FAIR HARBORBy Emily S. BrafmanSunday’s on Fire Island, where do I begin? When I was a little girl on Fire Island, Sundays marked the day my daddy would leave for the week. I would stand on the ferry dock crying my eyes out as my dad stood on the top of the boat, waving goodbye. As the boat pulled out and began to turn he would run from the right side of the boat to the left of the boat, to the very back of the boat, waving at his sobbing little girl until he disappeared into the Great South Bay.I experience Sundays quite differently as an adult. I’m lucky enough to get to stay on Fire Island this summer. My husband stays as well! It is well worth the not so lovely 6:10 a.m. boat “death boat” we endure on Monday mornings.Last Sunday was another picture perfect beach day. The waves were small but fun to play in and the water was clear blue. Suddenly, out in the distance we saw a pod of dolphins swimming by. They were close enough to see them jumping and frolicking in the water. The entire beach got up and ran to the shore to see our lovely ocean friends pass us by. Towards the dunes I have noticed a pod of a different sort. They call themselves “The Choobs.”They are our local Fire Island teens who are lucky enough to stay out on Fire Island all summer long! As I poked my head under their handmade wooden hang out called “112 Broadway,” I saw many familiar faces. They make up some of the Le Dock staff; two of my wonderful babysitters, Esme and Ruby; and a bunch of other very tan and adorable faces. They have a volleyball court set up and they are all living the life on Fire Island. It was one of those days where our beach day ended long after the lifeguards left. Kids flocked to the lifeguard stand to test their bravery with the long jump down.Sunset is my favorite part of the day on Fire Island and Sunday is by far the best. It’s a bonus day and I am among the lucky ones who watch each Ferry leave with herds of weekend warriors going back to the grind while I sit on the dock watching the glorious sunset in the distance. Le Dock has created a tradition of having live music on weekend evenings and they have not left out Sundays. We have many local celebrities and the dock is a perfect place to show off their talents. Melissa Adams sings the blues with a jazz band behind her; June Eysel treats us to romantic love songs; Jerry Demeo sings his funky tunes; and tonight’s guests, the Soul Junkies, bring some reggae to our Sunday night.The past couple of days I have been told of some new traditions blooming in Fair Harbor. The first one was flotilla. Though I was not there to see the event, I was told that a crew of Fair Harbor ladies and gents got out their finest floats and of course some cocktails and floated out to a buoy where they anchored up and relaxed under the sun.Then there was “Bridgehenge.” Apparently there is one evening that the sun sets right in the center of the Robert Moses Bridge. I was apprehensive about this one because someone said the night before was going to be this Bridgehenge, and they were wrong! It seemed unlikely that the sun would cooperate this time either. According to Whitney Cucci, who was involuntarily given a cattail, she was told bow to the setting sun with cattail in hand. As I suspected, the sunset was far to the left of the bridge. Looking back on the whole thing, I’m not sure if this was a serious event or just an excuse to parade on the dock with cattails and a drum bucket …The Tomato Patch:We have tomatoes! Red, ripe juicy tomatoes! We have picked three so far and each day another one is ready to eat. I am so happy to announce that I finally have a green thumb. One minor setback, many of the leaves have clearly become lunch for bugs. I examined the leaves and found tiny little snail like creatures. Gardner Bee says they might be slugs. She told me to put a bowl of beer in the bottom of the plant and they will crawl to it, as they love beer! I will report back and let you know if it works.Community News:Jennifer Jo Moyer of Spruce walk wanted me to tell you about her Fair HarborPupScout event: The NYC troop of PupScouts.org will be meeting in Fair Harbor on Sunday, Aug. 9. If you have a dog and would like more information about joining the PupScouts, please join us on the beach between Walnut and Dunewood (where Spruce Walk would be) or at the “Little Jumping” house at 50 Spruce. They will be earning their Beach Cleanup Badge that day! For Information about PupScouts online, please go to www.PupScout.org.As always, but especially this week, please write to me with news, events, and gossip! I’ll be leaving the Island for two weeks. I need your eyes and ears so I can write a great column from far away. E-mail me at fairharbor@fireisland-news.com.
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