More Carraway than Gatsby

I spent last weekend in Montauk, courtesy of my friend K.  Most folks I’ve asked insist that Montauk isn’t part of “the Hamptons”, but for my purposes it was close enough – my first experience “weekending” on “the shore” during the summer.  It’s a concept firmly associated with the East Coast in my mind, and at the height of my Southern California arrogance many years ago, I recall quipping that people on the East Coast were compelled to weekend because their cities were miserable.  Yeah, I was a little snot.

Now that I’ve matured to the point where I no longer flick my boogers but properly dispose of them, I can definitely see the allure of “weekending”.   There’s a rhythm to it, a balance between change and routine, that’s refreshing in the most basic sense of the word.  The city in the summer can be overwhelming, and what’s more, you carry around an accumulated weight that winter has inflicted on you.  By the time summer rolls around, most New Yorkers could benefit from an outlet and an escape.

When you step outside Manhattan, you realize how myopically intense it is.  It’s as if the rivers that form a physical barrier around the island also form a mental horizon that impedes your ability to appreciate the world outside the city.  I don’t mean to denigrate any of the other boroughs.  They are as essentially a part of New York City as Manhattan -- perhaps even more so in this day and age of Manhattan-as-playground.  But for better and worse, they aren’t as manic and self-centered as Manhattan. 

When I returned to the city, I found myself weaving my way through 9^th Avenue traffic with a huge grin on my face.  I think the day I can't reclaim my myopia will be a bit of a sad day.

Comments

[Joyce]

it's called "summering" you snot.