Lifeguard Not On Duty

When the day is done I like to unwind with a mindless magazine and a beach view sunset.

This desire usually takes me to East Hampton, my favorite of all the Hamptons, where I explore various beaches and plop down on sandy mounds long deserted by young families off to food/bath/bed. I pull a hoody over my now blond wind-blown tresses, dip my color-of-the-week (yellow to orange to purple to blue) toenails in the foamy surf, and release any weighing stresses or thoughts of the day into the dark waters that promise to swallow them up. No questions asked.

Tonight, tiny grains between my toes, waves crashing, clouds rolling, I found myself climbing up into an abandoned Lifeguard's chair at newly discovered "Egypt Beach".

Seeing farther, dreaming higher, smiling wider. I found my peace, I found my place.

Sun setting, pages turning, I escaped into the lives of others and inadvertently found my favorite place on "the island".