A Sketchy Portrait, Huntington, Long Island

The 5 p.m. Bunny
Charlie (Richie's younger brother) and his wife, Rosalind, live in the same house the boys grew up in, starting ages 11 and 9.  Connecting the house to the garage is what's called a "breezeway" in those parts.  It has always been my favorite place and in good weather it becomes the family living room with tables and comfy chairs and a great view of the spacious back yard.  A tree-covered hill climbs daintily up from the back edge of the lawn to the houses above.

It was our habit around 5 p.m. to repair there with a beer, admire the fine weather around us and visit.  Our reminiscences were interrupted by one of the party spotting movement out of the corner of an eye and -- it was a medium-sized brown field rabbit.  I just assumed it was a male because I think people tend to assume rabbits are males due to early exposure to Peter Rabbit, but that's an unproven theory. 

It would not be it's last visit.  Every day around 5 p.m. he would hop into view - at a safe distance, you may be sure - and nibble grass.  A brash squirrel intruded one late afternoon and the rabbit turned on the power and scampered at warp speed into a pile of lumber at the next door neighbors.  The squirrel sauntered away as if to say, "My work here is done."   I was surprised that he wasn't spatting his front paws together in satisfaction.

Of Lobsters and Wine Lists
The Feed and Grain restaurant at 73 Main Street, Northport, had a billboard on the sidewalk next to their patio advertising "6 lb. lobster - $49.00".  I snorted in disbelief, pointed and said something witty such as perhaps, "They've gotta be kidding!  Lobsters don't grow that big!"

But Sean, a bay man who ran lobster traps until some virus or other killed them off, corrected me.  "Yeah, they do - guy caught one so big that he put a collar and leash on it and walked it around on the dock."  Since Richie's nephew Sean is as honest as the day is long, I believed him.

It was too cold to be out on the patio so we were seated in the big dining room with a long bar running down the right side of the room. 

Our server, named Lucas L according to the check, popped up at the end of the long table of our booth and asked for our drink order.  When it got to be my turn, I asked politely for the wine list? at which  Lucas guffawed and asked, "Red or white?"   I will not vouch for the look on my face, but the rest of our party howled in glee at my faux pas.

Signage Seen
In residential neighborhoods - "Drive like your kid (grandkid) plays here." 

On the road encircling Lloyd Harbor, not far from Billy Joel's former gated and guard-housed residence, "Turtle Crossing."  with one depicted where the deer usually is placed.  Whose turtle it might have been, why it was allowed free range status?  None of us had any idea.