Exquisite Torture
I was riding my bike through Old Harbor one morning last week when I heard someone call out, "Hi, Tom." I stopped, looked around and saw a friend from home sitting on the porch of one of the cafes, eating a muffin.
He was on Block Island for only a few hours, to pick up his daughter, who had spent the summer there working. I told him we were there for two weeks and he said that for him, he's always ready to go home after one week in a beautiful place. After two weeks, he's ready to stay forever. I called it an exquisite torture -- the knowledge that the idyll has to end, and that work and school will be there to greet you when you get home (and this year, school -- in the form of the bus to high school -- will be greeting us at 6:20 a.m.)
I'd consider two jobs, if anyone came calling -- editor of the Block Island Times and head of the Block Island Land Conservancy -- although having lived in a tourist destination (Lake Placid 27 years ago) I know it's different when you live there (it can be better). Of course Block Island's off-season is longer and mofe devoid of humans than Lake Placid's, and my kids would have to agree to go to a school in which the graduating class routinely does not have enough kids for a co-ed basketball team. I doubt they're ready to become isolatoes.
He was on Block Island for only a few hours, to pick up his daughter, who had spent the summer there working. I told him we were there for two weeks and he said that for him, he's always ready to go home after one week in a beautiful place. After two weeks, he's ready to stay forever. I called it an exquisite torture -- the knowledge that the idyll has to end, and that work and school will be there to greet you when you get home (and this year, school -- in the form of the bus to high school -- will be greeting us at 6:20 a.m.)
I'd consider two jobs, if anyone came calling -- editor of the Block Island Times and head of the Block Island Land Conservancy -- although having lived in a tourist destination (Lake Placid 27 years ago) I know it's different when you live there (it can be better). Of course Block Island's off-season is longer and mofe devoid of humans than Lake Placid's, and my kids would have to agree to go to a school in which the graduating class routinely does not have enough kids for a co-ed basketball team. I doubt they're ready to become isolatoes.
posted by Tom Andersen at 7:53 AM
1 Comments:
Hey Tom, Peter Voscamp and Pippa Jack at the BI Times are wonderful people and ... well, maybe you can contribute stories. I can't say anything about their financial deals but you couldn't pick better people to work with (editor and assistant). As with many small papers, they're starved for content.
As to Block Island, the late summer goes for a long time, at least through Columbus Day (October 8 this year). The water and air is usually warm, with some cool fronts in between. After that it starts getting lonely but even until Christmas, not so bad.
I've had friends over-winter there and visited them on Block Island. It simply comes down the THE WIND. In January, February, and March huge northeasters set up and it blows like a Banshee. It howls and makes creepy sounds. That's when many locals decide to visit Florida or somewhere less windy.
If I was going to write a book and got a nice advance, that's where I would do it. /sam
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