Saturday, September 29, 2012

Saturday, September 29, 2012

Tonight's picture was taken in June of 2008. We took Mattie to Roosevelt Island to walk around and explore. Mattie enjoyed climbing on the rocks, so I decided to take a picture of him that day. Whenever we walk the Island now I remember this moment with Mattie as if it were yesterday.


Quote of the day: Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for. ~ Joseph Addison

I grew up in a suburb outside of New York City and at the age of 14, my family moved to Los Angeles. This relocation was challenging for us because we had to leave behind family and friends. During the first couple of years after we moved, we spent a great deal of time during school vacations flying back and forth to New York. We missed our "home" and everything and everyone we held dear. During our trips back to NY, we stayed at one of two different hotels. These two hotels hold fond memories for me, because they are symbolic of reconnecting and being "home." It is no surprise, when Peter and I got married years ago, I asked that this special occasion take place in New York. Our wedding guests and party stayed at one of the hotels and at the other hotel, we hosted our rehearsal dinner (the night before the wedding). Last night, Peter and I stayed at the hotel we had our rehearsal dinner. This morning we had breakfast at the hotel before getting back on the road to drive from New York to Cape Cod. The hotel is nestled on 30 acres of scenic countryside in Westchester County, and as you can see the Hotel's restaurant captures the lush terrain beautifully.

After we packed up the car, we walked to the Red Oak Mansion. This Mansion is on the Hotel's property and this is the exact location where our rehearsal dinner took place.  

This is what it looks like inside the Red Oak Mansion. The Mansion was built in 1905 and was once owned and designed by New York City architect John Carrere, designer of the New York City Public Library. This summer home has many of the beautiful features of the original building including a stunning patio with beautiful stonework, cozy fireplaces and abundant windows overlooking the scenic grounds.

I have to say driving through Massachusetts always gets me laughing. It gets me laughing because there are some classic identifiers that immediately tell me where I am. The first is seeing Red Sox stickers and merchandise hanging from cars and the second (and not necessarily in this order!!) are Dunkin Donuts stores. Picture Dunkin Donuts stores at EVERY rest stop on the highway and practically in every town you stop at. I literally should have taken a count of the number of stores we visibly passed from Westchester County, NY to Cape Cod. We are seriously talking double digits! Now if this wasn't funny enough, here is an absolute first for me. On Peter's GPS, it actually alerted us to each Dunkin Donuts store we were passing. Keep in mind that we did not ask for this information and the GPS did not flag other establishments we were passing like McDonald's or Starbucks for example. I was truly perplexed and asked Peter why this was happening for just Dunkin Donuts!

Last October we stayed on the Cape, and this year we decided to return. Peter spent many summers as a child on Truro (a part of the Cape that is close to Provincetown). Truro is very different from anything I have ever experienced before mainly because it is so preserved, natural, and untouched by modern progress. It is like taking a walk back in time. The loudest thing in Truro is the wildlife. This is the charming house we are staying at this week.

The house itself is cozy and charming, but one of the things that sold me on the house was the view from the house's deck. This is the Pamet Marsh, which is part of the Pamet River, which leads out to Cape Cod Bay.

Here is our resident Great Blue Heron. He hung out for most of the day in the marsh catching fish. The peace and tranquility of Truro in a way is very medicinal and Peter and I are both stressed out for different and the same reasons. Despite it being cool and rainy, being removed from traffic, our everyday environment, and at times internal chaos are very needed. It is my hope that these sights and sounds help me lose the violent headache I have had for about seven days straight.