{"id":1377,"date":"2018-09-27T20:36:27","date_gmt":"2018-09-27T20:36:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/juliacore.com\/beyondthebarre\/?p=1377"},"modified":"2019-06-08T20:32:54","modified_gmt":"2019-06-08T20:32:54","slug":"kayak-for-empty-nesters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/juliacore.com\/beyondthebarre\/2018\/09\/27\/kayak-for-empty-nesters\/","title":{"rendered":"Kayak for Empty Nesters"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tom and I are adjusting to our newly acquired freedom. It feels like when you get used to carrying a bag on your shoulder and suddenly there\u2019s no need for a bag \u2014 something’s missing, forgotten, lost. Such became our Sundays.<\/p>\n

Still on my autopilot, I wake up with a list. Or the list wakes me up. Over the last 20-something years, The Sunday List has been my beacon of light: laundry, breakfast, meal plans for the week ahead, house cleanup, lunch, food shopping, occasional chauffeuring. And the deadline \u2014 dinner time. Every week.<\/p>\n

Slowly, things started to loosen up. Everyone is washing their own clothes now and laundry is doable on weekdays. Same is for the shortened food shopping lists. Circadian rhythms drifting in opposite directions and conflicting schedules cut family meal times to occasional dinners together. Newly acquired drivers licenses eliminate the need for a chauffeur.<\/p>\n

On August 30, 2018, everything became very different \u2014 no one needs us from this day on. They all are off. It\u2019s now me and Tom.<\/p>\n

Changes aside, my mind and energy are still in that high gear of The Sunday List days. During the week, this energy pours into the studio. Sundays are different. After thirty years of living for my children and and their schedules, it turns out I didn\u2019t mind it \u2014 I like being busy and moving. But it takes time and effort to refocus this energy back to yourself.<\/p>\n

In our previous life, many a times Tom would come home from work with this head-in-the-shoulders look \u2014 sorry, have to work this weekend. How much I hated that! In our new life, these dreadful announcements don\u2019t sound that dreadful anymore. Working weekend? Great. Let\u2019s drive in together, meet in the city once you\u2019re done and do something. We\u2019ve discovered places, exhibits, gone out to eat, watched movies, shows, reunited with friends, with each other.<\/p>\n

This Sunday started the same. We drove in together. Tom went off to make money. I went off\u00a0to spend it: took my class, had a snack, ventured onto a High Line and learned to stay away from it on weekends \u2014 worse than Times Square. At Landmark 57, there was a movie with one of my favorite people, Gael Garcia Bernal. After four hours of sleep and nine hours of work on a weekend, Tom agreed to watch it with me. Landmark 57 is so great: nine rows with 12 seats each, full bar and nice pub fare.<\/p>\n

The movie is over and Tom is somehow different \u2014 something is up. I can tell.<\/p>\n

\u2014 So, Tom. What do you think?
\n\u2014 Yeah, the movie? It\u2019s great. Gael Garcia? Right, so good. By the way, do you remember I sent you that link?
\n\u2014 Which one? \u2014 Tom always sends me links to the cool stuff he stumbles upon while doing research for his work.
\n\u2014 About the kayak.
\n\u2014 Sort of. Why? \u2014 my mind is on a Middle Eastern restaurant I\u2019ve discovered in the morning.
\n\u2014 Do you want to go get it?
\n\u2014 Now?
\n\u2014 We\u2019re here.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re here. Whatever that means. We’re on the corner of 57th and 12th in Manhattan, our car is by 30 Rock, and the kayak is in Brooklyn somewhere between Bensonhurst and Coney Island. Yes, for those of us from the grand state of New Jersey, this five-borough town is just that \u2014 one thing. We are here.<\/p>\n

\u2014 But the car? Don\u2019t you think our big car would be better to transport it? \u2014 my last feeble attempt for grilled octopus.
\n\u2014 So, you don\u2019t want it?<\/p>\n

Of course I do!<\/p>\n

And here we go: FDR, Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, Ocean Parkway, looking for Avenue J, listening to some Jeep kids on our left quizzing \u2014 over our heads \u2014 a Porsche guy on our right on how high he can floor it. He floors it higher than them and us. How is it possible not to love the let\u2019s-live-the-life vibe of this town? So good to be a part of it right here, right now.<\/p>\n

Our destination is under the elevated F train. Metal doors with peepholes between barred windows. The street is empty. It\u2019s getting dark. Our lonely little Honda Fit looks orphaned. Here\u2019s the door, we buzz in. Contrary to his towering appearance, Kayak Mike is as friendly and laid back as can be considering it\u2019s Sunday night and his son\u2019s birthday. He stayed late and waited just for us.<\/p>\n

Kayaks of all colors and kinds cover the floor and the walls of the outdoor courtyard. We make up our mind quickly. The question is now how do we get it home. The blue two-seater is almost twice the size of our car. And we have no roof rack. Necessity is crafty, isn\u2019t it. A couple of bubble wrap layers on the roof to prevent scratching and sliding, some rope from the nearby convenience store \u2014 and we\u2019re on our way home.<\/p>\n

Google maps suggest an hour and a half route through Staten Island. These are our ninety minutes of the Kingda Ka ride. Right hand turn onto the Belt Parkway is like a dive off the cliff. Merge on the Verrazzano lower level at almost 45\u00b0 tilt feels like the end of it all. I sit on my hands. We don\u2019t talk and don’t look at each other. I don\u2019t think we breathe. Staten Island Express Parkway goes by in a blur: is the kayak moving up there?.. sliding?.. what\u2019s this sound?.. are we flipping?.. when is New Jersey?.. I feel numb.<\/p>\n

Goethals Bridge is a home coming bridge.<\/p>\n

Now we are on a Jersey soil and it feels that if the kayak falls off here \u2014 so be it \u2014 we\u2019re home. Not. The reality of the Turnpike sets in right away \u2014 Elizabeth, Newark\u2026 Newark?.. It\u2019s almost home\u2026 Only\u2026 45 more minutes?.. No! A stretch on Route 80 lies ahead\u2026 Then, there’s 17\u2026 \u201cThe traffic there\u2019s mean\u2026\u201d Here\u2019s Century Road exit, at last! Worse comes to worst, from this point, we can walk home.<\/p>\n

And the best road sign ever \u2014\u00a0Ridgewood Avenue, Keep Right.<\/p>\n

We do.<\/p>\n

Once the car takes that right hand clover turn onto Ridgewood Avenue, we exhale, sit up, and look at each other. Tom smiles. It’s a teenage moment \u2014 we pulled this one off, what\u2019s next?<\/p>\n

Intensity of this transportation took over to the point I forgot about the phone and taking pictures. So here\u2019re some views of what came next. It was worth it.<\/p>\n

This is our new baby, nice and blue, chairs, oars, and all.<\/p>\n

\"Kayak<\/p>\n

And this is beautiful Barnegat Bay \u2014 off season \u2014 barely anybody here today.<\/p>\n

\"Barnegat<\/p>\n

Clam Action! We have to fulfill our duty and deliver to our Thanksgiving table a pot of clam chowder traditionally made with Jersey clams.<\/p>\n

\"Tom<\/p>\n

The catch of the day. We did get some a week before and hopefully will make a few more trips before the weather and the water start getting colder.<\/p>\n

\"Kayak<\/p>\n

Yes, the sunset looks divine. Seeing this, all I can think of is a massive mosquito cloud descending upon us as Tom, in pitch black, is strapping the kayak to the car and me waving a beach towel over him. Not sure whether it is more helpful or annoying to him, though. Once Tom is done, we cross to the other side of Island Beach State Park, the ocean side, pull up our beach chairs right to the water, and have our dinner under the moonlight, with no one in sight.<\/p>\n

\"Sunset<\/p>\n

P.S. An afterthought: shouldn\u2019t Staten Island be a part of New Jersey? Look at the border line \u2014 how they forced it to the left. No?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tom and I are adjusting to our newly acquired freedom. It feels like when you get used to carrying a bag on your shoulder and suddenly there\u2019s no need for a bag \u2014 something’s missing, forgotten, lost. Such became our Sundays. Still on my autopilot, …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1376,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-comfort-zone"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/juliacore.com\/beyondthebarre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/juliacore.com\/beyondthebarre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/juliacore.com\/beyondthebarre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juliacore.com\/beyondthebarre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juliacore.com\/beyondthebarre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1377"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/juliacore.com\/beyondthebarre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1377\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2036,"href":"https:\/\/juliacore.com\/beyondthebarre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1377\/revisions\/2036"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juliacore.com\/beyondthebarre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/juliacore.com\/beyondthebarre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juliacore.com\/beyondthebarre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juliacore.com\/beyondthebarre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}