An outrage; OPEN ALL DAY SUNDAY

Today was an outrage. I’m angry and sad for Alison and Lizzie’s Yacht Club.

I had decided to go back to the building for an unexplained feeling I had. There I found a huge dump truck piled with things from the Yacht Club and 3 young Greeks loading more. I waited for them to leave and ran down the steps in disbelief. All the things inside and out were on that truck.

I had a terrible feeling and decided I needed to look for myself. I found a short cut to the dump and started up the hill. It didn’t take much detective work since every 50 to 75 feet lay a paperback book on the dirt road. I opened the first one’s cover and stamped clearly on the inside cover read “Lizzie’s Yacht Club.” Arriving at the dump, yes, there is was. A new pile that was once Lizzie’s Yacht club. Perfectly good dishes, ice buckets, a cash register, solid wood beds, mattresses, a heavy solid wood high table with an aluminum top, a cabinet full of paint and toxic thinners and chemicals, curtains, bedding, pots, glassware… I was sickened. Is that it? Someone’s life, toil, business dumped off the side of a cliff.

First, I gathered up the dishes and stacked them in a pile hoping someone would find and want to use them. Living on a boat meant I could not take much back. I thought if I made some of the things easy to take, someone would. I found two wooden folding chairs, one painted Mediterranean Blue and the other one white. Then the words echoed in my head. “They look the other way…” And I realized the humor in positioning the chairs to overlook the dump.

Wishing I had brought my camera, I ended up creating a memorial to Lizzie’s, to the sailors served there and to Alison. The chairs overlooked the dump, forcing the viewer to look directly at it with the contrast of the majestic beauty of the blue, blue sea behind it. Another smaller chair with a rope seat served as a table. A large glass jar was filled with rocks so the wind couldn’t easily blow it over. I picked some wild yellow daisies and filled the vase. Then set a lineup of my gathered goods that I hoped would be taken for use. As a final touch, facing the road , I leaned a sign I had found from the restaurant:

OPEN ALL DAY SUNDAY.

note on photo: leaving Tarizonia with Lizzie's in the background, half way up the hill next to the condos.