Decades ago, a movement to build a bypass skirting the hamlets and villages on Montauk Highway was beaten back. I wonder what the naysayers would think if they could see 2021.

Did you see the New York Times piece this weekend about a pro-laziness movement led by a factory dropout from Zhejiang Province, China?

Never mind the backups, jam-ups, and clogged (traffic) arteries, the quality of driving itself has taken a nosedive.

The goose that lays the golden egg is on life support.

Throughout this past year, for reasons that are not entirely clear to me, I have returned again and again to the lyrical prose of Peter Matthiessen’s “The Tree Where Man Was Born.”

AMAGANSETT

Edwards Trust to Betty Englis, 425 Cranberry Hole Road (vacant), April 30, $2,550,000.

BRIDGEHAMPTON

Eugene G. Smith to J. and D. LI Home Builders L.L.C., 867 Millstone Road (vacant), Feb. 9, $225,000.

Stefan Wiskemann to Caroline and Jeremy Leventhal, 20 Audobon Avenue, April 26, $5,750,000.

While firefighters are often summoned to help animals in distress, it's a rare day when an aerial truck comes to the rescue. But that's what happened on June 25, when Montauk firefighters were called to help rescue a seagull caught in a power line near the Dock restaurant. 

Kim Tetrault, the longtime chief oyster guru at the Cornell Cooperative Extension Marine Center in Southold, tends oysters hatched in late March and scallops still too tiny to be seen without a microscope.

Samantha Duane of East Hampton certainly skates through life, and this summer, she's inviting other people to join her for friendly skate gatherings that the ex-roller derby pro hosts Monday nights in the parking lot of the Clubhouse off Daniel's Hole Road.

A show of works by the late Gahan Wilson opens Thursday, and the Sag Harbor Community Band has an upcoming performance.

The latest raft of missives . . .

Jeffrey Garten, an economist who served in four presidential administrations, argues that a single weekend at Camp David in August of 1971 was “a watershed in modern American history” and an indication of “changing American power and influence.”

It takes more than wheels to make mobile meals, say food truck owners. In the spirit of high summer, four food truck operators talked about what makes their trucks tick.

Le Fin's vibe is of a seaside bistro along the Cote d'Azur. The French-trained chef James Tchinnis makes a few nods to French cuisine, but often his menu goes for East End simplicity.

New wine bar at Hedges Inn, Milk Bar in Montauk, new outdoor dining in Noyac, and North Fork options including a beach club

"Tomashi Jackson: The Land Claim," an exhibition that sheds light on racial segregation on the East End, will open at the Parrish Art Museum this weekend.

This week, Guild Hall will present comedy from Mike Birbiglia, Susie Essman, Isaac Mizrahi, and Mercedes Ruehl, books talks, music, and "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea."

Paintings and drawings by Billy Sullivan are on view at Madoo, which is also hosting a signing for a new book by Christophe von Hohenberg Friday.

Solo shows for John Little and Milton Avery, a pop-up from Mexico City, Minimalists at Berggruen, iconic women on canvas, and much more

Gosman's Fish Market is offering a chance to take home a jewel of the sea — a giant pearl, discovered last November while Gosman's chefs were opening clams for New England chowder. It will be raffled off this month to raise money for the Montauk Food Pantry.