I can see clearly now

I’ve been working hard to change how I see things. I’m not talking about finding an optometrist, having my vision tested and getting new glasses, although that’s a thing on my calendar. I’m talking about how I see the world. There are days when the view from here is not nice. Some days, after I’ve read the comics and done the crosswords, I just want to shut “the world of news” out of my life. I want to curl up with a pile of fiction novels (from the library), drink coffee and ignore everything and everyone, except family and very, very close friends. There have also been many days when I dream about packing this old house up and heading out to the back-of-beyond. Like the song suggested, “I’m gonna camp out on the land, I’m gonna try an’ get my soul free”. That song, and The Eve of Destruction, rumble through my tiny brain on a loop these days. I need a new travelling song, and I’m sure a lot of all y’all are feeling the same. I am overwhelmed by all of the bad news. I’m sick of people with bad attitudes, I’m fearful of the bad climate choices we’ve made (and continue to make), I’m done with bad politics and bad policies. Go ahead and tell me I’m part of the problem if I’m looking for a way to get away from the problem. I don’t think I am.

In recent years I’ve found myself saying pithy things like “Maybe we’ll leave the local attractions to the tourists during the high season.” While LOML and I have never willingly spent an afternoon frolicking in the water at the Sandbanks (or any beach, for that matter) we sure as hell wouldn’t mind spending a bit of time sitting in comfortable chairs, on the beach, enjoying the view of the water, reading trashy novels and having a cool beverage. Alas, there is some wisdom to leaving the beach to the vacationers. Neither of us are the least bit interested in staking a claim on an overcrowded beach, nor are we interested in making a reservation for enjoyment. Recently, however, he and I have found a way around the problem of not being able to sit on a quiet beach and we sure as heck won’t be telling anyone about where it is! The County’s secret places, the ones off-the-beaten-path, have been so well marketed in the last ten or so years it’s almost a case of wishing we’d been more careful about what we had wished for back when we were hoping to fluff up the tourist season. Let’s just say LOML and I have found a place to sit on a beach, enjoy the view, a breeze and not have to deal with crowds of tourists. Oh, yes we have. So, take that Sandbanks, Wellington Beach, Prince Edward Point, Little Bluff and North Beach and destination marketing. We’ll head back to the County places when the tourists go away, but until that time we’ll be enjoying the view from a different “perspective”.

So, as much as I don’t like it, he and I will continue to leave the popular places to the off-islanders during the heat of the summer. We say, “Come on down to the County. Stake a claim in the sand. Slap the sunscreen on. Blowup the floaties and bake away. When you run out of wienies and marshmallows head into the grocery and clear the shelves. Load those carts up with junk food, bags of ice, paper plates, cases of water and watermelon. Ask a local how to get from here-to-there. We’re always happy to tell people where to go and how to get there. Complain about the farm smells and the farm equipment on the roadways as you head to the farm stand for corn and tomatoes.”

Labour Day is just around the corner. We really are grateful for the economic boost tourism brings to the local economy. We just sorta kinda wish there was a place just for locals to enjoy. A “pinky-swear” to never tell outsiders kinda place. Wait a minute, there is. LOML and I will be there sometime this week with our picnic lunch, our drinks and our foldychairs. It’s an ultra-quiet place where I can work on how I see things and I see myself not telling anyone where that place is.