Sometime in the middle of the day, Ted and I slipped out of the house in a mad quest for butternut squash. Not a single store was open, so we seized the opportunity for a short walk in town. While our family and guests entertained themselves at home, we took in the unseasonably warm weather and the quiet streets. It was the first time I've ever walked down Main Street without encountering a single person.
The boats were still and silent inside their winter covers; ducks cavorted in the harbor; there was nothing to be bought or sold on the streets; and even the homeless who gather in the park and in front of the post office had been invited inside. It had to be Christmas.
Meanwhile, some fantastic stories have been told in the comment section of my poll on holiday memories. So please if you've got one to share, jump in. And if not, don't miss the great reading!
14 comments:
Wow, looks so peaceful. No tourists.
And I just noticed the name change, must be slow on the uptake. I like it!!!
I love seeing Hyannis on Christmas. What a wonderful walk, Main Street all to yourselves. That's a gift. Like being transported to an earlier time, fewer people and the world moved much more slowly.
We took a walk around Boston common Christmas Day, and were amazed at how many people were doing the same. Families and couples, friends, out walking, it was reassuring and quietly festive.
It was so quiet here too. I love it when it's this quiet.
Alas, nothing good stays for too long and today we're almost back to the regular bustle.
Hope you had a good one :)
This is still so weird to me to see a post about a place in Massachusetts and to realise, THIS is where I, too, now live! I visited Hyannis for the first this last summer and liked it a lot.
It always amazes me how many more people move about on Christmas Eve/Day than, say, 20 years ago. Even in the big city where I grew up all became quiet and still, just for those 24 hours. Not so anymore. It's nice to see your photos, they evoke nice memories of the peaceful stillness.
The empty streets look so peaceful Patry. The solitude must be like a throwback to an earlier safer time. Happy New Year to you my friend.
R: No tourists, no natives, no cars...bliss.
r.d.: Yes, I thought of it exactly that way! Of being transported backward, and also forward to a vision of the time when all the people who seem such fixtures on the street--and me, too--will not be there, but the street, the town will continue.
finnegan: You're right. Kind of like the old Stones song. You set out looking for what you want, but come home with what you need. (And the squash wasn't missed from the dinner table at all.)
zhoen: I love Boston Common! It must have been truly lovely on this mild Christmas day.
melly: The quiet was truly amazing, and if I had been more organized with my shopping list and bought that squash, I would have missed it. Happy merry to you, my friend!
Kerstin: This picture of Main Street reminds me a bit of Noho--though I don't think I ever wandered the streets on Christmas day when I lived there. p.s. Loved your bridge photo!
p.v. Sometimes peace is the greatest gift; and quiet the greatest medium. And other times, you need to hear really loud music in a small venue. (That's one thing I learned from you this year!) Hope 2007 is a happy one for you, and that the only kind of roller coasters you ride are the kind you choose to board yourself.
Ah. America. It's been too long. Far far too long...
I love the pictures.
Wow! You're making me homesick. Maybe I knew you were from Mass but I forgot. Me too. Hull.
Wonderful pictures, Patry. Perfect timing, too. I'm finally reading Colorado Kid (SK). In my mind now, the setting will look like Hyannis. I can see one of the reporters coming out of that Fish and Chips place after talking to one of the waitresses....
What a great site »
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