As the content director of a lifestyle site, I write a lot about the changing seasons.
In fact, since March I’ve penned a letter for our magazines about each month.
This task, however simple it seems, is easier said than done. Mainly because it’s tough to even tell what month it is anymore.
Now I’m writing this ahead of you reading this, so I have no idea what the weather is like at the moment, but say you were someone who just stepped out of a time capsule (think Woody Allen in “Sleeper”) and you walked outside right now and were asked to guess which month of the year it is, would you say June?
I have a theory — and this all relates to climate change, so I don’t want to be too light-hearted about it — that every month is behind by one 30-day period. If that made no sense at all, I mean to say that June feels like May, July feels like June, etc.
This year, for example, May showers brought June flowers and March went in like a lion and came out like a … mountain lion?
I have a friend who swears there are only 10 perfect days on Long Island each year. It goes from a little too cold to way too hot, he says.
You know how every now and then there’s executive action taken to adjust daylight savings time? I’d love to see a president announce we’re going back and doing August all over again. This way when I close my pool at Labor Day, we don’t have a heat wave soon afterward, as has happened in recent years. (Somehow I’m not sure this will make it on Trump’s agenda, but my mother would tell me it can’t hurt to ask nicely, except sometimes it did hurt a little).
Exacerbating this concern I have over the seasons is our new monthly print schedule on the magazines, which has us working so far ahead I have a meeting for the October issue scheduled this month. I’m sure to turn into a pumpkin thinking that far ahead.
All that said, I’d like this particular column to stand as a belated apology to all the subjects we dragged out this spring on days that felt like winter for a photograph we did our best to make feel summer.
• Speaking of photographs taken out of season, I really loved David Benthal’s portraits of several North Fork farmers in this month’s magazine. Because we shot it in April, we really had to work around the season with the art. That really enabled us to focus on the farmers themselves in the photographs and Dave is so talented at that. We’re brainstorming now on farm stories we can do for next year that can be shot in season. Email me if you have a suggestion.
• On the topic of farms, Mark Harrington at Newsday had a good scoop Wednesday on Palmer Vineyards selling about half its acreage. He reports that an anonymous buyer purchased 60 acres for $1.25 million. I haven’t had a chance to look into it yet, but recent history tells me a Soloviev sign will soon follow.
• In case you missed it, Greenport has a new restaurant.
• I’m looking forward to the U.S. Open coming to town next week. I’ll be there Thursday and am planning a food column from it. Some of the local businesses I know are supplying food for the tournament are Braun Seafood Co., North Fork Potato Chips and Latham Farms. I’ll be on the lookout for more. In the meantime, please check out my Suffolk Times cover story on Marc Wahl, a physical therapist extraordinaire for several of the golfers in the tournament, including the defending champ.
• I’ve been hearing for awhile now that Bradley Cooper’s “A Star is Born” remake is going to be the movie of the year. I was trying to fight it. The trailer dropped yesterday and I may or may not have watched it five times.
• My weekend event pick goes to Bedell Cellars, which is hosting a sunset cruise on the Peconic Bay at 8 p.m. Friday. A little earlier Friday, at 4:30 p.m. to be precise, Slow Food East End is touring 8 Hands Farm, complete with dinner at the farm’s food truck.
• Planning ahead? Here’s our annual 20 events list for summer.
• Lastly, I just wanted to say thanks for all the great feedback on this new regular column and newsletter. I haven’t yet responded to everyone, but I am reading and appreciating all you have to say. If you don’t get our newsletter and saw this online or because it was forwarded to you, it’s easy to sign up near the top of our homepage, under the logo at left. My colleague Cyndi Murray is taking her first turn in the rotation writing this column next week. She wrote a great piece about this past weekend on the North Fork that we’re holding for then. You can wait!
Grant Parpan is the content director for Times Review Media Group, overseeing a number of things, including content planning for northforker.com and magazine, the posts and videos we create for advertisers, and the company’s digital platforms. What kind of stories/videos do you want to see from us this summer? Email him at [email protected].
