First post!

I am having so much fun already. My mom and dad drove me up in the pouring rain on Saturday afternoon, we dropped my stuff off where I'll be staying and met my landlady, and spent the night at Grandma's. They drove me back up Sunday morning.

My living situation is incredible. My landlady/housemate, Anne, is a kind middle aged woman who does energy therapy, Indian head massage, and elderly home care for a living. She lives in an old farmhouse inherited from her parents. The old house is beautiful (white with red and yellow trim!), lit with Christmas lights and candles and decorated with beautiful things. In two of the comfy chairs are Misty and Angel, the two affectionate cats. We compost (a nice break from city living) and use the outdoor shower. Anne often has the radio tuned to the Provincetown world music station (yesterday was all accordion!!!), and the TV (only for movies, no TV--yay!) is covered with a Batik cloth when not in use. My room is up the blue staircase. I have a very comfy king sized bed and nice windows with lots of sunlight. I have my own bathroom next door. There is a pretty rock garden in the front, and a nice backyard. I seriously lucked out.

In said backyard there is a guy camping. He moved in today, but I missed him and haven't met him yet. There is also a cottage in the backyard where Jamaicans will be living, starting next week. Anne has two kids, Sky (24) and Cedar (29), who live in the area.

We are wonderfully located: a five-minute bike ride/ten-minute walk (although I was walking very quickly last night when I timed it) from both downtown and the bay.

Onto what I've done!

Sunday:
My folks left Sunday morning, and I unpacked. Anne left, and I had a hilariously difficult time operating the old-fashioned wall-mounted can opener before heating up soup. I took a shower (indoors, since it was raining) and sat on the couch with a cup of tea. Misty, the mother cat, jumped down from her chair, walked across the room, jumped on the couch, and placed herself in my lap.

My cousin Luke, who lives in Wellfleet and made all this happen, along with Thea and Rachel (who had come this rainy weekend to tan before their wedding) stopped by. Then I saddled up and rode into town to check out the Flying Fish Café, where I will be working. I met a very nice co-worker, and learned that my reputation proceeded me when a local women heard me say my name and announced, "You're Luke's cousin! The accordion player!" I walked around town after this to explore. Wellfleet has a very cute downtown, with many restaurants and artsy stores. I went first to the Wellfleet Library, to get a library card and put my name in with the children's librarian about babysitting (Anne's great idea). Unfortunately it was closed, so I strolled around as long as I had a break in the rain. I had a lovely phone call with Sasha, and perused a book on Cape bike trips at a store while Sasha went on a subway and the call was lost temporarily.

I went into the Wellfleet Market and was moved to buy some Milanos. With my new biking information, I biked out of downtown and found Uncle Tim's Bridge . I walked my bike halfway down, sat on the railing, and admired the view as I ate milanos. It was very peaceful. I got back on my bike and headed home, via the pier. It was a cool scene, with lots of boats and Mack's Shack, the seafood restaurant where my backyard Jamaicans will be working.

I got home, snuggled up in bed, and read for awhile before falling asleep. This was a much-needed nap, since I didn't sleep well the week before with all the excitement about moving here. I woke up at 7:00, missed the chance of eating dinner with Anne, and made dinner. Around 8:30 Anne got in her jammies and put in a DVD of her choice TV show, and I left the house once again. My destination was the Lighthouse, and bar/restaurant where Luke works, where I would be watching the Celtics game. (I became a Celtics fan in the last week, and wouldn't dream of missing game five!) However, I decided to take the long way into town, to go by the water. It was a really nice night for walking, but it was a much longer route. I eventually made it into town and met some of Luke's friends over the Celtics [kick-ass] game. Afterwards I walked the ten-minute walk home. There are a few streetlights, which is nice, and Anne gave me a flashlight. Walking home after dark is a great way to begin bedtime, in my opinion. I slept very well on my HUGE bed.

Monday
I promise these posts won't always be this detailed. This morning I got up and made a big delicious breakfast. Unfortunately, I missed Anne. I was doing stuff in my room when the camper came, and by the time I went down to say hi, he was pulling out of the driveway. I was due to meet Lara, the manager of the café at noon, so I had some time. I decided to walk down to the bay. I had driven there with my parents on Sunday, and we had clocked it at 0.4 miles from my house. The roads are narrow and curvy, so walking is a little treacherous, but not so bad. I love walking in residential areas in the summer because everyone is out side. This morning's walk yielded great people-watching and the spotting of license plates of early vacationers from all over the place.

I left my shoes at the entrance to Power's Landing, the closest bay access. An elderly couple from Pennsylvania (if the car in the parking lot was theirs) sat in front of their easels, both painting the bay. I walked very slowly in front of them hoping to paintingbomb them. I had a lovely walk on the beach, avoiding many live crabs of every shape and size. When the time came I headed back home, regretted my sock/shoe choice due to the amount of sand on my wet feet. I packed a lunch (pb&j, banana, and two milanos) and got on my bike.

Note: my bike is awesome. I have my cousin Jim's old bike basket from his paper route days, compliments of Aunt Norma, a cool light from Aunt Laura and family, and a rear view mirror and bell from my dad. My bike was recently tuned up so it's in great shape. I am very much enjoying riding it and carrying around lots of stuff.

I took an alternate route to town this morning to avoid an intersection I don't like, I'm definitely sticking with the new way, since it brought me past many nicely decorated cottages, houses, and barns. Lara wasn't in, so I met with Rachel, the day manager. I learned that everyone starts as a barista, then depending on how I'm doing I'll move to the floor. I got my Flying Fish t-shirt and instructions to return at 7:00 am tomorrow to begin barista training with Emily, the very nice one I had met the previous day. I went to the library again, but it was still closed. Luckily I had brought my book, planning to set up somewhere for a leisurely afternoon. I parked my bike behind the town hall and found a bench. I observed a strange group of people who turned out to be photographers, models, agents, etc. from all over the world.

I ate my lunch and read my book, and people-watched quite a bit. There was a group of people on the grass behind me, one of whom I suspected to be Anne's son Cedar, recognizable from photos on the fridge. This was later confirmed, but I didn't speak to him. And old man, Bruce, came and sat next to me. We had a long conversation, and I couldn't access if he was a jolly, kind old man, or a crazy old man (not to generalize). We discussed the model group, and he said that they wanted to take pictures of him. In the relevant part of the conversation I disclosed that I had studied Psychology, and he asked me which type of Psychology he should use to get a young woman to move in with him. Hmm. He said that he had gone to the Beachcomber (restaurant/bar on the beach) the previous night to dance for the first time in five years. I asked what his plans for the afternoon were, and he said he was going to learn to grow food, since he has 230 acres in Canada. As quickly as the conversation started, he got up, said goodbye, and went on his way.

Luke happened to stroll by, so he took his spot next to me. I learned the Bruce is in fact a crazy old man. He was called the "White Devil" when he worked as a lawyer in the Virgin Islands. He built an addition on his house for which he didn't have a permit, and the Wellfleet authorities caught up with him. His reaction was to chain saw the addition in half. He is nicknamed "Chainsaw McGiver" in the town. Luke said that Bruce says he gets a sponge bath every Friday, whether he needs it or not. Luke was surprised that Bruce didn't directly invite me to his house. I of course would love to find a kind senior citizen to play Scrabble with, so I told Luke that Bruce wouldn't be the one. This decision inspired us to head to the Lighthouse and play Scrabble.

It was cool hanging out there with a Lighthouse worked who was off the clock. I felt like an insider, but also got to observe both restaurant workers and general Wellfleet clientele in preparation for my own employment. I re-met Justine, from Galway (I had met her briefly last visit) and met her two little children. We briefly talked babysitting. It was a worthy first Scrabble game of the season, although I had very few consonants, and the ones I had were very infrequently more than one point. I was dealt five As from the start.

Afterwards it was almost nap time for Luke (who works nights), so I headed home. I made some tea and spent this time researching bike routes. Bruce had told me that I could bike all the way to Provincetown mostly avoiding Route 6, so I checked out. I used Google Maps and made myself a very complicated route to Provincetown which did, in fact, mostly avoid 6. Because of all the backroads, it became an 18-mile trip one way, so I'll save that one for when I'm in better bike shape. A friend of Anne's came over, and we further discussed said bike routes. She informed me that I can get on Long Pond road, which leads to the ocean, without touching 6. I ran back upstairs and discovered that this is true. This is an excellent discovery, because Long Pond road leads to (A) Wellfleet Elementary School, where I can put an ad for babysitting, (B) Long Pond, and (C) Cahoon Hollow Beach. It's 3.5 miles to the beach from my house, which is nothing. This ride is on the agenda for Wednesday.

I also researched biking to Grandma's in Brewster. This also seems doable, since I can ride most of it on the Cape Cod Rail Trail. There is a little Route 6 (0.2 miles) which I'm not looking forward to. This would be a 16 mile ride, which I'm up for since I can then spend the night at the other end.

That brings us up to speed! I'm planning on being in bed early tonight, since I have my first 7:00 AM start tomorrow. Around 7:30 or 8:00 I'll stroll down to the bay (hopefully with Anne) in better shoes to walk. I'm planning on making burritos tonight, so I might bike (or walk) into town right now to buy an onion and a bottle of wine.

Thanks for reading!