Nostaglia

When I was young my family went to Chatham in the summer, to visit a friend and former neighbor . I can remember leaning on her split rail fence and watching meteor showers, or shooting stars as we called them back then. The sky was full of stars and it was not unusual to see two meteor bursts at the same time. It was one of the most magical moments of my life. Our hostess Yvonne had a thick French accent and wore her silver hair swept up in a twist. She always appeared with sparkling drop earrings, red lipstick and high heels, even when wearing slacks, which was unusual at that time. I slept in a downstairs bedroom on a silk covered feather bed. In her bathroom was a large jar of potpourri, redolent with spices and roses from her yard. We went to Cockle Cove beach, which was just down the street across from her home. She had a sister named Gem, and a cat for whom she would go to the Chatham pier daily to get fresh fish. She worked at the Chatham Bars Inn and had made friends with coworkers who had somewhat unusual pets: descented skunks named Arpege and Chanel.

Reportedly last evening there were shooting stars aplenty in the sky, but it was too cloudy here to see them. The meteor shower currently gracing our skies is called The Perseids because, when viewing it, the meteors appear to emanate from the constellation Perseus, which is also known as Perseides. The Perseids occur each summer when Earth moves through debris that was scattered when the Swift-Tuttle comet passed by Earth's orbit in 1992. Obviously the showers I saw as a child were from a different source, but it is comforting to know that some events continue to occur like clockwork. Then...now. When I visit Cockle Cove next I will close my eyes for a moment and revisit the sweetness of summers past.