Fall in the Hamptons Makes for Great Beach Days
This weekend was a shining example of how magnificent fall can be in the Hamptons.
We have fantastic corn, apples and tomatoes in-season, among other produce. The weather is beautiful, and not too hot or cold. The light is fabulous! People are still out doing things and enjoying themselves, but the mayhem of summer is over. For the most part, crazy traffic and horrendous lines are finished until next June or July. Fishing gets really good, especially fishing for stripers. The ocean is beautiful and incredibly warm and inviting, even if it’s not officially summer anymore.
Eventually, the leaves turn and it’s gorgeous to behold.
Most would say raking isn’t much fun, but I have fond memories of being out in the yard with my late father for fall cleanup in East Hampton. I remember being out there, the charred, wood-smokey smells of autumn and the feel of sweat under flannel shirts and work gloves, as we raked all the leaves into large piles and then onto a big orange sheet. We’d drag the piles to the road, empty the sheet and return for more, again and again.
Fall is a time for bonding and family. It’s Thanksgiving and Halloween. It’s cooking together and finishing projects. It’s decorating and carving pumpkins. It’s picking apples and pumpkins. It’s drinking cider and maybe a dram of whiskey or a pint of stout. It’s snuggling up with loved ones when the weather really starts to turn and the air gets cool and crisp. It’s lighting the first fire in our hearth and playing board games on the floor nearby, or chatting over warm coffee and watching the flames turn orange, red and even blue.
Fall is seeing your breath for the first time in months and being glad for it. It’s taking walks along desolate beaches before the sky shifts from bright blue to steely grey. It’s a period of rest, reflection and thought. It’s also got some great television.
But this time at the very beginning of fall is, to me, the most special of the entire year.
And being at Flying Point beach in Water Mill on Saturday afternoon was absolute magic. I’ve shared some photos below.