As of October 9, my Africa photos will be on display at Frame It Yourself in Westwood, New Jersey.
Last Friday evening, I went to Provincetown to attend the artists’ reception for the “Icons & Art: Michelle & Barack” at the J. Lucas Gallery. Gallery owner and artist Jon Lucas has posted a YouTube video of the show, and here are a couple of my photos from opening night also:
“Hungry, Hurried, Broke for Obama” (my work) can be seen below. It’s hanging on the wall, framed in black, near the center of the photo.
It was terrific to attend the reception and meet Jon, but it was also wonderful to visit Provincetown, which was bustling with visitors, but not overcrowded, on the first fall weekend of the year. Saturday was a perfect Indian summer day on Cape Cod.
Here are the vistas and sights I’ve been longing to see:
Race Point Beach, Cape Cod National Seashore:
The Old Harbor Lifesaving Station viewed from the beach below:
A gray seal, below, cruising along, not far off the beach, appearing as curious about me as I was about it.
Seals are now a common sight off Provincetown’s beaches, although scientists are not sure why: Is the Canadian seal population growing and moving south or are there other environmental causes that have made them a common sight?
Back in town, goofy tourists in front of the Provincetown library, currently under renovation:
The attention-grabbing van belonging to a Bay State supporter of the Kennedy clan and the late Senator Ted Kennedy:
The spire of the Unitarian/Universalist Meeting House, built in 1847 by seaman and fisherman:
A view of Race Point Beach from the top of Pilgrim Monument, 350 feet above sea level,:
And to wrap up this post, Pilgrim Monument itself (next to the wonderful appropriately quirky and idiosyncratic Provincetown Museum that has one of the best museum gift shops anywhere):
I was vaguely aware that the Newport half marathon was about one month away, but today I received an e-mail from Amica Marathon alerting me that it will be held in exactly 37 days.
Even without the reminder from the race organizer, the half marathon has been on my mind, both because I’ve been running more than usual and because I just read What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami, a wonderful memoir about running, writing and life.
Murakami’s quiet, self-effacing outlook and his steady, calm observance of his own nature and his surroundings are compelling. He has the soul of an artist, but he believes that the creation of art requires physical vitality. He maintains his vigor through exercise, mostly running, but he also swims and bikes.
In the memoir, Murakami lives and runs in Hawaii, Japan and Cambridge. He writes about the Charles River and how people are drawn to to water:
Seeing a lot of water like that every day is probably an important thing for human beings. For human beings may be a bit of a generalization – but I do know it’s important for one person: me. If I go for a time without seeing water, I feel like something’s slowly draining out of me. It’s probably like the feeling a music lover has when, for whatever reason, he’s separated from music for a long time. The fact that I was raised by the sea might have something do do with it.
That’s how I (also raised by the ocean) feel, and one of the reasons that I want to run the Newport half marathon.
Second or Sachuest Beach in Middletown, RI, January, 2007
I won’t run past Second Beach, my favorite beach, on the half-marathon course, but Tyler will when he runs the full marathon. Although Second Beach is in Middletown, it’s not far from First Beach in Newport — just a mile or so farther east. The land at the distant side of the beach in the photo above is Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge — a gorgeous spot to hike and watch the ocean.