Opinion

What childhood traits and experiences promote an adulthood commitment to the natural world? A sense of wonder.

In my youth, the presence of rats — the four-legged kind — in the best zip codes was a source of high humor.

The East Hampton Town supervisor shared a truth this week when he explained that keeping sand on the denuded downtown Montauk ocean beach was not something that the town and Suffolk County could afford to do for the long term.

“So, what is your weakness?” my foot doctor asked. Aside from not being able to move, I couldn’t think of any.

Frost took the twitter from the dawn songbirds yesterday, which made me pay attention to something that had been at the back of my mind: When does spring start?

I’ve roamed 23 South Fork graveyards, from Southampton to Sag Harbor. I dig surprises, and what has more surprises per square foot than a cemetery?

There is something humorous about having launched a newspaper column of personal musings during the doldrums of a pandemic: Shall I write about how I procured a can of dolmas (stuffed Greek grape leaves) without going inside the grocery store, or shall I thrill the reader with the antics of the lone-ranger raccoon who frequents my backdoor trash bin?

At a moment when the country may finally be emerging from the Covid-19 crisis, New Yorkers cannot risk having the state’s top elected official embroiled in a lengthy investigation.

I told O’en on our walk the other night that I thought winter was finally over, but he was too preoccupied with the evening’s effluvia to give the matter much thought.

Unlike us, it seems all the same to him whether the weather is fair or foul. He is just as happy to roll splayed out on the snow as he is upon the leaves or grass. He is the most temperate soul in our menage, an avatar of amity, a friend to all, regardless of race, class, creed, gender, age, or political affiliation. We who tend to compare and contrast would do well to learn from him.

It has been some years since I pulled the iceboats out of the barn. The last time there was enough ice to sail was an early March, the third, I think. Late in the day, a friend and I took the old batwing boat out as heavy clumps of snow came down. It was as if we were sailing among stars.

Budd Schulberg’s “What Makes Sammy Run?” does more than hold up well, its heel of a hero reflects a changing America.

A year into the Covid-19 pandemic in the United States, there are many lessons learned, both good and bad. No one could fully anticipate how it would play out here on Long Island, and if one were to prepare a guidebook for the future, there would be plenty to write about.