Happy Labor Day!
As another summer comes to a close here in Rockaway Beach, NY, it was the most different one I can remember due to the affects of Super-storm Sandy. A beach with no boardwalks with the exception of one block concrete “concession islands” spaced every 8 blocks. Forbidden access to some parts of the beach due to erosion, and to other parts due to dredging. I almost didn’t expect this secret summer vacation destination to have much life this year, but the affects of a storm didn’t stop the faithful from coming out.
Multiple generations of families come out to the Rockaways every summer, staying in summer rental apartments or in the few remaining little bungalows left. Some of these summer homes have been passed down from one generation to the next over the course of many decades.
Tonight, the beaches will officially close for the last time of the year, sending our visitors from Brooklyn and Queens home until Memorial Day 2014. The summer renters will pack up their cars and head back to their respective states to get the kids set for school. The beach will return to it’s natural ambient sounds of crashing waves and squawking seagulls.
Not all the summer vacationers leave today though, the oldest generation (the grandparents) usually stay on for another week, and enjoy this quiet time with each other after their now-adult-offspring and the grand children leave. Soon enough they to will go back from whence they came and if the license plates of cars on my block are any indicator, that would be New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maine, Connecticut and Florida.
Here in the Rockaways, tonight is the night many summer renters are packing up their belongings and summer memories and headed back home. I however, live out here year-round in a bungalow that has been weatherized for all seasons. So to me, it’s still home–only the neighborhood will be a bit quieter again. 🙂
The work on my upcoming album is coming along great, and it is the most fun I have ever had working on my music. I can’t wait for you to hear some of it when the time comes. 🙂
Happy ‘last day of summer’ in many respects.
-Movestro