The Getaway, Part 1
By C.J. Lori | November 20, 2020
It was the time of year we most look forward to—early fall, when we would typically travel to Europe or take a cottage on outer Cape Cod. Clearly, our original thoughts of Nordic adventures were out. And with my husband already more than three months out of work, could we realistically splurge on a couple of weeks on the Cape?
We’d spent evenings walking our neighborhood over and over, and at least Saturday or Sunday each weekend hiking in a state park or conservation area. Still, the walls of our small condo were closing in. I felt the need for that serene expanse of empty beach flats at low tide in the off-season, my personal moment of perfect beauty.
So we settled for one week in a small cottage in Eastham, which came complete with a professional disinfectant cleaning service before our arrival for an additional charge. It was a welcome getaway. We walked for miles on different shores. We saw friends and made s’mores in the fire pit at the cottage.
C.J. Lori, “Leaving the Beach House, oil on canvas, 12″ x 12” 2020
There was a nice view from the upper deck of our rental, as you can see in my painting. Yet I couldn’t help but think how much nicer the view would be from that house in front of us, right on the water. Or how much I would have loved to stay for another week. Such is human nature. I want to be blissfully grateful for all that I have, but sometimes I feel my teeth clenching as I try to count my blessings. Finding joy seems to take a lot more work than it used to.
Now case numbers are climbing everywhere as the winter looms. Still, the vaccines seem promising, and my husband just found a new job. I am thankful, through clenched teeth, I am thankful.
(“Leaving the Beach House” is on exhibit in PLENTY, at 13 Forest Gallery, 167A Mass. Ave. in Arlington, MA, through January 8, 2021.)
Copyright © 2020 C.J. Lori
C.J. Lori is an oil painter living in Brookline, Massachusetts. Her work reflects her interest in literature, anthropology and psychology, as well as an abiding fascination with the natural world. She has exhibited in solo and group shows throughout New England, and in New York and Chicago, including the Danforth Museum in OFF THE WALL, and Figure, Fantasy and Illusion, Selections from the Arthur S. Goldberg Collection. She won first prize in Paint!, a national exhibition at the South Shore Arts Center. Ms. Lori is represented by 13 Forest Gallery in Arlington, Massachusetts and Array Contemporary in Boston.