I’d really like to finish writing about Bali before I leave – I thought it would be interesting to save writing about my travels in the United States until I get to the Philippines – and I should be able to do it, but I thought I’d interrupt to talk about some more recent adventures. The rains of June are in the rear view mirror and it has been sunny and not too hot, not too cold. I’ve been on those long beach walks I thought I would take when I got here - until I realized how cold and windy and/or rainy it was in March, April, May and much of June. And now I have the mission to collect trash. I’ve been on long bike rides – it’s nice and flat here, and one can see glimpses of the big houses behind the hedges. I often have errands in town – and now that I can get there on my own without relying on a ride, I buy fewer things more often. I’m still reading, and now I sometimes sit outside to do it – it took until now to be able to do that regularly. My sister ordered New York Times delivery on summer weekends, and I spend more time with the actual (though frighteningly thin) paper than I do with the online edition; what a joy. And I’ve been swimming a bit – another joy.
My friend Debbie came to visit (if I keep saying, “another joy,” it’ll be too much – though of course it was). We went into town for lunch, sampled wine at a nearby winery (not the same one I had been to way back when), went to a farm stand for fresh local strawberries and picked up trash along the beach. Later that week, my sister and I participated in an organized cleanup in Quogue, sponsored by Peconic Baykeeper. The bay trash is a little ickier than what gets swept ashore on the ocean side; there are more biting bugs, too. But it was a good thing to do.
I went to a Yankees night game with my friend Gary. Taking the 11:00 pm Jitney back to Southampton made for a late night, but I want to thank Andy Pettitte for pitching so efficiently that the game was over well in time for me to get to it. Ken Griffey and Alex Rodriguez both homered in the game – only the second time in major league history that two men with more than 550 home runs homered in the same game (Mays and Aaron, May 8, 1971). Maybe more notable, Ichiro went hitless. And Rivera got his 502nd save. I had such a good time that it solidified my decision to see another game (talked Gary into it too – even though we both favor the NL) – July 4, an old-fashioned holiday day game! And a 12-inning, four-and-a-half-hour affair – good thing I wasn’t rushing back to Southampton! I stayed in New York and went to the Whitney (good Claes Oldenberg exhibit) and the Guggenheim (for its 50th anniversary, Frank Lloyd Wright: From Within Outward), with the Wimbledon finals before and a little walk in Central Park as well. I remember writing about feeling more like an observer than a participant on my first trips to New York after coming back from Peace Corps – now I feel more at home and more ready to see museums and do New York things, and to be there on the holiday weekend when it was empty made me feel in the know. Empty except for the fireworks on the Hudson, that is – I didn’t go early to stake out a place, so I had an obstructed view! I was spoiled with Lake Michigan – plenty of room for everyone. Still, I did my part to celebrate the 400th Henry Hudson’s sail up the river that is named for him.
Speaking of the Hudson, before I decided to be in New York for the holiday weekend, I had looked into going to the Hudson Valley; it’s been percolating for a while. I’ve wanted to see Olana, Frederic Church’s house, but what moved it up on the list was the possibility of seeing Hyde Park – after seeing two presidential libraries on my trip this past winter (which ones? Stay tuned…) I wanted to see FDR’s. My sister said she would go with me, but then was reluctant to go on such a long drive (as was I – so it goes back on the list). Instead, we went up to Tarrytown to see Kykuit, the Rockefeller mansion. It was quite a house, but what made it unique was all of the modern art that Nelson Rockefeller collected – there is sculpture throughout the grounds and one-of-a-kind Picasso tapestries in the basement art galleries (no photography inside, unfortunately!). I’ve always liked the Rockefellers, and learning more about them made me all the more impressed.
Since I’ve been humming it, here is the lyric by Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields:
If I never have a cent, I’d be rich as Rockefeller. Gold dust at my feet, on the sunny side of the street.
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