Memory is a funny thing, isn’t it? It’s selective, exclusive, accurate, fictional, unreliable, illuminating, calming, and so much more. One of the ways we know how unreliable memory is is to have two people observe the same series of events and later ask that they recount them. To listen to some accounts, you would not think the people had witnessed the exact same events! If nothing else, memory is personal.
But the beauty of memories, I think, is their ability to bring peace, comfort, and happiness. The photo above, one of many likely sent around in a Power Point presentation (artists never recognized), is from a group of water-themed images. I am reasonably sure it’s Cape Cod or thereabouts. It’s had a special spot on my desktop for a couple weeks now even though I usually have a group set to change every hour.
Every time I look at it, I feel some deep sense of calm, and that calm comes from a memory. When I was a child, my parents sometimes took our family on driving vacations, that trusty AAA TripTik as our guide. Though I can’t remember how old I was at the time of this particular trip, I can remember the busy, narrow streets of Provincetown, bustling with locals and tourists alike. I can see the small, white clapboard shops and sparkling jars and bottles in every color of the rainbow, flags, kites, and … ice cream. I just remembered the ice cream.
And then there was the beach. What I remember so vividly is how totally different the Cape Cod beach was from the beaches where I grew up and frequented here in New Jersey. The smell of the air, the texture of the sand, the look and feel and scent of the water as it rolled in — so much gentler than the crashing waves at the Jersey shore – the trees and greenery never found at any of the local beaches I’d ever been to. The fact that I have such consistently positive memories of Cape Cod tells me something else. All of us must have been happy.
So this image is going to rest a while longer on my desktop. More importantly, it is my new go-to peaceful place to visit when work gets too hectic, people unreasonable, when stress cranks up a bit. In our memories, there is always a place of calm and respite. This is mine. Feel free to come with.
Jeanne, the older I get the more I enjoy recalling fond memories. Thank you for sharing one of yours.
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My pleasure. It’s so true.That spot has been my “getaway” of late – someplace to go where it’s peaceful and calm. Wish I could be magically transported …
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Oh, wow, Jeanne, I’m right there with you! Cape Cod, Northern California, and all along the Great Lakes…many family vacations and happy memories for this water baby…and I, too, go to photos of those days to remember and rest. Thank you so much for feeding my spirit and sending me the music of tides and lapping waves. 🙂
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It’s always so comforting being near water, isn’t it? Even though, right now, a profusion of greenery has obscured my view of the Delaware River just at the end of my block, I know that it’s just a two minute walk from my house. Small happinesses, yes?
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Cape Cod is one of those places from back east we miss a lot. Rick and I used to go off-season when crowds were down and we could visit art galleries, walk the dunes, and eat in our old favorite restaurants.
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I visited once (as an adult) off-season, too. It was wonderful. Funny how certain places have a magic of their own.
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I would take any water, right now, Jeanne! Really missing “my” Great Lakes these days…
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I sympathize, truly. All my life I have lived at least in driving distance of the ocean, a bay, a river. I can’t imagine being totally without. Maybe you could fit a little kiddie pool on your terrace?
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It’s not being IN the water I miss so much; it’s listening to it and seeing it. I grew up by Lake Huron and really took it for granted…didn’t everyone live by a lake? 🙂
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Exactly! Here’s a post I did on that same subject of being near the water from a couple years ago – enjoy. https://stilladreamer.wordpress.com/2018/07/10/ocean-quiet/
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Thanks, Jeanne; I enjoyed your post!
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That’s a lovely memory place Jeanne, it sounds as though everything just came together at those times to give you such a happy memory of it.
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It did. And it also reminded me of our friend Henry Beston and “The Outermost House.” I just jotted down the name of a book you had mentioned, “The Salt House”, and am going to see if my little town library can get it from the county library. Sounds like it would make for a nice summer read …
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Yes, it has a similar feel to The Outermost House.
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How wonderful. I like how the ice cream memory came as you were writing. We all need our peaceful, calming places. Mine is the mountains, preferably climbing them. You’ve reminded me that a photo of a mountain placed on my desk would be a welcome reminder and instant peace.
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The ice cream memory was unexpected! but such a nice reminder of our times there. It’s important to surround ourselves with calm and peaceful beauty – a favorite mountain photo sounds perfect.
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