Penny Candy For Your Thoughts?

Penny Candy“I am having the worst day and I want to throw every dish in my house into the fireplace… Any chance you could go for a dog walk with me? I need to get out of my house. Help!”

I got this text from “Cee Cee” yesterday just after lunch. When you get a text like that from one of your relatively level-headed friends, you come up with a plan. Cee Cee is the mother of two young children who lives around the corner from me. Cee Cee got some news that she just didn’t want to hear. We all have bad days. I have had more than my fair share in the past few weeks.

“What time do you have to meet the bus for the kids?” I texted back

“The husband said he would pick them up. I am free for a few hours.”

“I will pick you up at 2:30” – And I did. Now this was a big deal. Cee Cee and I had never left the neighborhood together. Our time is spent teaming up to walk our giant dogs and an occasional snack on the porch. Cee Cee needed an extraction – and I knew EXACTLY what to do: Beach Therapy!

When I got to her house, I could tell she was frazzled and had been crying. “Let’s go.” I gave Cee Cee a short tour around Centerville (where I grew up) and even drove slowly past the house my family lived in until I was in high school. From there I took her to the 1856 Country Store to load up on penny candy. We bought enough gummy candies (bears, fish, worms, peach rings and centipedes) to give any candy-loving child a tummy ache for a week. I am sure the woman at the counter thought we had children waiting patiently in the car. There were no children today: just two adult women who needed a break from being grown-ups. I drove the car towards Craigville Beach and took a hard right down Long Beach Road.

Like many people, I prefer our beaches in the “off-season.” The beach isn’t jammed with families looking for afternoon activities. It was still warm enough that we didn’t need jackets, and still cool enough for the hot spiced cider.

Gummies in hand and a thermos with hot spiced cider, we walked down the woodsy path that opens up to the sand spit known as Long Beach. We plopped down—no blankets or chairs—and and watched cars and bikes cross the old bridge dividing Centerville and Osterville. Cee Cee unloaded her frustrations. I listened. I understood why she was so upset. We swapped a few more stories and watched the minnows flip the water in the shallows.

I knew we wouldn’t be completely alone on the beach this afternoon, but I find the people who do walk on the beach this time of year are a little bit friendlier… and most of them have dogs. All sizes, bouncy, excited dogs eager to fetch and chase each other in the sand and water. Yes. You are supposed to leash your dog on the beach, but this is OUR beach again. Let the dogs run around and have some fun. Responsible dog owners keep a close eye on their pups. More than once people called their dogs over and tethered them when they saw two women sitting in the sand by the beach grass. Again and again we told them the dogs weren’t a bother. Again and again, we laughed as we were run over, barreled into and jumped on by happy, slobbery, sandy soaking wet dogs. In turn, Cee Cee slowly returned to her happy self—albeit a little sandy.

I can’t say that gummy worms and wet puppies can solve the world’s problems, but they can be a good distraction for a few hours.

About Cat Wilson

Cat Wilson is "That Girl" on Cape Country 104 – a Cape Cod native and longtime Cape radio personality. She is a passionate supporter of Military and Veteran causes on the Cape and also hosts local music spotlight program, “The Cheap Seats” on Ocean 104.7.

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