Respite 2

Respite. Rest. Get-away. A break.  It was only a day and a half but I felt rejuvenated from the quick trip to (fill in the blank but this time it was Truro).

The clear view to the ocean from my friend’s deck high in the hills surrounded by and looking down on tree tops is imprinted in my brain. The vastness and enveloping darkness of the night sky so different from the city-sky.  We turn the house lights off and I am invisible on the deck.  Part of the universe.  A tiny part. It takes seconds for my eyes to adjust and then gradually stars come into view.  Only a few are visible at first, then, as my eyes adjust, I see hundreds of them, flickering in and out.  Look, there’s   the Milky Way and over there’s the Big Dipper…wait, was that a shooting star?

There’s a choice of walks – to the bay, the lighthouse, the shore (where we saw seals, seals and, for emphasis I’ll say again, more seals); through the woods to a pond carpeted with lily pads; or down the road to the ice cream parlor.  Even the climb up the steep hill back to the house, while challenging, feels better somehow the same sort of hill in the city, because of the reward at the crest of the view and the lush garden with apples/peppers/squash/tomatoes/beans and glorious flowers on the side of the driveway.

Thanks goodness for the generosity of friends who share their homes and their plenty. (Thank you FS & MM.)

Another friend has a weekend/vacation home in Vermont.  The setting is fairly isolated. Moose, deer an occasional bear and fox have been sighted from the wrap-around porch.  The house has grown over the last couple of decades from a simple tent, to a one-room cabin with loft to a full house with multiple bedrooms and a great room that the children have helped fund.

I love the density, activity and noise of the city – except when I don’t.  Having a place to escape that is also a home base for your family – what a wonderful gift/proud accomplishment!  This is what people who are always bound to the city, to one neighborhood miss out on. (Some people live lives so restricted they might as well be on a compound – sometimes by choice, sometimes by circumstance.)

Having regular respite – opportunities to get away and connect with yourself, your family and friends, Mother Earth in her splendor, is just what I and other city-dwellers need.

On the visit to Truro, we three visiting friends pitched in and helped whenever our host would let us.  She enjoys cooking and so she prepared fresh, simple and flavorful food filled with colors of the veggies from her garden (allowing us to treat her for only one meal).

It was a slice of perfection.  A heavenly haven on earth.  I hope one day that my family will possess such a space where the kinfolks from far and wide can gather. I promise to be a warm and generous host when that happens and pay forward and back the generosity shared with me.

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