October 04, 2005
Fisher's Island
Last Friday I went to Fisher's Island, a small (approx 4 or 5 sq miles) island about 5 miles off the coast of New London, CT. I was invited to come stay by Mary, an old friend from college. Her family has two houses there along the shore that have been in the family since the time of her great-grandfather. She's been going there every summer since she was young, just like her mother did.
I am a rural kid, mostly. I was raised in Logan, UT, a small town (pop. 40K) in northern Utah about 20 miles from the nearest interstate, and about 80 miles from any airport. I am used to open space, no traffic, ample parking, the ability to drive 5 minutes and be hiking in the wilderness in solitude. When I am living in a city, the need for aloneness in nature wells up over time and, every few months, turns into a powerful force that drives me out into the country, however I can get it. I knew that, living in New York, I would be visited by this feeling sooner or later.
I actually haven't yet heard the call of nature; the energy of the city still buoys me nicely. But I considered my weekend jaunt to be a kind of stay against that feeling when it comes.
Being on Fisher's island did drive home the relativism of the idea of Peace and Quiet. Sitting on a park bench in Washington Square with my head in a book, or sitting on a hill in Central Park had begun to feel peaceful to me. Sitting on a bench at the end of the boathouse, with no humans in sight (excepting those piloting sailboats across the sound), upset my Peace and Quiet equilibrium, for it was several layers deeper; the quiet fairly rang in my ears.
Posted October 4, 2005 11:43 AM. Categories: New Experiences , Week 4 | Permalink