Walking. On Fantasy Island & Back.

Posted on by Live & Learn

“So, have you had COVID?” asked Doc. “No.” And I felt obliged to explain as he stared me down: “Work from Home, hang near / at Home, Life in its totality within a 25-mile Protected radius around Home, a self-quarantining since the onset of COVID — has increased, if not assured this outcome.” His eye brows lift again, as I close with… “And I like it, all of it.”

So, with that preamble, you can understand the State of my State, stomach doing loops, as the mind and body prepare for an exit of the Protected Zone, the two former exits tied to Rachel’s wedding prep (Sept 2021), Rachel’s Wedding (Oct 2022) and then again this month (Sept 2023) in a decision made in 24 hours to Let’s Go!. Synchronicity?

A 3.5 hour car ride, a 1-hour ferry ride, Wally in tow, we arrive in Nantucket. Mr. Roarke: My dear guests! I Welcome you to Fantasy Island!

In my October 2021 post Walking. Great Point & Hallowed Ground, I reflect on my first trip to Nantucket, I close with a quote from Richard Powers: “I feel like I belong here… There we were. Nothing. Everything.” And as I re-read that post, and reflect on this trip, not much as changed.

Susan: “Think we could live here?”

DK: “I don’t know.”

We get Home after our week on Fantasy Island. As I’m rolling out of bed, the memory of my bare feet walking on Sconset Beach with the morning breeze off the Atlantic, waves crashing the shoreline, seagrass rustling, shore birds feeding and miles and miles and miles of unspoiled beaches, I missed Nantucket.

So, you get the backdrop.

It’s been 1,223 consecutive (almost) days on this Daybreak walk at Cove Island Park. Like in a Row. I pull up to the Parking lot at Cove Island Park this morning with a wee bit of dread on what to expect and how I would feel.

And I step out and here it is.

Take this Fantasy Island.

I’m Home.

Notes:

  • More Photos from this morning’s walk here.
  • More Photos from our trip to Nantucket here, here, here and here.

40 thoughts on “Walking. On Fantasy Island & Back.”

  2. Haven’t yet looked at your photos today, but I was about to suggest going to Nantucket in the dead of winter before moving there, lol!! How (vile) are your own winters there in Conn.?

    1. Having grown up in Western Canada, spending my collegiate years in Northern Michigan, and several winters in Chicago, Connecticut and Nantucket are breezy in comparison!

      1. LOL!! Wow, you somehow missed wintering in Alaska, northern Maine, Minnesota and North Dakota?? There’s still time! (After Canada, Michigan & Chicago, yes indeed — Conn. & Mass. must seem only *breezy* indeed!)

  3. Love this, pal, on so many levels. You really have carved out your place here, Surrounded by the familiar sights, sounds and smells of the cove where avian friends abound and we’re all a little better for your daily perambulations. ❤️

  5. 1. I commend you taking a last-minute trip like this. Something tells me you’re not one for spontaneity.
    2. Nantucket has been on my list since I read Ahab’s Wife, to visit and not to live. Though I’m an immigrant, only moved to the States 20 years ago, the Midwest is my home. Midwestern blood is a match to mine.
    3. I greatly appreciate seeing Nantucket and the Cove, through you.
    4. Beautiful post. Thank you for the ride along your thoughts.

  8. Love the post and your stunning, photos, so glad you and your family had a nice getaway…the draw of the Ocean can be like a beacon…we finally made it to the tsunami zone, mid June for two nights. The weather was cool & overcast, displaying its own moody, beauty… (hadn’t been away from home since, Covid, other than to see the daffodils, under 20 miles away) /// Did you change, doctors? I thought your new doctor is female with dread locks)

  10. The thinkg with Nantucket is, you can always go back to visit – the car ride is not all that long. And your photography from there is gorgeous.
    You know where you belong and that’s the important thing.

  11. There truly is no place like home, the other beautiful spots around our area and actually this world are there to enjoy, but always our heart will be pulled towards home. Glad you captured your welcome home so beautifully David.

  12. I think it is possible to imbue words, pictures, etc with love. I think that love is conveyed mightily as you greet the morning at the cove. Welcome back

    2. Thank you Mimi (and others!) for improving my vocabulary! I’ve had to consult the dictionary many times since I started following this blog 🙂 LOL!! We computer scientists speak our own language a fair amount of the time (mostly acronyms), and forget to improve our vocabulary in English! I could torture you with examples of “geek speak“, but I will refrain from doing that. (I’m really having to bite my tongue!!)

        1. Don’t worry Mimi 🙂 You know enough to comment in this blog, so, in my humble opinion, you probably know enough! The best way to deal with new technology (in my opinion, and within reason) is to have a friend who can deal with the details for you! Things change, ridiculously quickly in the “world of geek”! I stopped writing software a number of years ago, and I am already a dinosaur! I can no longer hold a conversation with my former coworkers as I only understand, perhaps 30% of what they are saying! LOL. The world of computers and electronics is, I suspect, very much like being in the medical field. If you stop going to school for (best guess), perhaps two years, then you will find yourself relearning “geek 101“!

  14. Long time ago I used to go bowling every night. I think I went bowling every night for almost two and a half years. I could not even imagine life without going bowling every night. I can’t really put my finger on when I stopped going bowling every night but I haven’t gone bowling in a long long time.

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