It is officially spring now. The flowers and the fruit trees are waking up from what always seems to be a long dark winter. Suddenly there is more magic to every new morning’s sunshine along with the evening’s sunsets. I for one believes the sunsets on the east end of Long Island are as beautiful and dramatic as anywhere on earth.
Time is a huge component in our lives. Heck, we measure our accomplishments over what we call our lifetime. In conversation we talk about how long it takes for trips or to travel to workplaces. We mentally clock in and clock out when doing chores and so forth. And, most of all we treasure our free time.
I have spent most of my time on the east end these last twenty years. What I have noticed is what one might call “Timeless changes,” changes that happen slowly. I am one who believes change in the end is always somehow for the better. Quite frankly however, no matter how much change, the east end is an old jewel that really doesn’t age. Witnessing the 60th Montauk Friends of Erin Parade last weekend was a treat. The bagpipes, the old fire engines, and the young kids and the all the town folks marching was a public example of east end civic pride. I had the same exact feeling when I attended my first one, eighteen years ago. How many of us can remember the first parade we ever marched in. I can, Memorial Day 1962, in Pelham, New York as a Cub Scout!
The first east end parade I witnessed was the Memorial Day parade in East Hampton Village in 2003. It was much smaller that the Montauk Parade but the enthusiasm was as great. I did not know at the time, by the end of the summer I would live in East Hampton for almost a decade.
From the beginnings in the1640’s, discipline along with hard work has kept the east end special. The historic buildings, properties and homes are glowing to this day because people care. One rarely sees a property not well maintained on the east end. In fact, properties are so well maintained you can name the ones that aren’t. A modern film crew can easily shoot a 17th through 21st century movie on location out east without having to create an artificial set.
Over the years I have never heard anyone say the Hamptons are ugly. How could they? Just this last weekend on my way to Montauk, I was admiring the Hither Hills dunes that line the ocean. To my recollection from the furthest western edge of Southampton Town all the way to Montauk Point is just pure scenic. Hopefully it always will be. The truest wealth of the east end is its natural beauty. Billionaires want to own a piece of the east end just for those moments they need to escape.
I remember an old chicken farmer and dairy man standing on his “North Sea Farms,” homestead and saying to me, “Most of my life all I had where the coins in my pocket. My wife Millicent really supported us by being a nurse at Southampton Hospital. Now they say my land is worth millions, but I can never sell,” Then pointing out the kitchen window, he said, “My dad’s buried over there and my brother over there.” Note: That elderly gentleman’s daughter, became the founder of a $500M baked goods empire. She started selling her cookies at the local farm stands around the age of eleven to help the family out.
What is more timeless than the breathing in of some ocean air? If you have ever lived right off the ocean, you know the experience of someone experiencing fresh ocean air for the first time. It always makes me smile hearing them say out loud, “ … isn’t this air wonderful!” Every time while sailing in Gardiner’s Bay, I remember to take a deep breath and exhale. That for me is always a Timelessness moment.
