.
