Rhode Island Snapshots

— Huge full moon over the ocean. Massive swells coming onto the rocks. Silver moon-path trembling in the water.

— Talking with my dad in the living room about all kinds of topics. I came into the room at one point, and Victor Davis Hanson was on Book TV, being interviewed, and I bombarded my dad with an embarrassing amount of biographical information about Hanson. I knew WAY too much about him.

— Grey and brown landscape. A snow-chill in the air.

— Sitting in the kitchen with my mom, watching the birds have a feast at the bird feeder. I could sit there and watch them all day. The nuthatch walking head-first down the tree trunk. Their little bird eyeballs staring in the kitchen window at us as they peck for their food. The shy ground-feeding cardinal, holding back in a nearby bush, waiting until the coast was clear. My mother said, at one point, “See the cardinal? He’s waiting.” I looked out the window. Couldn’t see him. Everything brown, dried up, wintry. My mother said, “He’s in that bush by the path…” I leaned forward 2 more inches, and boom – there he was. Fire-engine red, chubby, sitting in the middle of a bare brown bush, strategizing his move to the bird feeder. A blazing red flash of color, like a flag in the middle of the dullness.

— Moonlight so bright that the trees cast shadows on the lawn. You could have read by the light of the moon.

— Stopped off at the local 2nd hand bookstore, one of my normal pitstops. Found a tiny battered Book of Common Prayer, (an old one, not revised into modern PC language) – with someone’s notes in the margins. Also, my favorite part, there were three silk ribbons, used as bookmarks, attached to the spine of the book. At the bottom of each of the ribbons was a small metal charm – one was a heart, one a cross, and one an anchor. Faith, Hope, Charity. This purchase was 3 bucks, but I considered it a small treasure.

— My mother and I went to watch my sister teach a class. Jean teaches at a middle school. She is known as “Miss O’Malley”. My mother and I sat in the back, and watched my sister teach. They were learning about topic sentences, and constructing papers. They are junior high kids. Everyone has braces. The main thing I noticed was the boys: some boys are like little Hobbits, 3 feet tall, with small squeaky voices. They are still little boys. Other boys are big tall strapping 5’9 figures, with deep voices. And yet, inside, they are only 12 years old. The horrors of adolescence. But I was very moved, sitting in the back, watching all these kids listening to my sister, turning around to smile shyly at us in the back on occasion. Hands up in the air, little voices saying, “Oh! Oh! Miss O’Malley!” Heartcrack. Very proud of my sister. She’s a born teacher. They all seemed like very good kids, too. When my mother and I walked in, “Miss O’Malley” introduced us, and literally, they all waved, smiled, and said, “Hi!” I could write a whole post about watching my sister teach.

— Evening spent with “Miss O’Malley”. We went to the Bon Vue. (Or, as it is known to the college kids who frequent the joint: “The Bon Zoo”.) A big rambling bar, right on the beach. Because it’s spring break, and I live in a university town, the “Zoo” was dead. Nobody was there. Jean and I had a great night. Talking, talking, talking, talking. It was wonderful. And we also sweet-talked the “DJ” (although he balked at that title) to play exactly what we told him to. I gave him a list, ticking it off my fingers, and he nodded, shortly, after each request. “Eminem. Nirvana. Metallica. Foo Fighters.” Jean chimed in: “Craig David.” For the rest of the night, we had our own personal Music Manager. As we talked about everything under the sun.

— I slept until 11:30. This is positively unheard of behavior.

— I did not emerge from my pajamas that first day until 2 pm.

— Evening gathering at my friend Mere’s house. The high school gang. Wine. Sushi. Calzones. Wheat Thins. What more can one ask. Mere, Betsy, Beth, and Michele. We sat in Mere’s living room, we drank, we ate. At one point (guys, if you’re reading this, it’s the “Bone and Cave” moment) I was literally choking with laughter, tears on my face. I was still laughing about “Bone and Cave” the next morning. Don’t know if I can really describe the joke – but trust me – we all LOST it. We had all wanted to get together because of the recent unthinkable tragedy of our friend Glenda. Some of us knew her, some of us did not, Michele knew her better than all of us … but when something as awful as that happens, it is a shock of reality. We wanted to be together. I have the best friends in the world.

— Morning with the parents. Watching the birds. Endless fascination.

— Drove down to the infamous Ocean Mist, where Jean (“Miss O’Malley”) was working. The rickety shack bar on stilts, leaning into the ocean. A beach hang-out. Everyone goes there for brunch on Sunday mornings. Standing on the windy deck, holding Bloody Marys, (garnished with huge celery stalks and a shrimp) looking out at the ocean, the waves rolling right beneath the deck. As I walked down the street to get to “the Mist”, I actually could feel the pounding of the surf in the ground (like that scene in Jurassic Park, when they can feel the T-Rex coming.) I could feel the impact of the ocean in the earth.

— I slept like a rock my entire time home. 8 or 9 hours a night. Unheard of.

— Sad news: Bess Eaton Coffee (the best coffee in the world – don’t argue with me – I don’t want to hear it) has been bought out by Dunkin Donuts. This is a tragedy. I hate it when that happens. I need to stock up on Bess Eaton coffee for the inevitable day.

— I managed to find the time to curl up in an armchair for a good hour or so and just read. Asked my mom questions about her visit to Monticello, because I remembered her raving about it to me.

— Just want to say this right here and now: My friends are the best. I thank God for them every day. My family is the best, too. I thank God for them every day.

My thoughts and prayers are with the parents of my childhood friend Glenda, who must be experiencing a horror right now I cannot imagine. I am a lucky woman. I would say that I was blessed.