Novelty in Trichotomy

Montauk

We took half of a week off to go to Montauk three weeks ago. This would be our summer trip, and the first time we visited.

On the first day we arrived early, so we had time to tour the lighthouse before checking into the hotel. It took 2 hours in total to drive out there but we broke for lunch at Hampton Bay, which was exactly 1 hour from either end. We had dinner at a fancy yacht club at Star Island.

The next day we went on a hike at camp Hero; we started near the coast hiked along the cliff to the radar tower, and then hiked back to turtle cove via trail 113 before getting back to the car. The first part was nice because of the views. A wild deer stalked us part of the way - she was used to being fed by hikers, it seemed, and when we turned around she would pretend to be looking at something else. By the time we hiked back via the camp trails, it was getting hot and there wasn’t much to see. We ate lunch at the lighthouse. We were supposed to go whale watching but the trip got cancelled due to choppy waters. So we spent the afternoon at the hotel pool and beach. We went to Star Island for a second night in a row and had dinner at a decidedly non-fancy marina. It was a big contrast to the first night.

The third day we went to hike from Ditch plain to town center. The hike was beautiful - it was first along the beach, then went up along a cliff, then past some fancy mansions, then to downtown. Unfortunately, the parking lot we parked in was for residents only (signage was not clear) and we got a parking ticket. Our hotel was near Gosman dock; it was much quieter, but still convenient - just a few minutes drive to the landmarks and hiking trails, but none of the busyness of downtown. There was also a Deli store (calls itself a “meat market”) a few minutes walk away, so we went there every day for supplies. We spent part of the afternoon looking at stores at Gosman’s dock and the rest hiding in our room. The storm that caused the choppy waters reached montauk that afternoon, so it was raining heavily. At least we had netflix.

We were saying that, next time we come, we should come with some friends so we could charter a ship, try surfing lessons, and then try whale watching again. But I think the 3 nights - if whale watching wasn’t cancelled - would have been just perfect.

We drove back on my birthday, and we realized that it’s been a year since we visited Petra’s factory!

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Nothing is a novelty

During the trip, I was reminded that it’s 20 years since the east coast power outage of 2003.That means it’s been 20 years since moving to New York. That means it’s been 20 years since I started writing opendiary.

I have to say, most stuff happened in the first ten… Once I moved to the suburbs, life seems to become less interesting. Either that, or I’m becoming jaded and becoming harder to impress. That, or I’m doing less in my old age.

I keep waiting for my mid-life crisis to hit. Then I realized I’m taking over the recital director ship of the amateur group. So I guess it counts? I’ve been putting work into automating the more mundane part of the job, to make it easier on myself.

The new season starts in 3 weeks, so we’ll see how well it works.

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The next novelty

The rabbit’s latest obsession is digging. He has been digging since we got him (it’s part of rabbits’ natural behaviour), and we’ve been providing him with places to dig - hay mats, shredded newspaper, cardboard boxes.

Lately, the cardboard boxes are no longer enough. I set up a tunnel (basically a blanket fort on the sofa - with sofa cushions holding up a blanket), and he would hop inside and dig. That satisfied him for a while, but now he is trying to get on chairs that are pushed under the kitchen table, and get at the underside of the table.

I admire his tenacity, and interest in trying new things, but it is also very annoying.

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