Sunday, April 11, 2010

Getting off the Roller Coaster


Amusement parks were not a mainstay of my life growing up. We had the annual county fair, a much-anticipated event, which arrived in mid-August and lasted four days.  I revisited those days last October while sharing my account of a visit to the Fryeburg Fair here in Maine. But, we rarely had encounters with amusement parks, only once in awhile with the one found on the shores of Lake Bemidji, where we would travel every summer via train to visit our cousins. It had a Paul Bunyan theme, as they seem to in northern Minnesota.




After my return to Maine a few weeks ago, I realized there's a park right down the beach from me, the only oceanfront amusement park in New England. It's closed for the season, but that's what intrigued me. I  was drawn in by the atmosphere it creates which drifts a bit towards the melancholy. Apparently, it's a hoppin' joint in the summertime with over two hundred arcade games and rides for kids of all ages including us grown up ones.  I was particularly smitten by the empty roller coasters. It seemed a fitting metaphor for my time here: getting off the roller coaster of life, especially the emotional aspects of it, and getting grounded.








There's a pier jutting out into the water, with one food shack after another, offering everything from ice cream to the now ubiquitous chicken wings. I was intrigued by the structure and couldn't resist a photo or two. Or three. Possibly several.








When I headed back down the beach towards home, my inclination was to walk closer to the amusement park, keeping an eye out for other photo opps. But, I found myself walking down closer to the water, not consciously choosing to, but moving to where I felt led. Looking down, I saw that the two people who had been sitting there a few minutes earlier had left a message in the sand. I love getting messages from the Universe, especially through people who might not even be aware that they were angels in that moment. It was a variation on a theme I had recently been encountering in a variety of places, things I'd read, songs I'd heard, both on the radio and running through my head. It is probably, no, it is, the singular most important thing to remember as we navigate through life:





 Love is Beautiful, indeed.



9 comments:

  1. I think this is my favorite post, ever, of yours. Well, so far, I mean. I love the whole metaphor idea and truly believe that's what it is/was. The photographs are fabulous. I especially love the pier photos. Wow.

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  2. Oh this is a lovely post:) Such a beautiful little gift in the sand. I was brought back as I read right in the beginning of your post when you spoke of the annual county fair that I was privy to for years and then thinking about roller coaster rides or any rides for that matter, I recalled a time when I was about 5 or 6 years old and I went on the Octopus ride with my cousins and when the ride was over I was found by mama on the floor of our little octopus "car" and I think she described my skin color as green! LOL... and then I thought of Grandma and how she gave us quarters and we would spin the color wheel at one game stand and I remember the duckie game as well...and playing bingo...I miss grandma, I love those memories....thanks for the trip down memory lane and the laughs, love you!

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  3. Great pics! I do find the emptiness of the fair strange, yet drawn to it.

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  4. Cheryl: Thanks so much! I couldn't stop taking pictures of the pier. It was at low tide, of course. When the tide is in it's a different story, which I will also have to record : )

    Dani: Aren't those fair memories the best? Thanks for reading and commenting, dear girl. I feel Mom's presence here with me every day.

    TM: we seem to be kindred spirits.

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  5. The leggy piers with sheds atop remind me of various SF fims I've seen over the years. They look like insects that could amble off on those strong legs and tower over the countryside. The message in the sand would linger behind them until the next tide and the beach would return to its natural state as if they had never been there.

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  6. Exactly! Love your storyline to match the images. Cool! It would make a great "short film."

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  7. Teresa, you captured the melancholy that lingers around an amusement park...all that 'life' waiting to happen, the transient people, the sideshows that we wonder are real or not (but hoping they are, and for me, the end of summer, the faint wisp of fall on a hot summer's day and how I'd long for today's happy laughter. Great post!

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  8. "Art" Is the joy in us that fills it's own purpose...We are creatures of 'feeling' always seeking...Interactions are constant and we sort out the colors...These gifts are all around us in every stage and scenery...With no end in sight as even we sleep...It just gets better and magnified infinitely...As we go off alone and find our self...Meditation does not fully do it you see...Nature does it so completely...

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  9. Bill, thank you, so much, for these beautiful thoughts. The opening phrase speaks directly to my heart, "Art" is the joy in us that fills its own purpose." Yes. Exactly. And, every phrase thereafter supports that idea beautifully. Very nice. Thank you, really.

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