Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life


Last September my wife Paula , our new friends and neighbors Irma and Dave went for a day out on the North Fork of Long Island. It is still quite rural with a few remaining farms, farm stands and lots of wineries. When I went to the wineries a few years ago I stopped at many of these wineries for wine tasting. Many tasted like they all came from Chateau Listerine or Casa di Peepi.
I’ll take my California, Australia or if I have to, French wine over these any day. It was clear cut to me. It doesn’t make it for me at any price, and they aren’t inexpensive either.

Dave and Irma knew where to get the best home made peach pie, breads, fresh brown jumbo eggs and many places for sweet corn. We stopped at a fantastic Greek lunch and dinner restaurant and had a wonderful lunch al fresco. It was an idyllic calm day with perfect temperature outside. We decided that we would do it again if we could before we snowbirds would be taking off for Florida.

Alas, the days flew by and we went back to our separate Florida havens and got together with them and others from our Port Washington, L.I. community a few times in Florida. I reminded them that we were getting in to the right weather to head east towards Greenport for another shot at the farm stands. We went on July 15th which looked good for the ladies as it wasn’t a Bridge or Canasta day for them. We men are more flexible and were happy to go anytime. I am one of these guys who feel most comfortable when I drive. I am not comfortable going on a road trip of 200 miles unless I am driving. I follow the rules; don’t speed and am not a constant lane changer. I don’t drive like an old man either. I am aware of my surroundings and let the crazies have plenty of room to whiz by me. People who drive with me usually tell me how relaxed they were and that they were so relaxed that they dozed off. I am talking about big trips not a sortie to the mall.

We stopped at Breimeir’s for Dave & Irma to get peach juice and peach muffins. I bought a blueberry muffin which I ate half of the next morning. Either my taste buds weren’t working or something was amiss. I just decided it wasn’t worth the calories. I threw away almost two bucks worth of muffin.
When we got underway we stopped at another place to check out the corn. I bought some really nice looking plums and nectarines but would not disclose to anyone how much I paid. I really overpaid because they looked spectacular. There is something special and nostalgic about buying fruit in a rural setting. You are led to believe that they are home grown but of course it was too early in the season for that.









Irma was dying to get Raspberries; well almost. I’ll explain what I mean. As we headed east again we decided we would stop for lunch at that same Greek bistro that we enjoyed so much last year. All of a sudden I passed a wagon that looked like a New York City hot dog stand displaying raspberries. Irma cried out,
“Look, there are my raspberries.”
I said, “I’ll turn around and go back” and Irma thanked me.
At the next intersection about a half of a mile up I made a U-turn and went back west, came to a traffic light and tuned east again and pulled over onto the dirt shoulder of the road. Dave was the shopper and got out of the front passenger seat to check out the raspberries. The honor system is used on that part of Long Island. There was a lock box and plastic bags. If you buy, you put three dollars into the lock box as the sign directed and take your goods.

Suddenly we heard a loud bang. A large dump truck came hurtling by and just missed my car and came to a halt with smoke pouring out from underneath it about 150 feet up the road. In the right rear of where his truck passed a few seconds before and 30 feet behind my car was a mass of smoldering hot rubber that was once a truck tire. He had a blowout and fortunately was able to avoid us. The tire came off the rim and it must have been an inside right rear tire. Paula was in the rear seat right behind me and Irma was behind the right passenger seat.

I said that by the grace of God and the skill of he driver our time wasn’t up. We all have been having flashbacks about it for the last two days. We would have been on the cover of Newsday our local paper. I had a full tank of gasoline that I had just filled and we would have been incinerated. It reminded me of the book I had read in high school called , “The Bridge of San Luis Rey” It was about a group of strangers who cross a foot bridge at the time of it’s collapse over a river gorge. It’s about fate and circumstance. Irma said that our time wasn’t up.

There is a lesson in here as well. If you want to stop to buy anything pull into a regular place that has off the road clearly marked parking spaces. What I did was downright foolish and dangerous. It is best not stop on a highway unless absolutely necessary and then only in a spot that is highly visible to vehicular traffic.

A few minutes later we found our little charming Greek restaurant, had lunch and so as not to make the day incomplete we turned around and at my suggestion went to the Tanger outlet near Riverhead. I bought a pair of Reeboks and the ladies had great success at Chico’s. They got such markdowns that the store almost paid them to take the merchandise! The day was perfect and we had easy traffic heading back home.

Life is mysterious and like I have been saying these last few years,
“Weather doesn’t matter. When you get up in the morning look at the grass from up to down you know and you’re still here on the right side. God gave you this day, enjoy every minute of it.’’

Even more so, now!.