Notes From an Environmentalist; Assasination Attempt in Butler Pennsylvania, Ocean therapy on Crane's Beach.

              Reflections on a Summer Day

On July 13th a morning shower finally broke our string of ninety-degree weather and by the afternoon we were bathed in its warm summery glow.

It was perfect weather for the Ipswich Greek Picnic put on by our towns vibrant Greek community, people who had immigrated to America to work in the Ipswich lace company, then had gone on to establish the lucrative shellfish industry know country-wide.

But just as I was walking downstairs I caught a glimpse of my landlord’s television set. There was the frightening scene of former President Trump grabbing his ear and crumpling behind a lectern as at least eight shots rang out and secret service officers with long rifles ran across the stage, while others enveloped the stricken president before hustling him into an armored convoy.

I listened to crowds jostling and shouting menacingly, “You did this,” at journalists trying to cover the story.

It made my blood run cold. Was this the county I loved? Was this the kind of frightening chaos we could expect for the next four years?

Suddenly I realized I needed a quiet place to process what had just happened, so I turned my car around and drove to Crane’s Beach, not knowing quite what to expect.

My life has been bookended by our country’s history of history of assassination attempts. I remembered my family huddled around out television sets when President Kennedy was shot.

It was followed in short order by the assassination of Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King and the failed attempt on President Reagan’s life.

I didn’t know what to expect on the beach. The first people I saw were two young women on the boardwalk enthralled by a robber fly that had just captured a greenhead on the wing and a group of rangers helping a wheel chair bound woman into their off road vehicle.

When I reached the beach one couple was huddled over their phones intently replaying the horrific scene, so surreal on this placid summer day.

But mostly the beach was full of young and old families from Ipswich, France, Germany, India, Brazil, Ecuador and India, blissfully unaware of what had just happened in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Some were groups of friends studying in Boston, others immigrants supporting our economy and establishing their own businesses and careers.

The beautiful beach gave me hope. We can still be the young vibrant country of immigrants and locals pursuing the American dream; not the gun-toting, hate-filled scholeric country we just witnessed in Butler, Pennsylvania.