Fire Island in Stuff

I always think of things I want to write here but lately I seem to have forgotten this site exists. Now it’s been nearly a month since my last entry and I’m wondering about all those things that I wanted to write but never did. When I last wrote, we were getting ready to take a week-long camping trip to Fire Island. Originally Megan was going to join us but then she bailed out, which was fine with me. It was nice to have some alone time with my kids on that trip.

The island was hot and humid and filled with mosquitoes, but we’ve been there before and we knew that going in. It’s always a fun trip and this was no exception. We cooked a lot of food over a fire and we spent a lot of time on the beach. There tends to be a bit of a nightlife at this place because it’s also a marina, so everyone seemed to go separately in the evenings and then we’d regroup in the mornings. I like that they’re all at an age where I can trust that they’ll go off and be able to take care of themselves. I would sit around reading a book by myself and know that they’re enjoying themselves somewhere on the island.

We spent a few days over on Cherry Grove. All of Fire Island has a reputation of being a gay resort, but really the LGBT community is centered at Cherry Grove. It’s also a beautiful little community. No roads, the whole place is connected with a system of boardwalks. I could totally see myself retiring in a community like that, except probably not Cherry Grove specifically since I suspect they almost prefer NOT to have straight residents. I don’t think anyone would really come out and say that officially, but I think it’s true.

The campground has nice big and clean bathroom/shower facilities, and since we’ve stayed there before we were familiar with it. The showers are different than anywhere else I’ve ever seen. It’s in a big circular room with the middle area open for changing clothes and individual shower stalls all along the walls. Each stall is individual but not private, with no curtain or anything closing off the stall from the rest of the room.

On top of that, the water in the showers is operated by pulling down on a handle hanging from the ceiling. Water flows as long as you’re pulling the handle and stops immediately when you let go. Not the most convenient way to shower, but you get used to it and develop a system of cleaning yourself while holding onto the handle. The lack of privacy makes it slightly more awkward.

This was the first time I’ve been in a group shower situation since Mercy has begun her transition, and I was making a real effort to never find myself in the shower at the same time as her because that seemed like it would be uncomfortable. But on our last morning on the island I mentioned I was going to take a quick shower before we left and she said she would join me because she also wanted to shower. There was no way out of it at that point without making it obvious I was avoiding it.

So we both showered at the same time. Fortunately we were next to each other which created a degree of privacy. If we’d been across from each other then it would have been less private.

I have to say no one has ever given Mercy the slightest hard time about using women’s restrooms, and not even in this case with her using women’s showers. She makes a half-hearted attempt to pass as female with clothes on, but most of that is missing when she’s taking a shower.

On multiple occasions over the week people referred to me and my kids collectively as “ladies,” and I know this made Mercy happy.