Summer's End Hurly Burly
Awash in delegates, politicos, would-be-politicos, protestors, police, security details, and media for the 2004 Republican National Convention, Manhattan was the last place we wished to be, so we eagerly opted for a North Country Labor Day.
Labor Day Lobsterfest is a long-standing tradition at the Westport Marina: a feast of lobsters, steamers and chicken bar-b-q; three nights of great live music; costumes and boat decoration; and one humdinger of an "end of summer" party. For 38 years this end-of-summer blowout has pulled revelers from near and far to party all weekend only to awaken on Tuesday morning to the grim reality that once again summer is over! We had friends visiting from Detroit and Montreal, and they went home Monday talking about making it yearly tradition. Great food, fun and friends. Can't beat it. After gorging ourselves on Sunday we danced late into the night to the groovy rhythms of Blues for Breakfast. This year's theme, Medieval Magic, made for interesting costumes ranging from knights and princesses to dragon slayers and lepers. Lepers? That's right! Apparently anything goes at the Westport Marina. While bombing around Lake Champlain in search of water flat enough to waterski, while stuffing butter-soaked lobster down my gullet, while dancing like a crazed maniac, while enjoying summer's last "Hurrah!" I heard the same wish uttered by just about everyone I spoke to."What a soggy summer! September better be nice."
"You know, they say a wet summer makes for a splendid autumn."
"So much rain in July and August, the fall foliage is bound to be sublime!"
Seems that everyone is lamenting the amount of rain we received during the second half of the summer. Lake Champlain's water level has reached record highs. Most permanent docks are under water! Usually August marks the annual low water mark, but this year it seems to have done the inverse. Now we're holding out hope for a glorious "Indian Summer". Of course Adirondack autumns are famous for the spectacular leaves, but I'm not going to settle for pretty foliage. Last year we were waterskiing well into October, so I'm shooting for at least another month of quality boating. I'll keep you posted.
Once Labor Day festivities and Convention pageantry subsided and slipped into history, we returned to Manhattan for the craziest of weeks. Moving time! Boxing up, packing up, shuffling across town, and unloading. I sit amidst towering boxes wondering if life will ever look the same. And amidst the frenetic dance, we crossed paths with great chums in from London. Though not particularly star-crazed ourselves, we were swept up in the excitement of VIP treatment for the filming of the penultimate Graham Norton Effect NYC episode. Ever experienced the like of Marilyn Manson and Chris Rock at close range? At all? An unusual experience. Then off to Soho for Rolling Stones' guitarist, Ronnie Wood's, opening at Pop International Galleries. We got to rub elbows and chat a bit with the legend while ogling several other celebs until the high wore off rather quickly, a admit, since we were hungry and Dos Caminos was only about dos pasos away. Then back to moving in the hottest, wettest, most humid weather ever with a brief intermission for the US Open quarter finals match between Roger Federer and Andre Agassi. We'd been following the rain delay updates all day, wondering if the match would be postponed, but we ended up bombing out to Flushing Meadows for some super tennis. Until the third set when Agassi was starting to show the signs of wear and the sympathetic clouds opened up. We waited it out for an hour plus, drenched despite our umbrellas, but finally the match was called. The rest is history! Then back to moving… and moving and moving. Still mid stream. But the end is in site.