Long Island Proud: The Older You Get, The More You Appreciate Spring

Springtime on the east end is at hand. The days are getting longer and warmer. Gradually, the heavy clothing and coats that protect us throughout the coldest days of winter are being put away until December.

Growing old is unavoidable. Feeling old, perhaps, can be a state of mind, as is feeling youthful when in fact you’re old. Looking old when you’re young is never a good thing, whereas looking young when you are old is something many folks take pride in. The point is, our minds play an important part in how we see ourselves and how we live our lives.

I am very excited because I’m a sailor, and soon I’ll be putting my boat in the water. We are now in springtime, and therefore, there’s painting and cleaning to be done at the boatyard.

Doing this work, one can’t help but notice that every day it gets a little warmer and the sunlight gets a little longer. The daffodils are poking up from the ground, with the early ones already blossoming. It is a ritual of spring. The older I get, the more I seem to appreciate watching all the flowers. Plants and trees come back to life. Somehow, all of this rebirth makes me feel more youthful. I know I’m not, but as long as I’m feeling that way, who can complain?

Years ago, my mother, who loved Montauk because she and my dad fished there, used to sing the song “Younger Than Springtime” from the musical South Pacific. Now I hum it when I wake up every morning, seeing the sun beaming through the clouds.

Wars are being fought around the world, and there is pain, suffering, and premature death. All that could be avoided.

Yet it is springtime, and there is rebirth all around us. Soon, the many colors of the beautiful flowers across the east end will brighten the visuals in our daily lives. My wife plants new tulips every year, and it’s always fun to see which ones survived and are thriving in our garden.

I seem to appreciate this more and more every spring. It makes me smile. Lots of people are drawn to beautiful things and beautiful places; for me, that’s Gardiner’s Bay. I am not sure how many more years of both sailing and living I have in my future, but I do know I will enjoy them because I know I get to spend the rest of my life on the east end.