Photo Album: Chasing Beauty in Southampton

Took my annual drive to the Hamptons for the day, which I do every summer when Punchy visits her Mimi and Poppy for a string of several days.

Had to submit an article first, so didn't hit the road till 2:30 for the 2.5 hr. drive. H. stayed home to do phone interviews and other work.

I like following those quiet Long Island highways [no brash billboards!], then driving past tall, trimmed privacy hedges to the end of the road. I like the street names: Pond Lane, North Sea Road, Captains Neck Lane, Windmill Lane. I like the gates that protect the sprawling estates. I like to imagine what it would be like to spend girlhood summers there. [Would you invite a school friend who lives, say, in an ordinary apartment? Would you go to a school that has friends who live in ordinary apartments?] 

Most of all, I like climbing over the crest and down into the cradle of sand, parking my beach chair and staring into the sea.

I don't think I've ever seen prettier sunsets than the ones in Southampton.

Good night, after a drink of Southampton and tonic.

Munn Point Preserve.

Turquoise sky, no filter.

Pretty in pink.

TCOY

1. Lots of ice water.

2. No sweet treats. Had delicious milk for bedtime snack.

3. Breathing in and staring at those waves.

4. Immersed myself in Beatles music on that long drive back to Montclair. Heard it like I've never heard it before. And loved it. Talked to H. about it for a while after returning at midnight. Religious references intriguing: "creeping like a nun," "Mother Mary comes to me," etc. Amazing drums by Ringo. Such funny sound effects in "Yellow Submarine."