My Version of Heaven

We all have that place, the place we go to when we are stressed, unhappy, overworked, tired or just want to get away from it all. It might be a second home, or your backyard; it might be the library or a nature trail at a local park.  But it is a place of serenity, peace and tranquility. A place where one can kick back and let go of the artifice to which we sometimes attach ourselves in order to fit in to the everyday routine.  It’s okay; life has to be mechanized at some level in order for us to function and be productive.  That being said, balance is integral to the emotional health of our species. Without it, we wither... so, where do you go? Where is your version of heaven?

My heaven is Cape Cod, specifically, what’s known as the Outer Cape, that peninsula of land from Orleans to Provincetown. On August 7, 1961, President John F Kennedy declared the Atlantic-facing section of this land the “Cape Cod National Seashore”...forty miles of pristine sandy beach, marshes, ponds and Atlantic coastal pine barrens which support diverse species of fauna and flora.  Henry David Thoreau, who traversed the dunes and beaches of the National Seashore, once wrote “A man may stand there and put all America behind him”. It has the feeling of foreverness. One of my friends who visited the Truro seashore with me said “it’s a whole lot of nothingness”.  I might say instead, “it’s everything...and all else melts away as if insignificant.”

For 25 years, at the end of August, we have rented a beach shack that sits on the sand on the “other coast”, the bay side of the Outer Cape.  When we arrive, I can literally feel the weight empty off my back.  I feel no rush to get anywhere, no deadline.  I don’t have any schedule.  In fact, my biggest decision is, should I walk to the bay beach from our shack or drive across to one of the National Seashore Beaches.  This spectacular hook of land which curves around the southeastern tip of Massachusetts is only 6,000 years old.  It’s mercurial and forever-shifting. Dunes soften and expand; tides ebb and flow in different patterns.  This transience only adds to its mystery and allure. You need not be rich, prestigious or famous to walk, camp or spend time here.  This is Everyman’s heavenly place on earth.  It’s for all of us. I’ve seen other stunning places in this world, and there is no place, bar none, where I would rather go. This is my heaven.  Thank you, Mr. President.