Rescue

Last weekend, Kit and Nate and Fiona joined me to enjoy the new deck and get in as much beach time as possible.  The beach time effort took us to Atlantic Beach in East Hampton on one morning.  Most of the time it was about sand and waves and sun and good times.  Then at one point I noticed our nearby lifeguard standing at attention staring out to a point way beyond the usual swimmers.

Following the gaze, I saw two lifeguards swimming fast and straight toward that point.  When I say fast, I mean that I don't think Michael Phelps could have bettered their time.  Not in that water.  It was the most efficient Australian crawl I have ever seen.  A bit farther down the beach were two more lifeguards on the same mission.  In the surf were more lifeguards paying out the ropes towed by the swimmers.  And way out there was a woman who was not going to get back without help.

The swimmers arrive and there are now four swimmers surrounding her and making sure she knows that she's going to make it.  Now the ropes are being reeled back and the group moves slowly back to the beach.  EMT trucks are already on the beach waiting.

The best part is that as soon as they reached the beach the woman was able to get up and walk toward the rest of the rescue group.  Lifeguards and, in fact, the whole beach broke into applause.

Wow!  Nothing like realizing that it's a really big ocean out there.  REALLY big.  And being so glad that there are so many strong, well trained folks with the abilities to help us.  And sometimes save us.

Renovation Continued ...

Well, the deck didn't get done the day it was promised.  But it did get done - functionally, that is - a few hours before Team Burke Smith arrived.  That doesn't mean it's actually done, of course.  The work continued on Friday and Saturday and will continue on Monday.  Every time I make out a punch list, work does get done on it.  But somehow, when I check on it at the end of the day, the punch list doesn't seem to be much shorter.

Things have improved,  though.  The deck chairs and tables are back on the deck.  Which means that the living room has room and the indoor furniture has now been rearranged and the place is now actually a pretty nice living room.  There may be light at the end of the tunnel, but I'm not counting on it yet.

Don't Do It

If you are contemplating any kind of home renovation work, I have just one piece of advice.  Don't do it.  I know, I know -- sometimes things just need to be done.  That's pretty much the situation here at Amagansett.  After a good number of years, the deck needed to be redone and the sliding window/doors were pretty beat up and needed replacement, too.  So I looked for a builder who had a good reputation and found one that seemed promising.  He said he could do the job in two weeks and that sounded even better.  Of course, since I have dealt with contractors in the past, I mentally added on a week or two to the estimate.

Well, it is now nearly six weeks and I am so ready to get these guys out of my house.  The doors, I freely admit, are done and are a great improvement.  That makes the house usable.  But not the deck.  There's enough of it there for me to walk on the finished part (if, of course, you don't consider railings part of a deck).  I can even put out a rocking chair and the view is great with none of those silly railings in the way.  Witness my meetings with my deer neighbors.

The problems are that during the day I have guys carrying decking and rails and equipment through my living room and bedroom.  Add the general noise of tools and there's still not much getting done on any given day.  Their explanation is that it's a long drive to get to my place (they knew the location before they started) and the weather has been really hot.  I pointed out that if they had finished the work anywhere near the estimated time, they wouldn't have been working in that weather.  I also pointed out that on the same day they "couldn't work", there were two guys fixing my septic tank system.  My logic may be fine, but it's not getting the project done.  So I resorted to an ultimatum.  I have family coming to visit and they have a two year old.  I can't have them come with a deck without complete railings.  They have promised to work miracles and have it done for my company.  They're out there right now sawing and hammering.

to be continued ....

My Neighbors

I have learned that sitting out on the back deck as the day cools down in the late afternoon is a good idea.  Not only does it actually get cooler so that sitting outside is now a pleasure, but one also gets to meet the neighbors.

The first neighbor to put in an appearance was a young doe who gave new meaning to the name for the ground cover behind the house.  It's known as deer feed and it certainly is.  She stayed for quite a while, moving on slowly.

Yesterday, there was the usual aerial display -- mocking birds bravely chasing off a crow easily twice as big as both of them together; seagulls of course; a few swallows cruising for mosquitos; and finches.  This time there was also a rabbit, larger than the ones I'm used to from the horse farm and differently colored to blend with the browns and beiges out here.  He alternately scooted through the dunes at quite a good pace or stopped absolutely still, waiting to confirm that it was okay to check out the edibles. 

Then came the star of the show, a young buck with velvet still on his antlers.  Could have been Bambi in person.  The doe had stayed at a distance, on the far side of most of the scrubby jack pines that form lines between the house and the dunes.  This guy came much closer, starting out on the near side of those pines and moving in from there.  He actually came up onto the dune (the one the house is built backing into [if you can follow that]) so that he and I were basically on eye level with each other.  He posed beautifully and apparently found the house interesting because he and I stared at each other for a long time.  It's kind of nice when the neighbors drop by to welcome you to the neighborhood.

And One More Farm

Yes, I know this farm thing is getting to be sort of a theme.  Perhaps it's a way of realizing that although  I no longer have my horse farm, there are still a lot of farms in the world and ways I can be part of them.

This time it started with a book -- The Omnivore's Dilemma.  It's been around for a long time and I've been resisting reading it for an equally long time.  I know some of the issues involved in raising animals  for food, but I still remembered the farms I had seen as a kid and my Mom's stories of the farm she grew up on.  Her comment that she treated her pigs as pets always caught my attention.  I just couldn't imagine treating a pig as a pet, but she told me they were clean and friendly creatures and that the mud was a way for them to keep cool.  Wilbur and Charlotte would have loved it.  The problem was that I was somewhere off in fairyland when it came to my ideas of farms.  When I saw some of the feed lots out West, that was not what I had in mind.  The cattle grazing the tall grass prairies were still there, too, but they belonged to rich Texans like that guy who cornered the silver market years ago.  I still wanted my burgers and steaks but I wanted them from animals that had had a life where they grazed in a pasture or, for the pigs, got to loll around in the mud.  And chickens - they belonged outside pecking up bugs.

So I started out to find farms that worked that way and discovered that there are still quite a few.  There's Mr. Anderson, who sells eggs and is more than happy to introduce you to his hens, hens who may have to be shooed out of the way to get at the outside refrigerator where you pick up your carton of variously colored eggs.  I like to say that I've personally met the hens who lay my eggs.  Mr Anderson has also taken in two peacocks and several retired ponies who needed a good home.  Starts to sound a bit like Dr. Dolittle doesn't it?

My latest find, however, is in Southampton.  I went on line to find a source for pastured beef and any other meats I could locate.  I realized that cattle and sheep take a lot of space and so I wasn't really hoping to find a farm that raised them.  I expected that to be more upstate.  I would be happy just to find a farm or farmer's market where I could routinely buy properly raised meat (properly as I define it, of course).  Instead, I hit the jackpot.  I found a farm that raises it's own cattle and sheep and pigs.  As I followed my GPS in search of this anachronism, I took a turn that seemed familiar and to my delight I found that my new-found farm was across the road from the farm owned by friends I used to see every week at the horse shows.  The new farm was great.  Beef, pork, lamb, sausage, eggs both chicken and duck.  Heirloom tomatoes, purple Peruvian potatoes ( say that fast a few times) and fresh young garlic and garlic scapes that smelled so good I wanted to start cooking immediately.  The owner was happy to talk about his farm and get me other types of meat that weren't in the freezer at the stand.  After the usual "how did we talk for so long" conversation,  I drove off and realized that on one side of the road were my friend's horses and on the other side was a pasture with cows grazing contentedly.  Maybe some fairy tales do come true.

Home Again

I'm back on Long Island.  Yesterday I decided it was really getting to be time to unpack and be in one place for a bit so I headed for the Amagansett house and got there about 7:30 pm.  Still nicely light to get around and unload, but first I found myself greeted by some old friends from the farm.

The  cranes used to be at the end of the pond and the dragons stood either side of the front walk of the farm house.   Thank you, Burt and Margie and Oma for settling them into their new home.

Yet Another Farm; Yet Another Love

Last weekend, Kit and Nate and Fiona and I attended a family wedding in the Hudson Valley.  At a farm, of course.  In our usual fashion, we left a few minutes later than we had planned, but as we turned into the beautiful farm and wedding site a few minutes before the schedule for the ceremony, I could only remember what Bill would have said:  Looks like we planned it.

The day was sunshiny and beautiful, the cows were in the meadow, the sheep were in their pasture, even a few goats were there.  The flowers were wild flowers picked by the wedding party, displayed on ladders at the focal point for the ceremony, the seats were bales of hay with blankets and quilts spread out on top.  The people attending were looking like they were really ready to celebrate.  No formality, just a lot of smiles and hugs and chat.  The wine and ice were keeping company in a wheelbarrow and it turned out the time had been pushed back so that there was time for all that.

As the groom and groomsmen gathered and we all looked up toward the big white farmhouse waiting for the bride and her attendants,  the groom caught sight of us and announcing "I've got time.", he swooped over to us with hugs for each of us.  The joy just mounted as he shared his happiness with us.  And, not to worry, he was back in place well before the flower girls and bridesmaids and his bride approached.  The whole ceremony expressed such love and happiness.  If anyone's faith in love was wavering or had taken a hit, this wedding in all it's aspects made me realize that we all do believe in love.  It's what it's all about and this chance to share it once more with a beautiful young couple very much in love, was renewing and revitalizing and just plain fun.

Thank you Evan and Luloo and everyone for sharing the wonder and the joy and the love with us.