… to inaugurate my new leather writing book: The roof of the Boardwalk Plaza Hotel. It’s a warm windy afternoon, just after the Pet Parade.
I left the hot tub up here to go down to the boardwalk and watch the parade (Elvis sheepdogs with black wigs and silver capes; dachshunds as frankfurters). Now I’m back on the roof, sitting with my sister as we rock ourselves into a stupor on white chairs.
British and American flags flap away on either side of us, and, on the ocean’s horizon, white container ships float. There are gulls, contrails, and white clouds in a pale blue sky.
All of which makes me nostalgic for my sabbatical year (six months, really; the rest was Key West when I couldn’t take the cold anymore) next door to this hotel, in Edgewater House.
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Strange combination of influences, this Halloween at the beach. The constantly lulling effect of the water, wind, and sun is the main thing. You feel as though you’re hovering well above the business of being mortal, skipping over the hard parts… At night there’s the infinity of the sky over the waves, and you feel part of that too… So in the hot tub I found myself singing Time Passes Slowly Up Here in the Mountains, its long calm lines covering the same all the time in the world territory.
But these are the Days of the Dead, and, like something out of Fellini, skeletons and grim reapers cavort on the beach. Halloween Week on our room’s tv features Beetle Juice (UD had never seen it!) and episode after episode of House, which takes you deeply into our decrepitude, and, in the character of its hero, asks in each segment whether life is worth living.
October 31st, 2010 at 2:00PM
On a roof looking at the ocean, with a new leather writing book, and in the company of my sister would be the perfect way to spend the day for me too. I’m feeling very envious right now. 🙂
October 31st, 2010 at 2:07PM
Clarissa: What a wonderful comment! Yes – It’s a fine day for ol’ UD.
October 29th, 2011 at 7:07AM
[…] are preparing for snow. But UD, as is her tradition, now goes to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, to celebrate Halloween. (Today will be rainy, tomorrow […]