Cape Cod Day 1
Posted By Kathleen David on August 20, 2007
I will be the first to admit that this was not my best packing job. Various things distracted me and a few vital things did not make it with us up to Cape Cod. Fortunately we are in Cape Cod not outer Mongolia so a quick trip to a couple of chain stores and we had what we need for the week.
The people running the writers conference are really nice. They have put together an impressive group of professionals to teach various topics that all have to do with writing. Peter is teaching a course on writing comics. He has his class stuff ready to go. Ariel is doing a poetry workshop with other kids around her age. I am going to get cracking on the dollies I want to make. Caroline is going to do what Caroline does best, enjoy the world and her place in it.
The word rustic comes to mind when I try to describe this place. It reminds me of various summer camps and a couple of retreats I have been on. There is no TV and the internet connection is in only one of the buildings. So my distractions have decreased quite a bit. Today I got some of the materials that I forgot for my dolls. Tomorrow I plan to spend some time constructing them. I have a couple of great quiet places to go and sculpt for the next couple of days.
This place also reminds me a lot of my grandmother’s farm that I probably have the strongest memories of out of all my siblings. It was nowhere near the sea but there is still a smell in the air that harkens me back to the farm. The place we are staying has a certain smell that also reminds me of the farm. There is also a clock in our kitchen that I can hear the tick of when I lay down in my bed. I could always wake up on the farm and listen for the sound of a clock ticking.
Also the glasses we have are just like the ones up on the farm. Every time I take a sip of water, I remember the rules for water at Grandma’s that I learned at a young age. Never drink the tap water. The drinking water comes from the well and you have to have an adult use a specific ladle to pour a glass for you. The water bucket always had a towel over it to keep the bugs out of it. I can remember when I finally was strong enough to pump water from the well. That was a personal triumph for me.
Caroline is having a blast. There is this foldout chair that turns into a bed that she is using for her bed. (Like the blue chair you had/have Sheila.) She has figured out that she could put it into quite a few configurations and which of the configurations are practical.
We couldn’t convince her to go to the beach today but considering all the traveling she was doing, I can’t really blame her for wanting to stay in one place for a bit. I think we are going to convince her to go with us tomorrow. We have a private beach to use which is a really nice set up. Between that and the meals, this feels like summer camp for adults but in a good way.
I am grateful for my found memories of my time on the farm.
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