The pleasure of my company

When you take yourself on vacation, you had better enjoy the pleasure of your own company.  There is a lot of time to think thoughts both big and small.  I live inside my head a lot, and I can usually entertain myself pretty well.

Here’s a brief glimpse into my adventures and the weird world inside my head…

Saturday, I took a road trip to Hyannis.  It was a partly sunny / partly cloudy day and a nice one for shopping.  In Hyannis, there’s a main street with lots of stores as well as a nice harbor on Nantucket Sound which is a launch point for ferries over to Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard. I went to check out the “artists’ shanties” and galleries because I’m looking for artwork for my bedroom. 

The stores turned out to be very eclectic, and I strolled up and down the street for a few hours.  The only thing I bought, though, was a purse – an absolutely PERFECT purse in terms of size, color, shape, material – everything.  It’s a small thing, but trust me, it’s an amazing find.  

So while I was walking the streets of Hyannis, I was mostly decorating in my head, playing out lots of if-then scenarios, but actually not coming to any conclusions.

Seen in Hyannis…
Artists’ Shanties and harbor view
  

Afterwards, I hung out in the gardens at Brewster by the Sea and read a book.  I began a book called Relational Being.  In it, Kenneth Gergen, a professor from Swarthmore University, argues a relatively radical constructivist point of view – yeah, I’m a geek and I read learning philosophy on my vacation.  (Constructivism is a learning theory – if you really want to know more about it, ask me any time.)  Anyway, Gergen asks us to consider that who “I” am is completely defined by my relationships to others.  I am, for example, a sister, aunt, friend, professor, employee, and dozens of other things all defined by relationships. 

My reading on Friday, by the way, was a book that talks about the more practical considerations of constructivism (Constructivist Instruction).  Both promise to be interesting reads that contrast nicely with one another – one very heady, and one more practical.   They gave me something to think about when I was walking on the beach last evening at sunset.  The more I read, the more I realize how little I actually know.  So much to learn and do in the next 50 years of my life.  🙂

Saturday night sunset stroll…
Calm night, and a small rainbow as a bonus.
 

Later Saturday night, I finished a book I was reading that fictionalized the story of a few of the people instrumental in the protestant reformation in England in the time of Henry VIII.  That left me counting my blessings that I live in a time and place where I can read the Bible in my own language and argue my belief system without worrying that I’ll be burned at the stake for heresy.  It’s dangerous to learn history from fiction, but the book (The Heretic’s Wife) really gave a flavor for what it was like to live in that time period.

Today (Sunday) was Pentecost, the day we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit to the apostles, and traditionally the “birthday” of Christianity.  I love the feast of Pentecost; it’s one of the Sundays when the Episcopal Church baptizes people, and there’s usually a lot of pomp and celebration to the services.  I went to services at a lovely church down in Harwhich Port – interestingly, it’s called Christ Church, which is the same name as my home church.

It’s amazing to think how it all began two thousand years ago.  On the way up here, I had listened to a few hours of lectures on Christianity by Luke Timothy Johnson (about what Christians believe).  So I’ve been thinking about what it might have been like to be around at the start of it all – pretty powerful stuff.  And I’ve been thinking about what I believe.  Still working on that part.  But if I’m going to find God anywhere, this is surely the place to be.

In the hours between this morning’s church service and my walk on Nauset Beach, I strolled the shops of Chatham, one of my favorite towns up here.  And I believe I have found artwork for my room!!  It’s a gorgeous photograph of the waves on Nauset Beach taken at dawn.  Breathtaking!  (Makes me think it might someday be worth the effort to see a sunrise instead of a sunset.)  I’m going by the photographer’s Brewster studio in the morning to check out the photograph in a larger size – I think it will fit beautifully above my bed.  Of course, this choice completely changes the decorating ideas I had for my bedroom (I was considering a butterfly theme), so now I’ll have something more to think about as I drive about the Cape and continue browsing the stores here.

Seen in Chatham…
 

So my interior life runs the gamut from contemplating learning philosophy, to decorating my house, to admiring the landscape, to considering my belief system, to listening to the voice of the waves, to thinking about what I want to write about professionally, to planning what I might do if I won the lottery.  It’s never boring.  I’m enjoying the pleasure of my own company here on the Cape (if I do say so myself!).

A study in contrasts…
Nassau beach under fog at 4 pm.  

 Paine’s Creek Beach sparkling at 5 pm.
Note the clouds in the distance.

And back at Paine’s Creek at twilight…
These picutres were taken 30 minutes apart.
Both the tide and the clouds roll in fast!
  

Kind-of mirrors my often-changing inner life.  🙂