Second Post

I'm sleepy from so much activity, so I've settled into a low-key night, which includes updating this here blog.

Wrapping up Monday:
I posted the last entry then went downstairs. Who should I find at the kitchen table but Sky, Anne's 24-year-old daughter. She's super cool! Definitely friend potential. She lives in South Wellfleet, but comes by not infrequently. She went to a school on long island where she constantly studied abroad, finishing with three years in Denmark. We compared study abroad experiences.

I went into town for an onion and bottle of wine, and came home and made burritos. I missed Liz and Sasha a lot, my burrito night buddies. I had some trouble opening the wine: I found a corkscrew right where I would expect it. It was a basic one where you have to yank the cork out yourself. I got it in, realized I had never used one of these before, and could not for the life of me get the cork out. I'll blame the fake plasticky cork, also my broken arm (I've extended the year of healing to when I started physical therapy, not a year from when I broke it to maximize radial scapegoat capabilities). Anne wasn't around, so I couldn't ask if there was another one.

I decided that I could either keep trying, get frustrated, pull muscles, and ultimately not get any wine, or I could meet some neighbors! I put some shoes on and went door to door, wine in hand. I amused myself relating my trick-or-treating insight into this situation. The houses that I would associate with good candy in my trick-or-treating days were also the ones I chose to knock on. The fourth house I tried proved successful. It was the summer home of Ed and Marjorie Chambers, an elderly couple hailing from Florida in the off-season. Mrs. Chambers opened the door, smiled, and said, "You never know what to expect when someone comes to your door with a bottle of wine." I explained the dilemma, and Mr. Chambers not only got the fish-shaped corkscrew out but opened the bottle for me while his wife and I chatted. I learned that she used to play cards with Anne's parents, back when they lived in our house, in the cottage in the backyard long into the night. I also learned that her grandson likes to frequent the Flying Fish, but that they feel the pizza is too expensive. They still get takeout sometimes. They bade me farewell, agreeing that it was a great way to get the neighbors.

This was such a nice interaction, and it reminded me that you have to put yourself out there and take direct action if you want to meet people and have things happen. I had a nice glass of wine at home, did the dishes, and got ready for my twilight stroll to the bay beach. It is a nice, short walk to Power's Landing, where there was a beautiful sunset. All the purple shit (as a "gangsta" kid in my ninth grade English class once described twilight) was reflected in the low tide puddles, and the few sailboats were leaning as the sand boosted them up. I have no idea why I didn't bring my camera. I promise I'll bring it next time. Unfortunately it was very buggy, so I didn't stay long. I went to bed early that night, getting ready for my first work morning. Angel the cat came to bed with me, so we got to do a ceremonial de-ticking before turning the light off.

Tuesday:
My first day at the Flying Fish! I woke up at 5:42 by the nice sunlight. The early morning is just so peaceful and beautiful. The first joggers were up while I biked to work. I was trained by Emily, a Wellfleet native who just graduated from UMass Amherst. Fancy that. She's super nice, and is going into Elementary education. Hopefully she'll be my friend too! At the Fish one gets trained as a barista first, then moves onto the floor. The barista job entails making café drinks and dishing out beautiful baked goods. This part opens a whole hour before breakfast, so I had lots to do at first. I made several lattes (so much fun!), several smoothies, etc. Once breakfast started there were much fewer people just in for my stuff, so Emily did much more than I. It was a little frustrating, because I thought I was ready to start some order-taking. I kept myself busy busing tables, refilling the coffee pots, getting ice, etc. I had a friendly sports debate with some of the Jamaican cooks.

The food looked amazing, so I was very happy when, after the breakfast rush, Emily instructed me to order breakfast, explaining that we get a shift meal. I had a delicious egg sandwich with avocado (Emily's recommendation) and homefries. During the lunch shift I learned to roll the silverware into the fancy rolls they do. Bruce (the old man) came in for a cup of coffee and to read his book in the early afternoon. The previous day he had told me that he brings his reusable cup in and gets coffee for $1.00. It turned out his "reusable" cup is simply a standard Flying Fish paper to-go cup that he has chosen to reuse many times. Sad.

I got out of work at 2:30ish, and planned to go to the library. Bruce left as I did, and, as Luke predicted, invited me to go to his house sometime for a cup of coffee or glass of wine. Don't worry, Mom, I will not go. He said he was going to the library to renew his book. I decided to alter my plans a little. I sat on a bench and checked my phone. I got the most amazing text in history from Sasha. I'm not going to share what it said, but I'm including this to remember it when I read over these posts in the future. I was broadly smiling the rest of the day thinking about it.

Oh, also at work that morning, I met Cedar, Anne's son. He paid for his coffee with a fifty dollar bill.

I waited ample time while reading my book ("Accordion Crimes" by Annie Proulx, by the way) then headed to the library. I goals were twofold: to (1) get a library card, and (2) talk to Martha, the children's librarian, about babysitting. Martha is the mother of Luke's coworker Sam, and the link to Anne. She is responsible for my housing. Anne recommended talking to her about babysitting, because many families in town with kids ask her for local babysitters. She wasn't in, but I got her card and I talked to another nice librarian. This one saw on my form that I'm from Leverett, and revealed that she used to live in Shutesbury. Crazy! While I was there I poked around and saw that the library has an extensive DVD collection, which is good news. I also saw that they have my book, which takes some pressure off. It's a library book from home, so I was going to try to finish it by the time my parents come in two weeks to send it home with them.

I've lost my concentration, so I'll finish this later. But a little preview of the excitement to come: Thursday I'm going up to Provincetown for the first time! I'll get my street musician's permit and play! Friday I'm biking to Grandma's in Brewster for dinner and rented movie with her, laundry, and errands. Saturday I'm meeting up with my aunt/uncle/cousins (Laura, Alex, Hannah and Ben) and hanging out and spending the night when them on Pochet Island, where my family stays in August. Uncle Alex and I will get up early Sunday morning to get me back in time for my second day of work. I'm really looking forward to spending time with people I know well, since I'm putting on appearances (right expression?) here since everyone is new to me.

'Til next time.