Catching up More

I really have to write nightly, it's so easy to get behind!

Wednesday:
Last Wednesday was a day of exploring, sun, and loneliness. Being my first "day off," I went on a bike expedition to seek water. I discovered Long Pond Road which has an overpass over Rte. 6 and leads directly to Ocean View Rd., which seemed promising for achieving my goal of viewing the ocean. Long Pond Road also passes Long Pond. I stopped for a swim. The Cape ponds are really nice; this is one of many with a sandy beach, picnic tables, a raft, etc. I was thus submerged in water outdoors for the first time of the year. I continued on and ended up at Cahoon Hollow Beach. The dunes have been completely eroding, so they've built a new parking area very far above the beach, and haven't yet built a way to get down, so people were holding each other and sliding all around as they conquered the dunes.

Once down, I deemed the water too cold to go in (laaaaame) so I set up on my towel and read my book for a while. I also discovered the amazingness that is Bitch Magazine, thanks to my friend Mary who gave me her collection for the summer. Check it out. Anyway, I started to feel lonely at this point, because the afternoon was dwindling and I hadn't talked to a single human being all day. Everyone else was there with other people, and it was painfully clear to me that I didn't have any friends yet here. I have Luke, but the circumstances are unideal for our hanging out since I work early breakfast shifts and he works late bar shifts so our sleep schedules are pretty much opposites. I had met a few of Luke's friends at Celtics games at his bar, and I had met a couple of my co-workers, but nothing seemed promising.

I biked home, not planning to stop, but I passed Long Pond again and it looked so nice, so I doubled back for another swim. I'm very glad I did, because in the water I encountered a very chatty five-year-old. She was fascinated by the extra layer of fabric on my bathing suit and impressed by the fact that I had biked all the way there. She proceeded to show me a series of swimming tricks, which inspired a few other kids to come show me their tricks as well. They compared wiggly teeth and how old they were when they started swimming, determined to one-up each other on all accounts. This was really comforting, since it counted as a social interaction which boosted my morale a bit, and also confirmed that I wasn't actually invisible. I talked to the moms of two kids (who had traveled as a pack from Cleveland, as Carly, the little girl, had told me) which was really nice as well. Simply exchanging words for a few minutes with warm smiles abound can do so much for the soul, even if it's with complete strangers. This also reminded me of the lesson I learned with the corkscrew incident where I met the great neighbors: you have to put yourself out there to get these nice interactions and to meet people. If I hadn't decided it was worth redoing the hill on my bike that I had already done when I decided to swim again, I wouldn't have had this nice social interaction.

I didn't want to go quite home yet, so I biked the long way, towards the Wellfleet pier, planning to stop and watch boats for a bit. Once there I decided to call my friend Mary. Despite the fact that I chose the windiest place in town to call her, and she could hear the wind louder than I could through the phone, we had a lovely call. Mary just moved to New York where she has a "real world" job. It's interesting that a month ago we were in the same place doing the exact same thing, but now our daily routine is so different. Mary wears nice clothes and rides the subway to the office after saying goodbye to her 20-something housemates. I put on a bathing suit and sometimes shorts, say bye to fifty-something Anne, and bike to water's edge. Regardless of the differences, it's comforting to be reminded that so many people are starting new things, having to meet people and do things differently. I can't allow myself to feel lonely due to the mere fact that so many others feel as I do. I also discovered once again the very potent therapeutic activity of hearing loved ones' laughs. I can text my friends and do Facebook stuff, but when it comes down to it, hearing laughter I've heard for years has more power to brighten one's day than anything in the world. Except maybe ducklings.

Anyway, I felt much better after both meeting Carly and her family and talking to Mary, and continued home, thinking of what to do the next day. I was bummed that "the Flex," the amazing Cape Cod bus I'll tell you about soon didn't start until the next week. I went on the website to see if there was any other bus, and realized that I had misinterpreted the "summer service starts on June 21st" announcement. It didn't not run until then, it simply changed it's schedule. Score. I decided to follow my dream and go to Provincetown the next day with my accordion in hand. I spent the evening getting ready: playing a few songs to see what was ready, making a set list, setting up my Facebook fan page, and making a sign to put in my case, directing folks to said fan page. It was a day of mixed emotions, but it ended with pure excitement.