Blessings from the Sea
I grew up in the little hamlet of Sayville on Long Island, New York, just a five-minute walk from the Great South Bay. Several ferries to Fire Island left from a dock at the end of our street. I took it for granted that I could visit the ocean beach almost any time my family or friends invited me to go. Every summer I spent as much time as possible swimming, sunbathing, getting burnt, and collecting shells. When the time came for me to "spread my wings," I decided I had to get off Long Island so that I wouldn't have to drive through city traffic in order to travel anywhere else in the country. I also thought it was time to trade the ocean for mountains, and a different kind of scenery. I met my husband in the Rocky Mountains of Yellowstone Park. Later we lived near the Blue Ridge Mountains in Tennessee for seven years, and then 32 years in the Catskills of New York. The mountains of upstate New York are beau...