Three's

Three's brings back some fond and bittersweet memories. An early one was when Don and I went on our first surf safari back when we were teenagers. My parents dropped us off in Montauk at Ditch Plains, just surfboards and sleeping bags. We planned to camp for a week, with probably $20 in our pockets. My folk said to call if we needed a ride home. Hard to believe today they just dropped off in the middle of the boonies - two fun-seeking kids with no money, no cell phones, and no worries.

I don't think we ever got a good surf break, but met some of Don's buddies from high school - I remember Tucker and his brother. After we found a place to sleep up in the scrub brush, we settled in just before dark. Then the mosquitos began to feast. We ran back to the little convenience store down the road and emptied our pockets buying mosquito coils.

After about three days we met a friend of a friend with a van who offered us a ride to Threes. I remember a wild ride in the back of the van and getting dropped off at the end of Shinnecock at about midnight. We just camped out front on the beach, got in our bags, then looked up to see an army of rats silhouetted against the moonlight. Looked like Ben and his family. We just tucked our heads in, closed the tops of our bags, and hoped they weren't too hungry.

A couple of more days roasting in the sun, we were ready for a good shower and a decent meal. We hitched a boatride home with somebody we knew who had come over for the day and ended up back in Brush's Creek, safe and sound. Wonder if our parents ever noticed we were gone?!

Last year, after Jane's memorial, Don and Missy met me, Bindu, and Corinne at Shinnecock and we went out to Oakland's for lunch. Three's was unrecognizable, no more rotting pilings to navigate. But it was a great afternoon that brought back all those memories that will be on my mind come Saturday.