I ♥ Salem

Today was the first sunny day all week, so I walked downtown to get out of the house. I walked around Salem Common for an hour to get some much-needed exercise. I love Salem Common. Not only is it an important part of the history of the city (Revolutionary War militias practiced shooting on the Common), but it is a vital part of the community of Salem today. Tour buses line the outside of the Common, waiting for those stragglers who inevitably hold everybody else up and prevent the bus from leaving on time. Other than that, not many tourists venture into the Common, because they tend to overlook it in favor of the nearby Salem Witch Museum. But the lack of tourists in the Common is why I like it so much. I stroll around it on weekends, or like today, when I just want to get out of the house and feel like I'm a part of the community. And I do. I see the same people walking their dogs, riding their bikes with their kids, jogging, etc. Passing the same people, and giving or getting that nod of recognition, if not an actual "hello" (and for a native New Yorker, it took me by surprise at first how many strangers say Hello when they pass me), it makes me feel like I'm part of the Salem community. In fact, I ran into someone on the Common today who mistook me for my sister. Validation!



Training Day on the Common, 1808 (Courtesy Peabody Essex Museum)

Today I saw an interesting thing on the Common. In addition to the usual Common-dwellers, I saw a guy in a bear costume. Or rather, the head was from a bear costume, and the body was a gorilla suit. I don't know why this guy was wearing this costume, but he was walking through the Common with a group of friends. When I walked around the Common on one of my rounds, I saw this bearilla swinging on the swingset. I so wanted to take a picture of him with the camera in my cell phone, but it would have looked obvious if I took out the phone in front of him. So I walked around again, and took out my phone with enough time to spare so that when I passed him again, it would look like I was talking on my cell phone. Then I could inconspicuously snap his picture. Unfortunately, when I came around to the swings again, he was gone. I saw him and his friends walking out of the Common. Given that it was 75 degrees today, he must have been very hot in his costume. Upon seeing him I said to myself the thing I always find myself saying as a resident of this city: "Only in Salem."

Other than the rare bearilla sighting, downtown Salem was the usual mix of tourists, residents, professional people, a few wiccans, the emo kids hanging out in groups downtown just to be seen (sometimes until 8 or 9 at night - don't they have homes to go to?), and the goth girls in full "Ruby Gloom" regalia, complete with parasols to protect their gothly pallor. I bought a bubble tea, which I can see becoming a bad habit this summer. As I was drinking it, forcing the tapioca bubbles up through the giant straw, it occurred to me that, the law of physics being what it is, it's possible to force the tapioca bubbles out of the straw too. I immediately had images of bubble tea fights, with tapioca bubbles being shot out of straws like spitballs. I wonder how much damage they could inflict? I'd imagine tapioca bubbles would simply bounce off of someone's forehead, whereas spitballs would stick to it.

Whenever I go downtown, it makes me realize how happy I am living here. Apart from the large tourist industry generated by the city's turbulent past as the home of the infamous witch trials, Salem has a lot to offer: an interesting maritime history, a world-class museum, coffee and tea cafes, an independent bookstore, a local movie theater, lots of interesting boutiques, and great places to eat. While I struggle with what to do with myself in terms of a job, I feel like I've gotten part of the equation right. I love where I live.

Tomorrow my sister and I are going to go to Rockport for the day. It's a seaside town with a beach and lots of interesting little shops. Every time I go there I feel like I'm on vacation. I haven't been there since last summer, so I'm really looking forward to going.