when running away know how to get there and how to get back (and pack lunch)
 
for the first time in almost 3 years, james and i will be departing for our beloved cape cod. life and responsibilities have kept us away for far too long. as you can see, everyone is packed and ready to roll. all week we’ve been anticipating our trip like little kids at christmas. it feels like going home. since we have an alarm system and a house minder, i’ve no real feelings of concern about leaving our home. the store however is another matter. of all the things about the store, leaving it completely in the hands of someone else is a bit of a stretch. james says i worry too much about everything. true, but i know that wade and sarah will do a great job keeping the store on track, and though this is a good deal of responsibility to heave on anyone’s shoulders, i have to let go sometime. it is after all soap, not brain surgery. the cape has been my home away from home and refuge for many years. from the time ricky was just a pup, he and drifter made the ride with me several times throughout the year. it didn’t matter if it was summer or winter, they knew the signals from my preparations and their excitement was maddening. every time i would go toward the door they would go berserk. barking and running as if at any moment we would be cape bound and they in turn would be free. emily and henry (our twin cairn terriers pictured in life vests) have yet to experience the longest ride of their lives. the freedom of our private beach, the lazy afternoons in the fresh salt air and unfettered access to the water will forever change them. they know from ricky’s behavior that something’s up but they have no frame of reference. they say dogs don’t have concept of time. they do however have sense memory. each year as we drive past the salt marshes on the outskirts of truro and begin to make the turn toward provincetown center, the car fills with the pungent marsh air. as if on cue, ricky jumps up, tail wagging furiously and paws at the window, crying to jump out. disney it’s not, but for this dog, it continues to be the happiest place on earth. i hope the twins find the same sense of excitement on future treks. james will spend most days biking the trails and flying his kite interspersed with plenty of fetch in the moors with the dogs, and alone time with me. i will sit and blissfully read until my eyes hurt, forgetting one hundred thousand little things that beg my attention. though much is planned, little will be accomplished. our beach shack seems to be the only place where nothing really matters except for the creatures and the one i hold most dear. it never fails to be both a great deal of fun and an extreme amount of rest. i do however have one detail, one piece of business that has been awaiting my return to provincetown. on a quiet night before sunset, i’ll go far out into the bay with drifter’s ashes and let her drift down and out with the tide. this small, simple gesture will forever bind her to the place she loved, where she lives in my memory still young and filled with joy. and so the trip that james and i have been awaiting all year, our holiday in the place we hope someday to call home, the place of our marriage, continuing courtship and blessed respite will begin in just a few hours. the ungodly drive will take at the very least eight hours. thank goodness i packed a lunch, james has his ipod and we have tranquilizers for the dogs.
Friday, August 8, 2008