And so it begins. I am now a wash-ashore myself, like so many thousands before me, coming to Nantucket for myriad of reasons over the centuries. Most now come to vacation themselves, or to work the vacation circuit. Affordable housing is a major stumbling block for anyone visiting Nantucket-or even living here. The draw for me is the Land itself. 81 miles of beach calls deeply and loudly to this ocean-loving girl, who spent at least part of every summer in Dennisport for my first 63 years until our beloved Grindell’s Trailer Park on Old Wharf Road was sold to build-ugh-yes condominium cottages, crammed in closer than our trailers it seems(!) and costing upwards of $700,000 for less than six month”s living availability. Tragic but common. Housing on Nantucket is equally horrific because it is so much more expensive.

But, oh, the Land itself! If you can wait until all the beautiful people-still wash-ashores(not born here/ doesn’t matter how long here) depart-the whole island collectively breathes a sigh of relief, and the sands regain their pristine beauty with the only tracks those of birds and occasional beachcombers.

I am here for the longest stint I have ever been away with the exception of when I walked the Camino de Santiago in 2016. I don’t feel as if I am on “vacation” at all, but rather that I am on another pilgrimage of the soul. I have come to evaluate and re-set. Even here, I seek to work- but in other ways. I am going to host at The Brotherhood of Thieves (now owned by Steve Silverstein -Servedwell- and Cisco Brewery) for the Saturday lunch shift. I love working with kids and already miss my Saturday Cisco lunch/Wednesday Sail Loft eve hosting-so I know at least that I won’t be giving up those commitments as they keep me both grounded and connected to young people and to my community.

I needed to “stop” my regular daily schedule in order to continue my marathon training. It became clear that part of my running woes could be OVERTRAINING, as I just Added my marathon miles needed to what i already do for work each day. The program I am following-the Non-Runner’s Guide to Marathon Training requires a rest day both before and after the “long’ run day. I don’t have any rest days..I believe this is part of my problem- on many levels!!! LOL!

I am going to honor Stopping. I was better able to do a “long” session yesterday as I had not had Time to train in the last several days with the craziness of just getting here, setting up work at the Brotherhood, and getting my bearings here on an island I have only seen at Stroll and girls’ visits, courtesy of the generosity of Joe and Linda Burke’s sharing their lovely home on Orange Street.

I brought a beautiful coffee table book- Nantucket—photographs by Cary Hazelgrove-who moved to Nantucket in 1978. I have set a goal for myself to try and find each place she has photographed. This is a challenge for me to explore more of the island, beyond my walking capacity. i want to SEE the 81 miles of beach! I want to have a feel for-a sense of the Truth of Nantucket, the Soul of Nantucket.

Yesterday, on my first foray to places unknown by me, I walked from the Steamship dock, having said goodbye to friends who had come to help me settle in(Bonnie) and others who had come just for the day(Tena, Linda, Ann) as far as I could after the busyness of arrival and moving in. That got me to Jetties Beach-the end of the harbor where the ferries come in from Nantucket Sound. It’s a beginning.

I also downloaded the ACKTrails App and hope to walk many of the 62 hikes, loops, and trails featured there.

For sure, I am a wash-ashore-and good with this (intended perjorative) term. But when I leave, I hope to have built and nurtured a real knowledge of and love for this “far-away island” thirty miles out to sea- the only place in America that is simultaneously an island, a county, and a town. Even if my boating experiences have ended with Warren’s passing, my shared love for the ocean beginning with my time at Cape Cod, moving to Mount Hope, Narragansett, and Buzzard’s Bay with Warren continues to fuel and feed my soul. So shall I now srround myself with Nantucket Sound and the Atlantic Ocean. Ahoy!