New England (Providence, RI)

6.30.24 (Part 2 of 5)

6.30.24

Check out is at 10AM. Sylvia runs again in the morning and I work on a draft response to a member of the Altered team. We walk over to So Co Bread Co and get some goodness after, swing back, and then we pack up and are on our way to Providence for a stop to check out Brown University where my cousin Sandy works and to see the town generally.

Providence is cool but it is not cool. Walking around that city was probably the hottest I got the whole trip. “Humidity is awful,” says the Tucson native.

We saw the holocaust memorial that Billy’s name was on. Will, I guess. Will Green, Julia’s dad. My friend Hans has that name identity thing too. Hans, Will, William, Bill, Billiam… He has too many names!! It was cool to see the memorial right after meeting the landscape architect who put it together.

We also got to see downtown, Brown, and walked around the RISD area. We hiked down to a restaurant called Jahunger Noodles which was AWESOME. Hand pulled noodles? I didn’t know what that was and probably still don’t, but the dish was amazing.

The buildings in this place were much better than the ones in South Kingstown. On our way back to the car, we walked over this very nice pedestrian bridge and then through a stand up tent market where we saw three instances of leopard print back to back. Leopard print was definitely losing to camo before this event but Providence really breathed some life into that pattern and I started to second guess myself.

We got back to the car with a good amount of time to make it to the Sagamore, Massachusetts Airbnb which was a 7min walk from a private beach. We pulled into the drive a bit early and walked across the street to a park and watched kids play for about 15min before our check in at 4PM.

On the drive to Providence and then to Sagamore, Sylvia read the draft response I was preparing for the Altered team member. What I was saying there isn’t important for this, but that she read it aloud and helped me think through how I might want to change it was appreciated. I am grateful to her for her attention on the things I am working on and her willingness to engage meaningfully. She is special.

Later that evening, we would play a round of cards after she cut out the proxies while I edited and sent the Altered response. Before that, though, we settled into the Airbnb. I didn’t end up taking any pictures of it, but the attic space we were staying was superb! And it began to rain just as we got to laying down to rest a bit – wonderful.

After the rain let up, we made our way to a 4.8 star mediterranean restaurant which we parked in front of and then Googled our way elsewhere. It was connected to a gas station. It probably would have been fine – good even! But we were in Cape Cod and we were going to find a better place to eat. Sylvia pulled up a place called The Local where they didn’t have a lamb burger but they did have live music. Nick Deleo and Co. Nick ended up playing Tim Mcgraw’s Something Like That which is a song that I have great mom car karaoke memories of. In fact, Sylvia and I were talking about that song the night before and so to randomly hear it in the wild after, like, 18 years of not having heard it at all was such a pleasant coincidence. I still knew the chorus and so lip synced a video of it and sent it to my mom.

Sylvia made a request on the way back to the Airbnb. To meet that request, I car kareoked while crossing the wildly high Cape Cod bridges. The song I sang was Skinny Love by Bon Iver and Sylvia started crying partway through it. It was a smiling, beautiful, and appreciative cry that made me feel… Well it made me feel a feeling that I think most musicians chase – a feeling that you have found the only audience that matters, that you have crafted a perfect moment, and that they have received it like a lake takes its water. Really, though, I think she did more to make that moment than I did.

This was a day where Sylvia pumped me up in three ways. 1. She helped me build a better message on a thing I care about that is quite far from her usual interests. 2. She was extremely complimentary about my voice – something I care a lot about but usually feel is only suited for reading and poetry, not singing. 3. She cut cards, played an imperfect and unfinished game, and provided useful and helpful feedback after a long day of tiring travel.

How lucky can a guy get?

After the card game, the night ended with some last minute bike reservations. We had not committed to a whale watching tour in advance nor had we booked a ferry ticket to Martha’s Vineyard. I very much want to see a whale in the wild but I also very much would be miserable out there, so I was wishy washy and non-committal on that as a plan. We made the call not to do it after seeing how long the tours took and how much money they were, but we made the call too late to get a car ticket for Martha’s Vineyard. I think the bikes actually worked out for the better, though.