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September 7th, Cuttyhunk, Massachusetts
Very remote, with scarce commercial resources, Cuttyhunk
has been the most isolated of the places we have visited
this summer. Although the harbor was teaming with
boats over the Labor Day weekend, most had left by the
time we arrived on Monday afternoon. We also
discovered that most of the few retail establishments
had closed for the season after the long weekend, with
the exception of the year round "market" which operates
from 8 to 9, 12 to 1, and 4 to 5 every day. It is run by
just one lady, and she spends the rest of the hours
doing the chores around the store. As you can
imagine, the selection is limited, but they offer a few
choices for fresh vegetables and meats. My stores
are holding up very nicely, so I just need to restock
vegetables and fruit and dairy on a regular basis.
There are still 30 boats or so here, but I'm not sure
WHAT the people are doing on shore. We watched a
couple of boats come in yesterday afternoon. They
all immediately jumped into the dinghy and went ashore.
Joe looked at me, "What in the world are they all
rushing off to do? There is NOTHING in town!"
Too funny. But it is quite beautiful, with soft
rolling hills and a rocky shoreline. The stars are
never-ending here, with a new moon and hardly any lights
on shore. Cuttyhunk is the last of the Elizabeth
Islands, with Buzzards Bay to the west and Vinyard Sound
to the east. We could hear the waves hitting the
shore on the Vinyard Sound side last night. A
kayak exploration today revealed surfers over there!
I also saw cows, and very few houses. The island
is mostly privately owned, so you can't do too much
wandering by land.
Our friends on Cenou are also
here, so the girls are thrilled to be reunited with
their girlfriends. They have been building stone
forts on the beach and playing tag in the playground.
Their new favorite game on Zia is to set themselves up
in the bow locker with a mom, a teenager, a little girl
and a baby and play family. I'm not entirely sure
of all the details, but they are perfectly behaved and
out of our face so we don't ask too many questions.
There is a fold down cot in there that turns it into a
crew berth, so the four of them have plenty of room to
set up house. The hatch opening closest to you,
with the little step, is the one they have been using.
There is even a light in there!
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School continues to go smoothly. Cassie wrote her
first "composition" and we posted it on the
web site. It has been
taking us about two and a half hours to finish school.
Juliana actually takes less time. Both kids are
well beyond what they are learning already, but they
don't get bored since it doesn't last that long.
We are doubling up on Juliana's math lessons. We
had purchased the entire second grade for her, based on
her advanced reading skills, but weren't sure she could
skip the first grade math, so we ordered that as well
and intend to crank through it at an accelerated pace so
she can be on the same grade level in all subjects by
the end of the year. Although it is quite easy for
her, I don't want to skip ahead until I'm sure she
understands all the concepts. Starting out
teaching concepts the girls are already familiar with
also makes it easier for all of us to adapt to such a
new environment. Joe and I are trying to establish
ourselves strictly as the Teacher during school time, so
we all have to be careful about how we interact.
Easier to do when you aren't struggling to teach a new
concept.
We've gotten a little bigger taste, lately, of the
isolation from friends we will experience increasingly
as we head south. We've had a very busy social
schedule so far on this trip, but Labor Day weekend
brought it to a screeching halt. Traditionally, we
would be hopping from party to party all weekend.
Instead, we were teaching school, hanging at the beach,
and in bed by 9pm. I'm not sure if it hit Joe as
hard, but I definitely noted the difference. Its a
new pace, and will take some getting used to. I
know we will find many new friends along the way, but it
won't be the same as the security and comfort of being
surrounded by a tight circle of great friends. My
mom warned me that this part of it would be hard!
Alas, I will be able to put off the adjustment for a
little while longer, as in only three short weeks we
will be back in home waters!
Hugs and Kisses,
Christy, Joe, Cassie and Juliana
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Many thanks to our
friend Craig Homenko for his assistance in setting up
the website.
We also would like
to thank our buddy Scott Brunner who has been kind
enough to host the website on his server.
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