Okay, last time I’d just talked about how Martha took a fall on Hope Street. Patty drove us home quickly and together we walked her into the front room and into a chair. Patty brought me bandaides and first-aid cream and I got started on Martha. Fortunately, the injuries were all quite small -- superficial scratches, minor abrasions, the typical skinned knees and so on...
I put on the bandages. They mostly stayed in place, though later I ran out and got some larger pads and tape. But, all in all, nothing serious. And, afterwards, Martha seemed much better. Still not happy, of course. But better.
But, from then on, I gotta confess, it gets a little fuzzy for me. I guess the adrenaline wore off and the brain sort of shut down. So, frankly, I really don’t recall how we spent the afternoon. I know we didn’t go out anywhere. I know, too, that Martha rested. Maybe she took a nap. Maybe we all took naps.
Later, Patty made us a light dinner and then she and Martha set up shop in the front room and talked--about friends in common, about politics, and about teaching. Particularly teaching.
I’m afraid that left me at a bit of a loss. I had nothing to add to that conversation. So...what to do with myself?
I looked outside. It was growing dark, but it wasn’t quite dark yet. Evening was coming, but the night was still a ways off.
Right. I interrupted Martha and Patty long enough to say I was going to take a walk, if they’d excuse me. They said of course, of course, and returned to their conversation. They may have even noticed when I left the house. Though, I wouldn’t want to press them on it.
This time, instead of going toward Broad street, and then into the village, I went the other way, toward Narragansett Blvd., which runs (ultimately) along the Providence River and Stillhouse Cove.
Just some scenes along the River
It proved to be an amazingly pleasant walk. It is a residential district, with many houses ranging in size from the tiny and cozy to the large and luxurious. Just beyond Sefton, the area between the road and the river becomes a stretch of parkland, green and pleasant, and dotted with trees, walking couples (of many ages), and children...all energy and adventure, all being warned back from the water’s edge by worried parents. Sometimes, they even listen.
There are watercraft in the river, of course. It is a popular spot, with boats as slim and elegant as swans...and swans as slim and elegant as boats. (Yes, I stole the line from “Martian Chronicles.”) In the growing dark, I could just make out the birds, though the boats were easier to spot, particularly those moored at the Rhode Island Yacht Club, which is at the very end of the Cove, just where Ocean Avenue ends at the water’s edge.
I tried to take photos, but it was too dark for the swans and geese, and the camera on my cellphone wasn’t sensitive enough, and didn’t have a good enough lens, to make much sense of the boats and the Yacht Club. So, I put the phone away, and simply walked. I suppose that wasn’t such a bad thing, come to think of it.
I came to the intersection of Narragansett and Ocean. I could have walked up Ocean to the center of the Village -- there is, I’m told, an energetic night life there, with a number of popular bars and restaurants. But, I really didn’t feel up to that, so I figured I’d head back. It was a good decision because I was enjoying the walk, and *really* enjoying the fresh, cool air.
It also gave me a chance to look at the other side of Narragansett, the one away from the water. I really hadn’t given that side of the street much attention before, but now I did so. It was interesting. There were several private homes, and several more buildings that had been homes but either had been or were being converted into condominiums and/or apartments. I gathered, from what Patty later told me, that is, indeed, a trend in her neighborhood. Single family homes are bought up, rebuilt, repurposed, and offered to the public.
Of course, that’s true for pretty much everywhere in America...for better, or worse.
Anyway, Pawtuxet Village has always been a desirable location, and I guess it is becoming still more so. I wonder what will happen to it in the long run.
I’ve even wondered if it could become a vacation community. It is, after all, a very pleasant spot, and is on the water, and condos can be turned into AirB&Bs with remarkable speed.
Later, I mentioned this to Patty, but she said she has seen (as it yet) no sign of it happening. And, I suppose, the Village is more valuable as a homesite than a vacation spot. But, who knows? Times change.
After a bit, I headed back to Patty’s house. When I arrived, Martha and Patty were still deep in conversation -- teaching, the politics of teaching, what state governments were doing *to* teachers (all of it bad, as a rule), friends who were teachers...
I read a bit and then headed off to bed. I knew they’d be talking long after I was asleep. And, I knew too that that would be a very good thing.
For both of them.
More to come.
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~mjt
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