Patti Digh has a wonderful post on her blog about appearances, and not judging people by appearances. I’d invite my readers to go visit Patti’s blog and read the story.
As a child, I learned to judge people based on their actions towards me and my friends, rather than on what others say about them or what they look like. One of my best friends has cerebral palsy and walks on crutches. I guess a lot of people don’t see who he really is, as all they ever see is the crutches.
Back when I first met Brad—when we were both attending Northeastern University—he looked liked a 12-year-old. Brad is one of the brightest and most brilliant writers I know—even if he doesn’t yet realize it himself. He was trained as a journalist, but in many ways he was never meant to be a reporter. Being a good writer and being a good reporter are very different things. He was never hard or cynical enough a person to be a good reporter.
To give you an idea of what kind of person Brad is, and why you should never judge people by appearances, I’d like to tell you about the day he and I went up to one of my favorite beaches in the world.
Halibut Point is a state park in Rockport, Massachusetts, up on Cape Ann. The park contains one of the oldest granite quarries in the state, and much of the granite that was pulled from this quarry was used to build the financial district in Boston. The beach itself is also made up of large granite boulders and slabs. This photo shows the autumn colors of the scrub brush along the beach.
One day, after I had been telling Brad about Halibut Point, he asked if we could go visit it, so he could see if for himself. So off we went up I-95 to Route 128, and up to Rockport. When we got to the park, we parked in the new state lot, rather than the older lot I used to use before Halibut Point became an official state park.
We headed down the trail that leads to the park headquarters, which are housed in a World War II-era anti-submarine fire control tower. The trails are heavily mulched and run through the New England coastal forest and scrub brush that make up much of the park. Walking on it is much like walking on a carpeted hallway. On the right is a screenshot of the satellite photo from Google Earth of the park and reservation with some landmarks labeled.
We took a look at the headquarters, which has some educational exhibits and a bit about the history of the park. Details about the Babson Farm Quarry, which developed the large quarry pit located in the center of the park, as well as about the history of the park headquarters building itself is here.
A little further along the trail is the quarry itself. The quarry is very large, and quite deep. It is quite beautiful, but swimming is not allowed, as the quarry is quite dangerous for swimmers. Walking around the quarry pit, the trail then branches and leads up to the overlook or down to the beach itself
We went over to the overlook. The park’s overlook allows you to see as far as some parts of Maine’s southern coast, as well as much of the Gulf of Maine. The overlook also towers over the beach itself.
From the overlook, Brad could see much of the beach, and almost down to the reservation end of the beach, and where the other trail head leads. He asked if we could walk down the beach to the other trailhead. I said, “Sure, that’s the end of the beach I normally visit.” So, we walked back down the trail and took the other branch down to the beach.
We started off across a beach that is made up of multi-ton boulders and slabs. Brad was on his crutches…and not at all deterred by the appearance of the beach terrain. What is normally a half-hour scramble for me, was an amazing two-hour walk for Brad and me. Brad didn’t need help for almost any of the beach crossing. There were a couple of spots where he just wasn’t tall enough to get by some of the boulders. Somewhere, I have a photo of Brad—on his crutches—in the middle of the beach with nothing but giant slabs and boulders as far as the eye can see around him. To the left is a photo of the beach at Halibut Point.
When we finally got to the other trailhead, and started up the trail, we met an woman who looked at Brad and said, “My aren’t you adventurous.” Since this trail was much like the others, and very similar to walking up a sloped, carpeted hallway, Brad and I looked at each other and just started laughing maniacally—both thinking that if she had arrived about fifteen minutes earlier and seen Brad walking on the beach, she would have died of a heart attack. She must have thought we were crazy, as she ran off… we were both laughing too hard to explain why we were laughing to her.
Recently, his wife, Cindy, told me, that he had finally taken her to the beach that she has heard so much about over the years. I’m glad that I’ve been able to share this beach I love with so many of the people who I care about. If you’re ever on Cape Ann… make sure to visit Gloucester, and then drop by Rockport and go see this amazing beach. On the right is a photo of Brad and Cindy on their wedding day, the same week I took the photos of Halibut Point seen in the post. If it wasn’t for the full beard and mustache, he’d look about 16 in this photo, when he’s actually over 30.
This is a good nature description: of rocks, beach, and bay; and of human nature of friendship. I like this story.
Thanks, this is one of my favorite memories from my friendship with Brad. He’s a wonderful person and a talented writer.
[...] Cape Ann, for those who don’t recognize the name, is the smaller of the two capes on the Massachusetts seacoast. Cape Cod, the larger and more commercialized cape, is the one that looks like a bent arm sticking out into the Atlantic. Cape Ann, is the much smaller, but just as important cape that has the historically significant port of Gloucester, and one of my favorite towns, Rockport. It is also home to one of my favorite beaches, Halibut Point State Park, which I wrote about earlier. [...]