JOURNAL: On Fire Island, June 28, 2006

This morning I awoke to a windy rainstorm. I made a pot of coffee and enjoyed several cups while I read a little and watched the trees blowing in the rain. I could hear the surf in the distance roaring and crashing, and later in the morning, I walked up to the ocean beach with a chair and read some of Dombey and Son as the waves rushed in upon the beach. It was a wild scene. The rain had stopped, but the wind was howling and the ocean was making a great hue and cry as far as the eye could see. To me, it seemed like the perfect setting for a few chapters of Dickens. After lunch, Cat and I and the boys went to the bay beach for some swimming and sunning. The clouds had thinned out and mellow summer sunshine was everywhere. Catty and I had more good conversation, but every so often I had to plunge in to the refreshing water to cool off. Now, it's about 6:00 p.m. I'm sitting on the deck of the cottage, listening to the boisterous surf and typing this journal entry. We're planning a festive dinner of pizza, asparagus, and a tomato-and-lettuce salad, plus some cold bottles of Coronna. Afterwards, I hope I'm not too sleepy to take a walk in the darkness along the ocean beach, on my last night before heading back to Rhode Island and my peaceful apartment by the park.