A Little Piece of Provincetown
A Little Piece of Provincetown…
I am sitting on my porch with the bay to my back and the ocean dunes towering over roads with houses that are cleverly nested in their path. It is early morning and most are still safely tucked in their beds under several layers as the chilling breeze blows by me.
Locals deliver linens and the fresh catch of the day; take their daily walks knowing that they will be discarding their sweatshirts later as the sun warms their faces. Dogs of all sizes seem to be the pet of choice. They take them everywhere, walks, runs, work and home again. No cats. Maybe they are hiding independently in their warm beds. There must be cats, there are lesbians. After all, this IS Provincetown.
As soon as the ground permits it there are plantings of almost anything that flowers to brighten their days because they have lived through the winter by the hope of what comes. There is a celebratory attitude because they have endured therefore they are appreciative of the warmth, the sun blessing their bodies and creating the setting for fellowship and prosperity.
Living in a tourism delight is challenging enough for locals for all the normal reasons. Add the extreme winters with billowing freezing winds as well as ice and snow, the wet cold that goes through every bone in your body without cognizance of your frame or age, the distance to anything that might make you forget that there are months to go before you will see everyone again and you have a dismal recipe for living.
Depression often sets in with the cold. Finances can dip with the temperature. Weekly pot-luck dinners become an alternative to lying on the couch of an expensive psychiatrist and a way to make sure that everyone is still good at least a week at a time. Acquaintances become friends, friends become family and all the locals know one another sometimes better than themselves.
When spring arrives it is like a shot of adrenaline, a ray of sun is a ray of hope. Everyone prepares for the summer feasts. The streets will be filled with artists of all kinds some much more talented than others, some selling some buying. Shoppers buy to fill their closets or get that perfect gift for someone special or that need to fill their stores with enticing temptations. Sightseers are hoping for that one photo that could win a contest if they would only enter it, the vacation they will remember forever or at least a day get-a-way from their realities. Whale-watchers are returning to see more of those wondrous mammals or first-timers because it is the thing to do. Persons prepare to serve or taste delicacies from the simplest morsel to an entrée unique to this locale and the palate. And then those of us that are seeking the freedom for which this little town is known.
We walk the streets hand in hand knowing that we will be protected by those fine officers in blue representing the very essence of this town’s foundation and beliefs. Shape, color and certainly sexual preferences or for that matter, sexual delights are all aglow on these wondrous secure streets.
What began as an art colony giving brilliant unique individuals even then not well understood a safe harbor to produce their talents unencumbered is now home to many, even if only for a week. Our hope is that when we go home we will be greeted with the same open arms and though for most of us we know that is not true, at least the sweet taste of what it should be will hold us through another year until we return.
We dream that someday we will stay longer or even live here. Are we willing to endure the cold for the warmth, the overcrowded summers for the peaceful springs, the financial roller-coaster that causes many persons to work 2 or 3 jobs in the summer? Whether we can say “yes” to this or not, it is still a haven because it is closer to what life should be like all year round, in all towns in all states and particularly the state of mind.
Straight, gay, transgender, bi, persons of color – any color, from other countries or other continents, or whatever label we seem to fit best should be able to be ourselves without the strain of defense or explanation – or the fear of being compromised by someone who does not feel the same way we do. We should be free as the running stallions no man tries to break.
We are closer to this state of tolerance than we were before and if we can take a piece of this State, this town, Provincetown, home with us maybe we can plant the seeds that will flower the best for everyone. See their beauty, smell their fragrance, feel their petals and the warmth of the soil surrounding them…that can be us.
PD Morford 07.09.09
I am sitting on my porch with the bay to my back and the ocean dunes towering over roads with houses that are cleverly nested in their path. It is early morning and most are still safely tucked in their beds under several layers as the chilling breeze blows by me.
Locals deliver linens and the fresh catch of the day; take their daily walks knowing that they will be discarding their sweatshirts later as the sun warms their faces. Dogs of all sizes seem to be the pet of choice. They take them everywhere, walks, runs, work and home again. No cats. Maybe they are hiding independently in their warm beds. There must be cats, there are lesbians. After all, this IS Provincetown.
As soon as the ground permits it there are plantings of almost anything that flowers to brighten their days because they have lived through the winter by the hope of what comes. There is a celebratory attitude because they have endured therefore they are appreciative of the warmth, the sun blessing their bodies and creating the setting for fellowship and prosperity.
Living in a tourism delight is challenging enough for locals for all the normal reasons. Add the extreme winters with billowing freezing winds as well as ice and snow, the wet cold that goes through every bone in your body without cognizance of your frame or age, the distance to anything that might make you forget that there are months to go before you will see everyone again and you have a dismal recipe for living.
Depression often sets in with the cold. Finances can dip with the temperature. Weekly pot-luck dinners become an alternative to lying on the couch of an expensive psychiatrist and a way to make sure that everyone is still good at least a week at a time. Acquaintances become friends, friends become family and all the locals know one another sometimes better than themselves.
When spring arrives it is like a shot of adrenaline, a ray of sun is a ray of hope. Everyone prepares for the summer feasts. The streets will be filled with artists of all kinds some much more talented than others, some selling some buying. Shoppers buy to fill their closets or get that perfect gift for someone special or that need to fill their stores with enticing temptations. Sightseers are hoping for that one photo that could win a contest if they would only enter it, the vacation they will remember forever or at least a day get-a-way from their realities. Whale-watchers are returning to see more of those wondrous mammals or first-timers because it is the thing to do. Persons prepare to serve or taste delicacies from the simplest morsel to an entrée unique to this locale and the palate. And then those of us that are seeking the freedom for which this little town is known.
We walk the streets hand in hand knowing that we will be protected by those fine officers in blue representing the very essence of this town’s foundation and beliefs. Shape, color and certainly sexual preferences or for that matter, sexual delights are all aglow on these wondrous secure streets.
What began as an art colony giving brilliant unique individuals even then not well understood a safe harbor to produce their talents unencumbered is now home to many, even if only for a week. Our hope is that when we go home we will be greeted with the same open arms and though for most of us we know that is not true, at least the sweet taste of what it should be will hold us through another year until we return.
We dream that someday we will stay longer or even live here. Are we willing to endure the cold for the warmth, the overcrowded summers for the peaceful springs, the financial roller-coaster that causes many persons to work 2 or 3 jobs in the summer? Whether we can say “yes” to this or not, it is still a haven because it is closer to what life should be like all year round, in all towns in all states and particularly the state of mind.
Straight, gay, transgender, bi, persons of color – any color, from other countries or other continents, or whatever label we seem to fit best should be able to be ourselves without the strain of defense or explanation – or the fear of being compromised by someone who does not feel the same way we do. We should be free as the running stallions no man tries to break.
We are closer to this state of tolerance than we were before and if we can take a piece of this State, this town, Provincetown, home with us maybe we can plant the seeds that will flower the best for everyone. See their beauty, smell their fragrance, feel their petals and the warmth of the soil surrounding them…that can be us.
PD Morford 07.09.09
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