Di and I - A Royal Wedding Story

When Diana married Prince Charles 30 years ago, I couldn’t be bothered watching the royal wedding. Preoccupied with my (unhappy) love life, financially insolvent, divorced from any sense of direction vis-à-vis my own life, the very notion of a “Princess Diana” was an irritant and an affront to me. Little girls wanted to be princesses; grown women wanted to go mano a mano with life itself & were seekers of sterner satisfactions. Plus there was the revolutionary feminist angle to consider as well. Enlightened women all over the world were striding forward in search of fulfilling careers, while Diana was striding ahead towards…marriage to a very wealthy older man she barely knew. How uncool was that? She seemed pathetically out of step with the times, this blushingly ornamental 19-year old nursery school teacher, with her big hats and little white gloves and demure downward glances. I myself hadn’t donned little white gloves or a hat since the age of 11, and while admittedly I myself hadn’t exactly laid much groundwork in terms of a future career - preferring instead to devote myself to a steady diet of fiction reading, complaining about my boyfriend’s lack of motivation, and discussing the relative merits of Zigzag versus Bambu rolling papers with my friends – I knew success lay ahead, just waiting for me to get my act together and claim it. Didn’t Diana know the times they were a-changing? And what was up with the humiliating public virginity test? Even more humiliatingly, she actually passed it. Please. She was SO not me.

But then…life started doling out the hits, like it always does. Diana started demonstrating all sorts of unfortunate self-control/impulse-control problems. Hey, me too! She made terrible romantic choices. So did I! She was stuck for years in a bad marriage. Weird, that happened to me as well. She was an escapist shopaholic, a partier, a woman who fiddled while Rome burned. Me too again. She had body image issues. Understandable, so did I. She felt hopelessly trapped by circumstances from which she believed she couldn’t escape. As did I, for more years than I care to admit. Then she got divorced. Guess what? Me too - although I actually had her beat there, I got divorced twice. The similarities continued to multiply, trumpeted by tabloid headlines around the globe. I no longer regarded her as a vapid twit; instead, she began to take on the personna of some kind of weird doppelganger, an avatar bent on conquering my own difficulties. Diana – like me -fell over and over again, but the thing I admired about her was that whenever she fell, she got right back up. Irespected that. Even more to the point, she was a survivor. Until of course, she wasn’t. But that tunnel waits for us all in the end, n’est pas? In that too I will resemble her.

In any case, the longer Diana was out there as a public figure, the more she began to seem like Everywoman, not just for me but for the women of my generation. Most of us spent a large portion of our formative years in a world dominated by the concepts of “ladies”, “wives & mothers”, of taffeta petticoats & little white gloves & dreams of being princesses, a world that pretty much stopped existing right around 1968 or so. There was this inchoate sense of disconnect between the bedrock assumptions & expectations that had been instilled in us as girl children and the new social realities & roles that had come into being when we were teenagers, and which we were now expected to assume as adults. Left to my own devices, I couldn’t make the two parts join up, no matter how hard I tried. Diana taught me how by articulating that struggle on a world stage. The only way out is through. It’s a very helpful lesson to learn.

So. Fast forward to now. Another royal marriage is on the horizon, but this time my attitude’s changed. Its time for a new princess, and I think Kate will make a good one. I've come to understand that women need princesses even if they don’t believe in them, need them to watch and to criticize and to love and to learn from. Will I watch Prince William’s wedding? You bet. After all, I grew up with his mother. In fact, she showed me how.

Iconic Ads

I was driving on Bald Hill Road in Warwick the other day. While stopped at a red traffic light, I looked up and noticed the street sign “Ginsu Way”. I was immediately reminded of the 1970’s when the Ginsu knife was at its peak of popularity, largely because of its savvy promotional techniques. Who can forget the lively demonstration of the knife that could cut through wood, tin cans, and even frozen food, but still remain “razor sharp” and slice a delicate tomato? I believe this Rhode Island based company may even have possibly started the “infomercial”. I started thinking of other iconic names that evoke images with instant recognition. For example, I thought about “Popeil” and his classic line “But wait, there’s more!” not to mention his “Veg-O-Matic”. I also remembered “Mr. Potato Head”; and the “Galloping Gourmet”. It seems, though, that most of the classics can be identified with one word, such as “Cronkite”, “Twiggy”, “Julia” and “Sullivan”. Even later day personalities like “Madonna” and “Britney” fit into this category. Today many businesses are recognizable just by their very well-placed logos. Starbucks & Target are but two great examples of logo recognition. These are all fine examples of creative branding and marketing. I began to wonder what will be the icons of the future. What names will conjure up similar memories for today’s generation? Surely “Facebook”, “YouTube” and “Gaga” will be there. What are some of your past & future picks?

Block Island Erosion

Imagine basking in the summer sun on the front porch of your own Block Island home, perched a top Black Rock Bluffs. With nothing but miles of the Atlantic Ocean in view, a cool salty breeze, and mother natures’ song of waves crashing along the shore below. Sounds great, does it not?

This past Sunday my good friend Emily and I took our dogs Blu and Guy for a spring stroll to Black Rock along the south shore; one of my favorite places overlooking the Atlantic. Coming from a family of surfers, I spent a great deal of time here as a child while they enjoyed some of the best North East breaks.

As we made our way down Black Rock Rd, the dogs chased each other into the yard of a resident. As responsible pet owners, Emily and I went after them and while we redirected their playful energy back to the road, I thought, wow what an incredible spot! This property has one of the best ocean views on the Island. I didn’t pay much thought to the home, and continued on our walk.

Erosion has been concerning many Rhode Islander’s, whether they are conservationists, permanent residents, or seasonal visitors; and erosion along the road leading to Black Rock Beach has become so bad that last Spring the Island had to redirect traffic further inland to prevent the weight and vibrations of passing cars from sliding off the bluff. Irreplaceable, large chunks of earth often fall onto the rocky beach below and are washed away by the ocean. Massive holes below the road have made it unsafe for travel; making the new road further inland safer but also denying motorists the beautiful views of ocean that the original used to offer.

That night I went to sleep and dreamt about that home with the incredible views. In my dream, it was my house on a hot summer day, and I was relaxing on my front porch with an ice cold margarita. Suddenly the house began to shake, and my front porch was now hanging over the bluff with nothing under it to support my margarita and I. Before I knew it, over we went. The dream left me wide awake, and got my mind going.

I was thinking about the 15 feet of land between that house, the edge of the bluff, and the rate of erosion. This magnificent piece of real estate will tumble over the bluff and be swept away in no time. The weight of the home combined with the disruption of soil structure that it sits over will increase the speed of erosion. Such process will not only begin to deteriorate the land below, but weaken the structure of the home and make it unsafe to occupy. If I did live there I would be having falling nightmares every night.What can we do to slow down and prevent the process of erosion on the Block Island Bluffs and preserve the premium residential locations? With the approval of DEM (Department of Environmental Management) and RI CRMC (Costal Resources Management Council) ocean front property owners can have blockades installed to block the sea from bashing the land. A company specializing in erosion control has different products to slow the erosion process and provide videos of how their products work on their website. For those of us who do not have ocean front properties, we can help too through educating ourselves and others of the disappearing coast lines. If you’re a visitor of Block Island, do your part by not climbing or throwing items at the bluffs for the safety of yourself and the land!

The Undiscovered Gem in Narragansett Bay, Prudence Island

Have you ever visited Prudence Island, which is near the geographical center of Narragansett Bay? Recently, we did with our adventurous buyers who were absolutely passionate to buy a home on the third largest island in the bay. It is actually part of the town of Portsmouth. We four excited enquiring souls left one blustery frigid winter morning on the ten o’clock ferry from the Church Street Pier in Bristol, RI. We were equipped with one vehicle, one dog and our picnic lunches. Restaurants and supermarkets are nonexistent on this little jewel, but you may buy snacks at the two general stores, which are very austere. Prudence Island is accessible only by private boat, water taxi or a thirty minute ferry ride. The next one back to the mainland was at four o’clock!

Upon arriving we were greeted at the ferry by the lone local constabulary on the island. He makes an appearance, it is said, to set the standard for proper decorum while visiting the island. This is probably not necessary. At the ferry landing is one of the two general stores, the post office and the only island gas pump! Originally, the Homestead Casino stood on this site, it was a major attraction to the island in an earlier era. However, it was destroyed in the Hurricane of 1938 and since then the island has peacefully slumbered along.



Off we went, following the real estate Guru/tour guide of Prudence Island down the east coast of the island. We drove past Sandy Point Light, which was actually moved in 1851 from Goat Island in Newport, where its services were no longer needed. It is the oldest surviving light house in Rhode Island. As we turned on to Broadway, which cuts across the island at its widest section, we drove by the century old one room island school house. There are now currently only three students in attendance, fifth graders and up take the ferry daily to school on the mainland! Only approximately 125 hearty souls live on this island year round, however in the summer the population can swell to up to 1,000 people. The residents’ collective intent is to keep anything commercial off of the island and they have succeeded in accomplishing this objective. Seventy percent of the island is owned by the Nature Conservancy, the Audubon Society and the RI Department of Environmental Management.

Prudence Island is roughly seven miles long and two miles across at its broadest point. In 1637 Roger Williams and John Winthrop bought the island from the Narragansett Indians who called it “Chibachuweset”. Williams named it Prudence Island, as well as Hope Island and Patience Islands, which he subsequently bought. They are to the west and northwest of the island, respectively. During Colonial times the island was mainly used for farming. In times past, the island school children used to learn a catchy rhyme to help them remember their local geography, “Prudence, Patience, Hope and Despair, and little Hog Island right over there”. Despair alludes to Halfway Rock which is under water at high tide, thus being a major navigational hazard in that period.

Had we traveled back in time? Being on the Prudence Island is like being in a time machine. You are suddenly thrust into the past, to a peaceful and serene time which many people today have never experienced. It was a cathartic experience that took us all by surprise.

We looked at three homes, the last of which was just down the lane from the school house. The buyers fell in lust with this property. It abuts the old 849 acre Navy ammunition depot at the southern most tip of the island which was used in WW II. It now serves as a state park and is also home to the Narragansett Bay Estuarine Research Reserve.

We took a drive into the state park and gleefully discovered a “Palazzo Piccolo”, which is how my grandfather used to describe a comfort station. It had solar panels, a digestive composting system and a hand sanitizing machine! This is the only public restroom on the entire island and we had just stumbled onto it! It was discretely tucked away in this park at the southern tip of the island. There is a wonderful crescent shaped beach, picnic tables and an old Navy pier. In this state park there are miles of roads for biking and hiking with old military bunkers scattered throughout, rusting vestiges of WW II.

Prudence Island had been plagued with a large deer population, hence an unwanted proliferation of deer ticks occurred on the island. Thanks to a controlled aggressive thinning of them by bow hunting, over the last number of years, the deer population has been drastically reduced. Happily along with it, the unwelcome deer tick dilemma has been proportionately diminished. Mysteriously, coyotes have recently appeared on the island, further reducing the population. The coyotes are an unsolved mystery which locals can only speculate about – where, how or who? Probably, no one will ever know.

We toured the island, which has several great little protected hidden harbors and scattered summer colonies, most of the roads are not paved. There is a little Victorian enclave on the west side of the island. Here at a stone wharf, in a by gone age, the steamships used to stop to serve the summer colony on their way to and from Providence, Fall River and New York. This stone wharf was severely damaged in the Hurricane of 1938 and today is now just a stubby protuberance sticking out into the bay. We stopped only to devour our picnic lunches, all of us were totally famished from all of our frenzied activities and enthusiastic exploring.


It was now time for us to take leave of this wonderful tranquil island. We drove our vehicle onto the ferry and were told that in this case it pays to be second in line in the winter. Salt water sprays up on to the deck of the ferry and the front cars get incrusted with ice! As the island disappeared into the distance, we thought about what an exhilarating day we had enjoyed. We had not left Narragansett Bay, but, it felt as if we had traveled to a distant place that is buffered from the brunt of the fast paced life which we all experience today. In addition to that, we had made a sale and what a wonderful adventurous way to accomplish that!!!!!!!!

Now we have an open invitation to moor our boat overnight at our new friends’ mooring and visit whenever we want! The buyers are thrilled and are a perfect fit for the island. Even better, they will be exceptional assets to the island going forward.

Prudence Island is not for everyone. It is for those who relish a slow paced way of life and being in touch with nature and the elements. Most people who come over to the island are visiting family, friends or are renters. There are no overnight accommodations on this island.

Now, whenever I drive over the Newport Bridge, I gaze fondly up the bay looking at Prudence Island with a totally new perspective. It truly is a little haven tucked away in beautiful Narragansett Bay! If you ever want a simple enjoyable day trip, bring your bikes or vehicle (reservations are required for cars), but remember to pack a lunch, hopefully on your journey you will find that little “Palazzo Piccolo”!!