William Paley, the CBS founder, had many homes including one in Southampton Village. Paley once said, “ I found in life, it was the things I thought I overpaid for that gave me the most lasting pleasure.” Wow, would he love living in these times in the Hamptons in 2022. As for me, at sixty-something I believe the items I underpaid for give me my greatest pleasure. Like my $1800 – 22’ sailboat.
Many believe there is no luxury in life like free time. Time to be able to kick back and enjoy a nice peaceful day. For me it’s sailing. For others it’s golf. Then there are those who love hiking, bike riding, horseback riding, or just sitting in a chair in the yard reading. The older one gets, the more one understands how important quality time is.
I am now at the stage of being very anxious for the warm weather to begin. This spring on the east end has seen lots of days that weren’t quite totally winterlike, but required a winter jacket. My old bones want to feel the warming power of a full summer’s sun. I know it’s coming, but every day it’s not here yet, I really feel a loss. Many are already fetching bathing suits, beach towels and chairs to be ready to get to the beach on that first really totally summerlike day.
If I close my eyes, I can conjure up the feeling of sitting on my beach chair. Usually, ten yards from the breaking ocean surf, feeling both the heat of the summer’s sun and the cool breeze coming off the ocean. That day is coming, sooner than later.
Being a genuine senior always has me worried about money. As you age things just cost more. On this account these last few months have been crazy to comprehend, and I was around for the Jimmy Carter years. I imagine a new job occupation on the east end is changing the gasoline prices on those big signs and at the pumps on a daily basis. It’s like the stock market with the prices changing every day. I am of the generation where $5 used to fill the tank, but back then most cars got 7 miles to the gallon.
It is now the time when trees are turning green with new leaves. Flowers are beginning to grow and turn to their lovely colors and grass is needing to be cut weekly. The cycle within the yearly circle of life is ticking like an old pocket watch. Mother Earth doesn’t know inflation, it knows how to travel around the sun on a perfectly timed yearly orbit.
The farmlands are being planted; the boats are going in the water. Homes are being painted or power washed. Folks with convertible cars, jeeps, or motorcycles are poised for warmer days.
There is a cost to not paying the price to enjoy your life. Looking back teaches us all to look forward to make better days. Have you ever watched older folks sitting peacefully on benches in parks or at the beach? Or maybe just sitting in their yards or, should they be lucky enough, on their pool decks? They are pausing to enjoy life.
There are others who must be doing stuff, monitoring business through phones and screens. Barking out commands, or making mental checklists. I guess it’s their nature. I suppose I was once like that.
Now I have slowed things down. I have afforded myself the luxury to pause, to enjoy, to see the wonderments of the east end. To feel life happening.
I fondly remember interviewing a Montauk commercial fisherman years back. In that interview he said this, “I am not a religious man, but when I am 75 miles off Montauk on a clear summer’s night, I look up at all the stars and know there has to be a higher hand.” Then his eyes twinkled while he chuckled as he added, “And, there are no atheists in a storm.”
