Perspectives on Providence

 

Yesterday, I spent the afternoon and evening in Providence, Rhode Island with my friend and former roommate Christopher Kain. 

One can take the MBTA Commuter Rail train from Boston to Providence and the trip lasts 1 hour and 15 minutes. At least when it's working. More on this later.

When I lived in Ottawa in the early to mid-1990s, I once remember having a peculiar dream which ended with me receiving a telephone call. I remember the area code was 401 which covers all of Rhode Island. So, I've long had a sense that Rhode Island would play a significant part in my life. The fact that I have spent more than decades in and around Boston has not dissuaded me from this sense. 

I have been to Providence and other parts of Rhode Island on a number of occasions since 2001. When the Boston Red Sox had their Triple AAA affiliate in Pawtucket, I took in several games including one with Christopher. Before he moved to Providence, Christopher and I went to Lincoln, Rhode Island - once to see Don Rickles in concert shortly before his death and once to swim at Lincoln Woods. I even had a job interview in Providence in 2017 during one of my periods of unemployment. The last time I was in Rhode Island prior to yesterday, Christopher and I went to a roadside tavern to see and hear our mutual friend Don Hammontree perform in October 2022. 

When things went south in Atlanta in May 2021, Providence was one of four cities I targeted by virtue of Christopher's presence. Indeed, I did an interview with a law firm in Providence for a records job. Of course, that would not come to pass, and I would return to the Boston area instead which I what I truly wanted in the first place.

Christopher has now lived in Providence for nearly six years, and he showed me around to his favorite haunts - the RISD (Rhode Island School of Design) Museum and the Providence Athenaeum. We passed through the campus of Brown University before making the trek to No Udder where I enjoyed some vegan soft serve ice cream. There are parts of Providence which remind me a great deal of both Boston and Cambridge although I gather one would get this sense in many places throughout New England. 

The temperature started out at 90 degrees which made for a long walk, but several thunderstorms would cool down the temperature considerably on our way back downtown. We may have been the only two people in Providence carrying umbrellas. Read into that what you will.

One question. Is it a state law that every store in Rhode Island must have a Del's Lemonade sign?

We got out of the rain to have dinner at the Malted Barley which specializes in pretzel sandwiches. From there, we made our way to the Providence River to attend WaterFire, a series of bonfires lit along the river. Not only was the spectacle impressive, so were the sounds. I was struck by the introspective and reflective music played to accompany the bonfire and was pleasantly surprised to hear Nick Drake's "Know" and "Houston in Two Seconds" by Ry Cooder from the soundtrack of Paris, Texas among the selections. As it happens, Paris, Texas is among my favorite movies. 

Of course, all good things must come to an end. My initial plan was to catch the 11:25 p.m. commuter rail train back to Boston. However, when I contacted the MBTA on Friday, I was notified there was a good chance the last Red Line train would have departed by the time I arrived at South Station at 12:40 a.m. So, I adjusted my plan to take the 9:25 p.m. train back to Boston.

This is when calamity ensued.

Christopher led me back to the Providence train station. Despite the bonfires on the rivers, it was still quite dark, and I ended up tripping on a step. If I hadn't blocked the fall with my hands, I would have surely knocked out some teeth and perhaps broken my nose. As it turned out, I bloodied my right knee and tore my pants. But this would be the least of my problems. 

As we were about to enter the station, Christopher observed how busy it was inside. We soon found out why. There were a series of train cancellations. I looked online and discovered that a tree had fallen on the tracks at Canton Junction. Christopher then remarked that with all of our technology one damn tree could throw everything into chaos.

With the commuter rail out of commission for the foreseeable future, this left us with two options. Either I could remain overnight in Providence with Christopher, or he could drive me back into Massachusetts and drop off me at the beginning of the MBTA Red Line at Braintree. We chose the latter course of action.

This meant that we would have to walk about 20 minutes to fetch Christopher's car and then drive on into the night, a very dark night with precious little lighting. Christopher asked me to navigate our way from I-95 North to Braintree station via I-93 North. Thank goodness for Google. Despite the challenges, we arrived at Braintree station safely and I got on the Red Line and arrived at my door just past midnight. 

More than 30 years after that dream, I still don't know what role Rhode Island (and perhaps Providence in particular) will have in my life. But I do know that I will have other chances to find out in future visits with Christopher.