The Maine coast is beautiful, in a serene, expansive way. I walked the Marginal Way path yesterday, from beginning to end, where I found a seaside bar with seats facing the water. I ordered a blueberry lemonade, and the four people who sat next to me ordered the same, but with vodka. I also had a small pot of lobster bisque.

A sign on the path showed a stack of rocks encircled in red and crossed out, with an admonition to keep nature wild. I liked this, and it stood in strong contrast to the west coast. I reasoned this coastline looks better without the whimsy of hippie impulses.

Another decidedly east coast thing is asking women with long hair to wear swim bonnets. I’ve only seen this in Europe and New England. A few years back I tried to think of a swim bonnet that would actually fit my head and hair. I’m actually a terrible inventor. My mind rarely strays from the known when I’m trying to invent something new, and I don’t get far.

Well it turns out that black women have a similar problem, and they’ve already invented very cute swim bonnets that fit lots of hair. So I’ll have to purchase one since the east coast will certainly be my home for at least 1.5 more years of waived homeowner capital gains, and I’m likely to go swimming again in that time!

The first and only weekend I’ve left my child for multiple days is when she “decided” she didn’t need her G-Tube anymore. More accurately, the balloon burst in her stomach and popped out when dad went to do the daily cleaning of the site. We opted to leave it out, as it would have even removed by a nurse in a couple weeks anyway. But she has a history of popping her sacs and coming out early! I offered to come home early but dad says they’re okay.

So I’m enjoying blueberry pancakes across the street from the Ogunquit drag club. I find myself wondering if they have a Sunday drag brunch, if it will still be held, and, had I known, I would have showed up in solidarity. Instead I share memes of the defaced Focus on the Family sign, and admonish my family members again for judging and not embracing LGBTQ+ folks—little good an admonishment does, except make people uncomfortable and defensive.