Editorial: Shelter Island Summer
In a time of political combat on the local, state and national level, it sometimes takes an effort to fully see what’s important during this season of family, friends and fun.
The issue of affordable housing on Shelter Island has become, to put it mildly, divisive, with both sides accusing the other of gutter tactics (they’re both right on that score).
Town Board members can’t seem to figure out if they’re transparent in dealing with the public or not, but are being hit seemingly every week by charges they’re keeping residents in the dark about their decision-making process.
Joe Biden is a president with significant accomplishments, on protecting the environment, gun control, prescription drug prices, a funded plan to upgrade a crumbling national infrastructure, expanding health care and seeing an historic growth in jobs on his watch.
Or, he’s a bumbling, half-senile man in over his head who lost to Trump in a landslide. Take your pick. Let’s fight.
At times we can feel imprisoned by it all.
But for a second or two, we should consider that summer, if we do it right, is the season of freedom. You can see that in the faces of children, free from school and regimentation, to play through long days like there’s no tomorrow. And from a child’s perspective, tomorrow isn’t even a consideration.
Even for us working stiffs, summer vacations can show us how the job often dominates our lives, when on our first day off we’re worried that we’re not getting something done, and then realize what we have to do is … nothing.
On Shelter Island, this has been a summer to remember — another sign of the season is memories of happy times past — with the recently completed tennis tournament benefiting library programs. The Town’s Recreation Department has full schedules of free programs for every age.
The ArtSI studio tour was an opportunity to spend time visiting artists’ studios, connecting us to the creative spirit that thrives on the Island. The Snapper Derby is on this weekend, a joyous summer celebration of children, parents and families.
It’s also the time of the summer game, and we’ve profiled two young Islanders, Ben Waife and Liam Adipietro, who made us proud of their on-field accomplishments. And the Mets and the Yankees are both leading their divisions and bringing joy to partisan hearts.
Whether we stop and linger at an afternoon pick-up game of kids banging a softball against a fresh sky, or go to the cathedral-like setting of Yankee Stadium for a game under the lights, we receive an emotion that John Fogerty put into song: “Well, beat the drum and hold the phone, the sun came out today/We’re born again, there’s new grass on the field.”
Summer on Shelter Island — a free pass to an understanding of what’s truly important.
