Transition

I’ve been thinking about the word “transition.”  It started after three weeks travel to Cape Cod and then making the transition to home, Yardley.  And it’s September, we begin the transition to Fall.  Then I was reading one of my Cape books for this year, Anthony Bailey, the author of “The Summer Coast: sailing New England waters from Shelter Island to Cape Cod’” and I read:    ”Sailing people who live in houses often envy those who live on boats.  But those who dwell afloat all year round miss one great thing: the annual pleasure of throwing off a land-based existence in exchange (however briefly) for a seagoing life that will rock them with different demands and buoy them up with different delights.  Yet that happy transition may not be easy.”  The transition from living on land to living on a boat.         Our Maine friends David and Judy Sears experience a transition as they move from their summer home on Mantincus Island to spend the winter inland in Cushing.  The move from full time work to retirement involves a transition that Diane and I experienced in 2015.  Similarly I am still in transition from excellent health to living post surgeries with medical issues that won’t go away.  And as Bailey wrote, “transition may not be easy.”         I soon realized that our lives are marked by constant transitions.  Common ones include moving out of our family house, getting married, getting divorced, losing a job, changing jobs, buying a house,  becoming a parent, empty nesting, moving, serious illness, death of a loved one (think parent, spouse, child), graduating college or other educational program . . . Why have I never consciously thought about transitions.              The transition from Cape Cod and the overnights to and from to Yardley was easy.  In fact I’ve found that travel good vibes stay with me for days, maybe weeks after a trip.  Weather was an adjustment, we had cool days, some rain, quite pleasant on the Cape; Yardley was 90 to 100 degrees.  My morning routine remained pretty much the same.  I usually sit at a table in the screened in porch on Arey’s Pond; in Yardley I sit on the deck, read the digital newspaper, email, Facebook, post photographs and write in my daily journal.                                                  Traveling I am more adventuresome; explore more.  Beaches, some familiar, some new.  Some ocean; some bay.  Some in the National Seashore; some at town landings.  Early afternoons; dusk and sunset.  We visit galleries, art, and crafts.  Rainy day, Edward Gorey.  Afternoon sail on a schooner out of Falmouth.  Baskerville, a Sherlock Holmes play in Dennis. Daily food shopping, vegetables and fruit from farm stands; and seafood from three or more different markets.  Frequent lunches and dinners out.  Exploring towns, Harwich, Chatham, Wellfleet, Provincetown.  We went to an Art Museum, the Weir National Park, and a State Park nature center this trip.  That was this year but it followed a similar pattern from previous years.  At home in Yardley we do most the the same things but at a much slower pace.  Our Cape trip three weeks activity would fill three months at home.                  What I call maintenance activity remains pretty much the same but transition to home means more household projects.  Things break and need fixing or replacement.  Handyman or contractor appointment (called three different people this week).  The garden takes significant time, in September,  harvesting, cooking or preserving produce, cleaning the garden and maybe some winter seeding.  There are doctor and dentist appointments.  And we’re retired.  Imagine in the transition meant a return to work.                  Fortunately I rank reading, writing, farm and speciality market shopping, dining out, walking, visits to museums and historical sites, just relaxing important to my mental health.  So the overall transition from travel to home isn’t a total shock.  Despite having to tend to more “home stuff” I still get to do the above.  Was it Scott and Helen Nearing that said the day should involve four hours of ‘bread labor’ (gardening, etc), four hours of professional work (reading/writing, playing music) and four hours of friend and community involvement. I do less ‘bread labor’ when traveling; my professional is now related to many years of teaching.  I do not currently do enough community related.  Transition needed.                         Last week I ordered a cord of firewood.  The transition from the summer of 2023 to fall is beginning. As I mentioned garden activity is changing.  I should also engage more in several long term projects which have been neglected in the summer.  First I’m digitizing my slides and organizing the images on my computer.  The latter is particularly time consuming.  I have also stepped up weeding my book collection.  I can never reread all the books I own.  So I have begun to put them in three categories, might reread, try to sell on Amazon, donate.  I’m going to see if HGP students are interested in free, donated books.  In addition to books there are other “collections” that need attention.  I want to experiment more with cooking, new things, responding to my need for a healthy low, low carb diet.  In several weeks I’ll be building a daily afternoon fire, reading and writing time.          How do memories and transitions play out in your life?