THE WOLF GOES TO THE MALL

Yesterday was Sunday and a special day here on the island. Lots of people went "shopping" to Madaket Mall. Madaket is a town on the western end of the island. They don't really have a mall, they have a land fill and dump. People bring not only their recycling and trash for sorting into about 10 categories, but they bring usable items they no longer want. Other people who are looking for such items can hang around for up to an hour and wait for free stuff. I saw golf clubs, computer printers and lots of clothes yesterday. The Ten Commandments of Trash were prominently posted and you had better obey. It is just off a road that runs through pristine wilderness and pockets of nice homes. You are driving along when out of the blue you are in a line of cars turning left into what looks like Lourdes or a Super WalMart depending upon your religious preference. People on a mission to get rid of a week's worth of garbage and maybe find a diamond in the rough. I heard from an insider that the very rich who buy homes frequently have their contractors take out perfectly good appliances because they want a Viking range and the house they just bought has a Wolf. The Wolf goes to the mall.

We got up early because the sun rises at 5 am and shines in my eyes. The Kitty gets up a coup;le of hours later. Her ancestors didn't come from Transylvania and the daylight does not bother her as much as it does me. We drove around the island including a stop in Siasconset ("Sconset" to the locals) before noon. Very nice town and beautiful homes except for one street where the homes at the top of a cliff overlooking the ocean are on their way to being homes at the bottom of the cliff IN the ocean. Erosion is happening to their backyards and foundations. Nature always wins.

I spoke on the phone to my friend, Stan, in the afternoon, He had commented yesterday on this BLOG and asked if I had bought a bike yet. Since he is a passionate and knowledgeable bicyclist, I asked him what style of bike I should get for general use on the island. They have miles of dedicated bike paths all over the island and lots of small side streets in town and very little parking. A wider tire of course would be safer in sand and on cobble stones. Safety is my middle name. Actually, Michael is my middle name, but you know what I am getting at. There are three bike shops on Broad Street (named because two cars can pass without scraping) very near to where the ferry docks brings tourists to the island who then rent bikes. I spent a couple of hours talking to owners and salesmen about which bike and how much. You can rent an adult bike for $90 a week and they will give me some credit toward the purchase of one. I can buy a reconditioned rental bike (Cannondale or Trek) for $130-$250... or a new one for $300-$3000. I think I have made up my mind. Patina means a lot on Nantucket. You get more points for having a beat up but working bike, car, polo shirt, than you get for a new one. We have a new car so to get a better Island Average Patina Factor (like CAFE standards) I have to average in a crappier bicycle. A used rental in Nantucket Gray will probably be my choice with mountain bike styling and fat slightly worn tires. Looks like $250 is my target price.

Many of you have been to Nantucket and others have seen photos. You have noticed the conspicuous absence of colorful things. Cars are blue-gray, green-gray, and gray-gray. The houses have to be gray by law. They do this by covering everything with cedar shakes which go on honey colored but quickly age to gray. Trim can be one of 5 approved colors which do not include any color brighter than driveway pavers. Every house on the island from the smallest salt-box to the largest seaside 20 room mansion is the same color. On the other hand, they have Lilly Pulitzer and Ralph Lauren (Lifschitz) on the island and the natives wear their stuff. Pink is really "in" if you are a guy, kind of like on Key West only you don't have to be gay (Not that it's a bad thing). Pink cable knit sweaters are de rigeur . Pants can be any color or all the colors at once and should have whales, lots of little whales. I guess they have an Island Average Color Factor as well so folks wear lots of color to balance out the gray cars and houses.

We ended the day with a nice dinner at Pi Pizza. They were a little busy so they did not have time to drain the pasta and the sauce was therefore a bit watery. The Chicken Parmesan was good but not great. We had sipped plenty of wine before going out to dinner so we had a side of water. We went home and popped a DVD into the player I brought with me and hooked up to the apartment TV. We watched an excellent movie which ended at midnight. My son, Andy Warhol, would be proud of us for our choice. It was a Julian Schnabel epic called "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly." It was a true story about the editor of Elle magazine who at age 42 suffered a stroke and could only blink one eye to communicate. The medical term for his condition was "Locked In." It was the Picture of the Year at the Cannes Film festival. Excellent movie if you don't need car chases and automatic weapon fire to entertain you.

Well, it's Monday morning and today I am going to go to the Wharf Rat Club to sit in on some racontouring. An island tradition for decades. It's a short walk from where we live and things get going about 9 am. I also have to call Santos Trash Pickup so I don't have to go to Madaket Mall to shop and drop.