Martha’s Vineyard
I woke up to Stella on my head. “Chirp, Chirp,” she said to me. I was out of it. I let her sit there. I was under the sheet, but could feel her claws on me. It wasn’t painful, but a bit weird. I get freaked out when a bird flies at me, but this did not because I did not see it. She sat there and I tried to go back to sleep. It didn’t work so I had to brush her off gently. She flew back up and chirped. Pete and I got up a little bit later. We went up to the house where my programmed self had to wash my face, put in my contacts, make a deposit, and brush my teeth. No shower yet. No food. Just some water and we were off to pick up a friend for Frisbee golf.
I woke up feeling a bit strange. I was in Martha’s Vineyard, raging and seeking. I was supposed to be in Rochester though. I pushed more of my chips in for this thing and it may cost me, but I’m in.
I guess I should explain a little more about Pete. He is a supremely intelligent guy who has seen more of life (I could write a book about him) than anyone I’ve met. I was lucky to get to spend days with him. He lives differently than most, but he accepts it and rolls with it. He goes with the flow better than most. It was good for me to be a part of.
We got out to golf and Vinnie explained that he was now a professional disc golfer. We asked what he meant and he explained that a local TV station was going to be filming him on Monday teaching one of their interns how to play disc golf. The TV station is doing this piece where the intern gets training on different things from a professional. Hence, works a day with a chef. Or a day with a police officer. I think that would be cool. But Vinnie is the pro disc golfer. He looks the part with a long pony tail, scruffy beard, and laid back attitude. But at the same time I am guessing it will be interesting. He ripped out a few pieces of paper from my journal and grabbed a pen. He carried it with him as we played jotting down notes on what to say. I had only played a few times so they used me as a guinea pig for ideas. I can’t wait to see the outcome
We played. It was a beautiful but windy day. Wind is not what I was looking for on the golf course. I play a lot of golf, but this is different. And better. It’s free. You don’t have to wear a collared shirt. You don’t have Tad and Moomsie sticking their nose up at you either.
The course started off open. When we got to #5 everything changed. First off the hole was cut amongst tons of tall skinny pine like trees. There was no room. You basically threw it and prayed it would fly through. Then my mind became paranoid. “Watch out for the poison ivy,” Pete said. “It’s everywhere,” Vinnie added. My mindset changed. I was not out for a walk in the park anymore. Now I was trying to throw it straight, not far. “Don’t go in the woods, dude.” Every time I walked my head was focused on the ground. I was only armed with a pair of shorts and sandals. Not the best protection. “Oh yeah, keep an eye out for ticks too.” Man, my mind was racing.
I flashed back to me at the shack with poison ivy all over the place and a couple of ticks burrowed into my skin. My game was bad anyway, but it probably was a little worse because of this. I was playing scared. Scared of the unknown in the woods.
We finished up our 18. I have no idea what I shot, but it wasn’t anywhere near those guys. Pete beat Vinnie and I thought would be a better choice for explaining the rules and techniques for the TV world, but he’s working on Monday. We dropped off Vinnie and headed to the beach. We headed to South Beach. Now we didn’t hope on a plane and head to Miami, there is a south beach at Martha’s place.
We went there at about 3:30, after a late lunch. I should say we passed up a chance to go to Gayhead, another spot on the island that is supposed to be amazingly beautiful. Passing up the chance was a deal in itself, but if you would’ve seen a couple of the girls who were going and probably going to be naked, you would’ve wondered what our problem was. We justified golf by saying we’d rush through it and then make it down there. We were too slow and bagged it. We made it to the non hot and naked beach. I was happy with the choice. The sun was shining and it felt good on my back. We didn’t talk much as we lay there, trying to nap. We didn’t stay too long because we had to get back to shower up for the dance troupe.