I used to go to the Harvard or Yale game every fall at Princeton (whichever one was the home game); I broke that tradition in 2006 when I went to the Peace Corps. I think it was as much about seeing friends in the East a few times a year as it was about Princeton in particular. It certainly wasn’t about the football – I consider a Princeton football game to be something about which a halftime show is performed! I didn’t consider it essential to go this year, but when I asked my friend Meg if she wanted to go and she surprised me by saying yes, the decision was made!
We met at Penn Station; I was still surprised she wanted to go to the game. When I mentioned that we didn’t really have to go, she took me up on that. We had lunch with my friend Howie – we were all freshman-year dorm-mates – and when I mentioned that we might not go to the game, he took me up on it too. The three of us walked around the campus - with the fall foliage, it looked great. Now I know what other people do on football weekends – they do other things! We saw the Peace Pole, now in its permanent location, went for ice cream and went to an exhibit about the portraits of the Nassau Hall Faculty Room, and all too soon it was time to go back to New York.
And the next day I saw Martha (been seeing a lot of her this year…). When in Los Angeles, we usually go to the Apple Store – so why not do that in New York too? We then met our high school friend Doris for breakfast at the Plaza, a lovely thing. Then Martha came back to Southampton with me. I’ve been using the car a little more since the weather got colder; I decided that having a guest was an excuse to go farther afield. We went across Shelter Island to Greenport, strolled around there a bit, and then had a nice dinner on Shelter Island.
The next day we started out at Hampton Coffee – great coffee in the French press, and chilaquiles! Not the same, but very good. Then we headed for Montauk – my second time and Martha’s first. We stopped at the Hither Hills overlook, which was the spot last year from which I wanted to hike – but the tick warnings were a deterrent to my bare ankles and sandaled feet. This year, with long pants and closed shoes (and cooler weather), we took a little hike. I still would love to do more hiking – I bought a book on hiking trails of the South Fork that I’d been eyeing for a while – and maybe I will. But not this day – we pressed on to the lighthouse. Behind the lighthouse there was a little house with the foghorn, which was blaring. The lighthouses get all the glory; why don’t soundhouses get any credit? The rest of the visit was typical of our time together – that is, non-stop - massages, more food, two movies, games. She went on to New York for meetings, but I saw her again at the end of the week, that time with Susan as well. I’ve had a chance to see other friends recently in New York (Joy, Sabrina and Joshua, Helen, Elisa, Mary, Debbie) and I have others to see.
After reading “The Killer Angels” in preparation for my trip to Gettysburg, I decided to read the rest of the trilogy – “Gods and Generals” lays out the run-up to the war and the early battles through Chancellorsville. I just finished “The Last Full Measure,” which chronicles everything from right after Gettysburg to the end of the war. I don’t usually mention the books I read but these have had a big impact on me. I may as well mention the baseball post-season, too, since that took up much of October. Glad I saw the Giants in August – you could sense some magic going on there. Cablevision and Fox had a dispute that resulted in the NLCS being off the air here in Southampton – I hurriedly signed up for an mlb.com subscription right before the first game, and I listened on my computer. As I had done in Morocco and in the Philippines! Here I thought I would be able to watch it all when I came back! At least the dispute was resolved in time for the World Series.
No comments:
Post a Comment