d of rest and loving - and it is a great place to do both! The "downtown arts" section of the city is filled with funky shops, used bookstores, creative eateries and music clubs which is just about our definition of heaven!+ We spent Thursday prowling the area for a few hours and in two hours I had four novels by people I had never heard of but look forward to reading. Hung out and sipped beer while watching urban kids play "softball" (very loosely-defined) in a corner park, too.
+ Friday was given over to a gorgeous sun-drenched day in the town of Newport - very subdued and ultimately too upscale for our tastes - but it was fun to wander the old colonial city and come upon beautiful gardens and the first free African-American church in the US - the oldest synagogue, too.
But then it was back to the hood for a warm night, more Rhode Island creative cooking and an outdoor jazz gig that caused us to smile and rejoice. We had hoped for more sun and
exploring today but three sunny days in a row is almost too much for the imagination in these parts. So, we left a little earlier than expected...
exploring today but three sunny days in a row is almost too much for the imagination in these parts. So, we left a little earlier than expected...... and spent a nostalgic and somewhat sad late morning in Webster, Massachusetts. We celebrated our honeymoon in this little burg 15 years ago - my family used to own a ramshackle cottage on the lake - so for a month we rowed the boat, took long walks and slept on a mattress in front of the fire place (no other heating!) Back then the town was wrestling with hard times and now those hard times have taken up residence. It has always been a scrappy little mill town, but now that the wealthy have bought up more and more of the lake front property and driven away the ordinary folk who can no longer afford the property taxes, the place looked worn out
We stopped by our old propert
y - my brother and sisters and I sold it off about five years ago when we could no longer keep up the taxes - and I was sad. The new owners have made the place beautiful - no question they have what it takes - but as Dianne said: "It makes me mad that the little people continue to be squeezed out of their shacks and ugly little summer cottages so that the wealthy can have more beauty to play in."
We stopped by our old propert
y - my brother and sisters and I sold it off about five years ago when we could no longer keep up the taxes - and I was sad. The new owners have made the place beautiful - no question they have what it takes - but as Dianne said: "It makes me mad that the little people continue to be squeezed out of their shacks and ugly little summer cottages so that the wealthy can have more beauty to play in."Well, now we're home - taking naps and cooking supper - and grateful for the time we have spent both this weekend and over our life together. We are likely never to go back to Webster - or Newport for that matter - but Providence has become a treasure for us both and we will want to explore LOTS more as the years go on. (Here's a tune from the GREATEST Springsteen rip-off artist, John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band, who hail from Narragansett, RI.)
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