High Summer

If you have not already done so, make a point of swinging by the East Hampton Village Green, where August is in full bloom. There, above a sinuous man-made dreen, recently planted pink and white marshmallow flowers wink at passers-by. 

More than a few long, gray days with unseasonable cool air flowing in from the east, alternating with lightning storms and heavy rain, drove us mostly indoors, and the deep, reptile parts of our brains signaled early torpor. Sunshine returned in earnest on Tuesday, though rain was to follow. In the dunes, the first of the beach plum crop turned an inviting purple. Bay and ocean alike are warm enough to linger in. Blue crabs, if you can find them, are huge and hungry. Corn and tomatoes, though available some weeks before now, are at their peak.

As the weeks speed fast toward Labor Day and the time of farewells, we should remember to slow down and enjoy these waning weeks for the joys of high summer they provide.