Rainbow Cruising
I don’t know why this amuses me so
but listen to this. Steve and I went on a rainbow cruise and actually
saw…a rainbow. I’ll start at the beginning.
Remember Gladys Kravitz—the drag persona,
not the Bewitched one? Gladys (more generally known these days as Howard
Hicks and his partner Steve Carey donated a week’s vacation at their
beautiful villa in the Quepos/Manuel Antonio area of Costa Rica to the
Sundance Live Auction last year. As luck would have it, our dear friends
(and fairy godparents) Allen Jarmon and Ward Ellinger purchased the trip
and then turned around and invited us along on another exotic adventure.
The trip was amazing, easily one of my
favorite times—ever! One morning we went on a Canopy Tour—zip-lining
(if that’s really a word) through the jungle. Yes, friends, you heard
that right. We strapped ourselves to a little cable and went flying
through the treetops in all our middle-aged splendor. Some in our group
were somewhat queasy that morning, but our handsome little Costa Rican
guideboys seemed to bring out the best in us and we, ah, all
persevered—especially after it was discovered that if we didn’t make
it all the way across the zip-line the helpful guide would swing out, wrap
his legs around us and “bring us home,” so to speak. To be honest, I
loved it…the zip-lining that is. I never had to be “rescued!” Rats!
Back to the rainbow…
 On another day we signed up for an
afternoon rainbow sunset cruise. There were many sunset cruises available
to us but we, of course, signed up for the gay one. So with Steve singing
the Gilligan’s theme just loudly enough for everyone to hear, the four
of us joined 16 others “for a three hour tour…a three hour tour….”
Fortunately for us the weather, as it was all week, was perfect and
never ”started getting rough,” and the closest we got to a shipwreck
was a bathing suit choice or two.
So there we were, enjoying the glorious
day, a tropical rum punch, good company and picture perfect scenery when
yes there is was, arched over the mountainous shoreline—a rainbow. Just
for us it seemed—right on cue for the rainbow sunset cruise—a rainbow!
Not a cloud in the sky, but there it was—a rainbow!
Maybe it was the rum punch, but the day got
a little magical after that. I even went snorkeling, which I (and my
bathing suit) had not intended to do.
So here we are back in Rehoboth again:
we’re on deadline for this issue of Letters; I’m behind in my studio
time for this summer’s art show; construction for the new building is in
full swing—and I feel good. Actually, my body feels crappy; I’ve been
sick as a dog since our trip—but I feel good. I feel optimistic about
what the future has in store for us.
Maybe it’s Obama and Hillary; maybe
it’s the intense construction shaking our office right down to the
baseboards all around us; maybe it’s that rainbow, but whatever the
reason I feel ready to face a new year in CAMP with enthusiasm and energy
and hope.
CAMP Rehoboth has always been about hope
for me—hope for us, not just as gay people but for all of us as human
beings. Life changes all the time, but right now the whole world seems to
be caught up in a great global, once-in-a-generation kind of shift that we
should not be afraid to face. Young people care again like we cared in the
60s. Something big is happening and I’m glad to still be a part of it,
and I’m hopeful about the future to come.
Maybe it’s that rainbow after all.
Murray Archibald, Founder and President
of the Board of Directors of CAMP Rehoboth, is an artist in Rehoboth
Beach.
Thank you to all the CAMP Rehoboth
Community Center Volunteers for the period of February 8-March 5.
Tony Burns
Lynn Finaldi
Charlie Lee
Michael Muller
Jennifer Rubenstein
Barb Ralph
Chris Sampson
Rainbow Thumb Club
Matt Carey
Ward Ellinger
Rob Freeman
Tony Ghigi
Steve Hoult
Bud Palmer
Ken Reilly
Tom White
Murray Archibald, Founder and
President of the Board of Directors of CAMP Rehoboth, is an artist in
Rehoboth Beach.
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