SISTER RAIN NANTUCKET WEEK X2
3 / 10
I had read about the Sconset Bluff Walk months prior to our trip, learning that it is on a public footpath along the east shore’s high bluffs behind private houses. The trail is very narrow at times and is not level. While the views are fantastic, this location would be difficult to explore for anyone with ambulatory concerns.
I wanted to do this Bluff Walk badly, but that last part of the description concerned me, as well as my husband. I began reaching out to my contacts in the low vision community, asking what tools they knew about that could help me to safely finish this mission. No one had a viable solution. And then I thought of walking sticks which led me to the idea of trekking poles. We went to our local REI store where a kind and knowledgeable man, after hearing about my visual impairment and my goal, chose a pair of trekking poles for me. They were the first thing I put in the car when we loaded up before leaving for Nantucket.
In Sconset, we parked near the foot bridge, then we began to walk in between quaint houses on either side of a shelled road, leading us to the rotary by the Sconset Market, continuing further, we were along the ocean and on the Bluff Walk.
The trekking poles saved me. If I had had to hang on to Mister Rain we would not have gotten more than a few steps. There are tree roots along the path. As advertised, it is very slim in spots. When other bluffers were coming up behind us, my husband and I would step off the path to allow them to pass. I expected the terrain to be all sand, but it was at times additionally crushed shells, dirt, grass and a little macadam. You pass wild rose bushes and travel through tiny cedar forests.
The Sconset Library is located on the trail, along with a set of large shells with jokes written on their tops. To reveal the punch line, you simply turn them over.
To one side are large summer homes with beautifully manicured lawns and gardens. The other, a grand expanse of the Atlantic Ocean. It became foggy and cloudy intermittently, but the water was so blue, the beach such a contrasting light color, that even with my sight limitations plus the height of the bluff we were on, I could tell this was breathtaking.
As I was trudging along, concentrating on every foot and pole placement, I began to silently cry, tears rolling down my cheeks until I tasted their salt on my lips. For once there was no comparison as to how fully sighted Sister Rain would have easily navigated this path, which is the frequent internal dialogue going on in my head as I go about my life. During the entire endeavor, I knew exactly who I am. I was totally present, wholly aware of where I was, how damn lucky I was to be there.
We reached the end of the Bluff Walk. I had done it. It had taken me over an hour to walk the one mile bluff path when most can complete it in 30 minutes. We decided to take the road, Baxter Road, back. I was exhausted. It took another half hour to return to our car.
Completing the Sconset Bluff Walk was the challenge of a lifetime, its memory is strong within me. I will never compete in the Paralympics nor will I reach the summit of Mount Everest, but if I had had a flag that day with Sister Rain’s logo on it, I would have planted it in triumph at the finish.
In this place that for 20 years has given me so much enjoyment through words on a page, I was proud of myself, and I am rarely proud. Although we had several more days in Nantucket ahead of us, on the easternmost part of an island in the Atlantic, on a high bluff above sand and sea, I found all the components of a great book. And a very happy ending.
Epilogue:
The next day my husband saw an art show happening on Federal Street off of Main that he wanted to check out. It was the Artists Association of Nantucket Wet Paint Weekend. I waited on a bench outside The Hub, feeling tired from the treacherous bricks on Main Street. After awhile, I made my way down towards the entrance of the art show, just as Mister Rain was headed to meet me. He had a bag in his hand, which he gave to me. I pulled out a matted photo of the beginning of the Sconset Bluff Walk by Bill Hoenk Photography. When we returned home to Pennsylvania, I framed it. It now hangs above my dresser by my jewelry box so that I see it every day and remember what I am capable of. My Everest.
#sisterrain #alittlesightalotofheart #legallyblindtraveler #travel #nantucket #nantucketmassachusetts #sisterrainnantucketweekx2 #nantucketislandchamberofcommerce #siasconset #sconset #sconsetbluffwalk #rei #sconsetmarket #thehub #artistsassociationofnantucketwetpaintweekend #billhoenkphotography #icallmyownbluffeverest
