CommuniKate

Here in Ptown we are basking in the sunny knowledge that just a few nautical miles away, the Obamas are enjoying this lovely late summer day. Maybe Michelle took the girls boogie boarding; Barrack is playing golf, then he’ll meet up with them for a late swim. Maybe I’m projecting. If Barack is like me, and because he’s president it’s best if he isn’t, after a couple days he won’t want to go back.

On behalf of our little town, I have invited the Obamas over from Oak Bluffs for a late lunch, but I haven’t heard anything. The high seas from Hurricane Bill have flattened, the air is still and the heat has broken. They could take a ferry over. Good thing they didn’t come last week.

Carnival, one of the last blowout theme weeks of the summer is over and the town seems to be heaving a sigh of relief. Again, my projection. With our geographical extremis some have called Ptown the largest open-air mental ward in the world. I’d only go as far as largest on the northern coast. Have you been to Key West? But Ptown Carnival is sanctioned, encouraged craziness and it was five days of parades, parties, tea dances and being over-served, though I think Sasha and Malia would have gotten a kick out of Miss Richfield 1981 hosting drag brunch.

Carnival is like what Labor Day weekend used to be: one last blowout before September and the school return. Since schools are all on staggered starts now, kids start back to school and sports practice at different times. Already the town seems less intensely busy, the sun sets earlier and the beach grasses have sent out the memo to stop producing chlorophyll.

Not that we’re fresh out of parties. This weekend is the much-anticipated Stage One Production of the D-Word with Lily Tomlin, hosted by moi. It’s a sold out benefit for our new Bark Park and Lily has planned to perform some of her beloved classic characters. After that event and despite our best efforts, August will end and though Labor Day has wiggled its way deeper than ever into September, I am already feeling that unnatural fondness for knee socks. Though I do love the fall and look forward to shows throughout the country, I have enjoyed riding my new Schwinn to work each day.