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).

cape cod arm mages

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,beach images 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).

respiteIt 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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About Candelaria Silva

Candelaria Silva-Collins is a marketing, community outreach and programming consultant; writer; and trainer/facilitator who lives in Boston, Massachusetts. She has designed and facilitated workshops on a wide variety of topics including communication, facilitation, job search skills, team building, and parenting issues. She currently coordinates the Community Membership Program of the Huntington Theatre Company. Her work as Director of ACT Roxbury was profiled in several publications, including The Creative Communities Builders Handbook. Candelaria’s children’s stories, short stories, essays and reviews have been published in local and national publications and she is an active blogger. Her publications include the booklets, Handling Rejection; Pushing through Shyness: Networking Tips when You’re Shy, Slow to Warm Up or Just don’t Feel you Belong; and Real Questions about Sex & Relationships for Teens: A Discussion Guide for Parents. She has served on the boards of Goddard College, Wheelock Family Theatre, Boston Foundation for Architecture, and Discover Roxbury. She is currently Chair, Designators of the Henderson Foundation.

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2 thoughts on “Respite

  • Donna Glick

    Dear Candelaria, When you get your place, can I sign up for the first visitors’ weekend?!! Thanks for your sharing and insights. I think my blood pressure reduced just reading your blog.

    Donna