We lived on the East End of Long Island in a hamlet (I think it was a hamlet) in the town of Southampton. My wife and I and our three children made East Quogue our home for over thirty years before I retired and Eileen and I moved to Bradenton, Florida.

Bradenton is lovely, albeit hot and humid in the summer. We had hot days in East Quogue to be sure, but they usually didn’t arrive until July and usually ended around Labor Day when we had absoltuetly beautiful weather.

While I am happy to avoid the ice and snow of wintering in East Quogue, I still miss the beauty of those bleak winter days in the Hamptons.

The crowds had gone, the beaches were barren, and we could drive out to points further east without the fear of bumper to bumper traffic. But just staying in East Quogue on a cold. winters day was a beautiful thing. Eileen and I would do a bit of local shopping and come home to bake and make dinner and sit in front of a nicely roaring fire sipping a nice winter ale.

But we often took a detour after our shopping and visited Ponquoge Beach in Hampton Bays or Rogers Beach in Westhampton. Sometimes we would do the trifecta and include Tiana Beach in East Quogue. We preferred to go on a cloudy day just cold enough to remind you it’s winter and every now and then a biting wind would leave no doubt as to the season.

The sky along the horizon was spectaularly beautiful. Grey and blue and white skies were just a wonder to behold. Some might refer to it as a bleak day and it was.

I love bleak days and I miss them.

You felt you were in Ireland or England and not only did I not miss the sunshine, I reveled in the lack of the yellow orb that would have altered our experience.

It’s the kind of day that inspires reading an old classic. At this time I would pick out my hard cover edition of A Christmas Carol. Running my trains on such a day was a must as they always brought me back to Apartment 6 in 1261 Leland Avenue in the Bronx. There the steam radiators were hissing while in East Quogue the fire spit and crackled. Both were glorious experiences.

I would urge all of you privleged to experience a bleak day to revel in its beauty and don’t lament the lack of sunshine. The light and the heat that the sun provides will be back soon enough. In the meantime look up and feel the bleakness that is all around you. It can be a beautiful thing.