(Community Matters) Barbara Woghlemuth made a terrific dinner – including fresh sea bass & a cherry pie – for the four of us last night. Hal McIntosh & Eric Varity (who’ve been together for 30 years) joined us. I met these two at Kay’s memorial service 3, years ago and fast feel in love.
Barbara, Eric & Hal
Hal’s a distinguished artist who first came to the Cape nearly 60 years ago, coming every summer since. He originally traveled to here to work for the Jerry Farnsworth, the famous portrait artist who ran an art school in N. Truro. Hal rented one of two small shacks on the bay, under the cold storage building where fish were stored, packed in ice, then sent by rail to Boston. Last night, Hal was telling us there was a tower out in the bay on which fish were hung on wires which carried them to the cold storage building. The wires ran over Hal’s shack. I loved the imagery of this and his mention that sometimes they’d drop on top of his house. Also, how when he was having someone over for dinner, he’s yell up at the guys on the cold storage building, “hey, I have guest tonight, can you throw down a couple of mackrel.”
When I first met Hal, he mentioned Farnsworth paid him $0.25/day, though Hal would pay him back $0.10/day to use his shower since the shack had neither water or electricity. At night and weekends, Hal’d go into Provincetown and sketch portraits of tourists, saving every penny to travel back to Japan. As it turned out, just as he’d reached $3,500, another shack just up the beach became available so he used his Japan money to purchase it. It’s still where he and Eric stay every summer and is affectionately known as the N. Truro Beach Club. Friends come down and use the daily raked section of the bay beach where Eric & Hal set up umbrellas and chairs.
Eric is a master craftsman who keeps way too busy both here during the summers and in Winter Park, FL during their winters. He’s taking us dune riding this afternoon.
There are way many stories of artists, writers and performers who hung out in this part of the Cape during the 20s, 30, 40s, 50s and 60s. Steven and I talked on the telephone last night. I really really want to start spending more time here. I refind a little bit of my heart everytime I’m back.
Community Matters 