Time spent well

As the unofficial end of summer arrives, I've been thinking about how I've spent my time this summer. I always feel the need to plan trips out of the city, but typically I get so caught up in what's going on in the city that it's hard to find time to leave. I don't want to miss out on anything. This summer I did have two events that compelled me to get out of the city - a wedding at Mass MoCA and a wedding in Maine. I also had the two week 'exile' when I had to take a furlough at work. Other than that, there was the day at the beach (well, that was technically still in the city, Staten Island), and two other trips in the past couple of weeks. The first of these trips was to Fire Island, the second was to Marshall's Creek, PA to go kayaking in the Delaware River.

FIRE ISLAND
AUGUST 24TH-25TH

While sailing on August 22nd on board Pioneer, talk turned towards Chey's upcoming week out in Kismet on Fire Island. I had Monday off, so we made a plan where I would join her out there for the day. Getting to Fire Island can be a bit of an ordeal - subway to LIRR to Ferry. It's fine if you time it right, but most of the time it takes at least 2 1/2 to 3 hours - but as soon as you step off the ferry onto the carless walkways, its worth it. This was the second time I've been out to Fire Island; the first time was 2 or 3 years ago with friends that had a share in Fair Harbor. Both times I've immediately had the feeling that I need to spend more time in this place. The absence of cars has a remarkable effect on my well being. The air is clean, both from the odor and the sound of combustion engines, and its immediately relaxing.

Chey and Ryan came out to meet me and direct me to the house. The arrangement of houses and wooden sidewalks can be confusing: nothing seems to be marked, and finding a place that you've never been to before can be difficult. They greeted me like people who've been at the beach for days even though they had just arrived the night before in what seemed to be a pretty frazzled arrival from what they told me when we were finally at the house. We had lunch, discussed the upcoming kayaking trip logistics, then Chey and I headed to the beach loaded with US Weekly, People, and books to balance out the trash.

The beach was mostly empty, and reminded me of the beaches down at the Outer Banks in North Carolina. Those beaches are expansive, and although there are rows upon rows of houses filled with happy vacationers, the beaches never seem crowded. We spent a couple of hours in the sun reading and napping. Around 5 or 6PM, we headed back to the house to have a cocktail, and think about what to make for dinner.

Dinner is a bit of an epicurean adventure. The deal with the house is that the people that are there on the weekend stock the pantry and fridge, and for the most part if you're there during the week, you can pull together a meal out of what is left over. We had chicken, portabello mushrooms, corn, and a salad mix. There was some honey and Grey Poupon, so I was able to make a marinade for the chicken, and although there was no balsamic vinegar, and very little olive oil, Chey was able to pull together the makings of grilled portabellos with the little olive oil we had and lemon juice to substitute for the vinegar. There was no butter for which there is no substitute, so Ryan went to go be neighborly and see if he could borrow from the neighbors (he was successful). It was a great meal, finished the evening off with drinks, a walk on the beach, and some episodes of the first season of Mad Men.

The next morning I dragged myself out of bed to catch the 7:25AM ferry back to the mainland. I was on the edge of calling in sick, but knew that I had a full week at work, and would pay for that lapse in judgement one way or another. On the ferry back, I vowed to somehow find a way to spend more time on this island next year. I've since spoken to my friend Amy who had the share in Fair Harbor, and may be able to get some time in her house next year.

MARSHALL'S CREEK, PA
AUGUST 30TH

Earlier in the summer, Emily had sent around a list of trips she wanted to make this summer. I think we succeed with two of them - one to the beach (Great Kills) and a kayaking trip out to the Delaware Water Gap.

We had a couple of scheduling issues, but Emily, Adam, Anilsa, and I got over to Staten Island to meet up with Tom. Tom is the only one of us with a car, and it is a lot easier to get from Manhattan to SI via ferry than it is to get to Manhattan from SI by car. Years ago, you used to be able to take your car on the ferry, but that was stopped years ago right after 9/11 due to security concerns. The ferry is also free.

After about an hour and a half of 'are we there yet' and 'are we still in New Jersey' questions from Emily, we arrived at Adventure Sports in Marshall's Creek, PA. There was some filling out of liability paperwork, some cash handed over for the kayaks, a safety speech, then we were on our way to the river. After another safety speech, the driver put our kayaks and canoes in the water, and we were on our way.

The water and hills surrounding the Delaware River are gorgeous. Emily was determined to get in the water as soon as possible, and she succeeded in doing that within five minutes of being on the water by trying to change out of her shorts in the kayak.

Lesson 1: Do not try to change out of your clothes in the kayak. It will only end in disaster, or at least you in the water and a puddle in your kayak that you just can't quite get rid of.

She was able to get over to the side of the river, and with the help of Adam and Anilsa, was able to get most of the water out of the kayak. This was a constant root of laughter throughout the trip as Emily was constantly adjusting the angle of her clothes that were trying to dry on the front of her (and eventually my) kayak.

The three hour trip down the river was a mix of paddling alone, floating in a group, and getting through the rapids. All in all, it was a good day.

When I returned to the city, I was later than I expected, and had to get over to Greenpoint to meet up with a group of friends at Doug and Naomi's for the inaugural OC: The Game match. Since none of us had watched the show in a while, we bent the rules to fit our needs. It was a great way to end the weekend, drinking champagne, playing a board game, and watching the OC after a fun day out of the city.

Lesson 2: I need to get out of the city more next summer.