We’ve had a couple of gorgeous days here in New York. So, on Sunday, we woke to an earlier-than-our-typical Sunday alarm, collected our gallon of water, beach chairs, volleyball and net, Sunday paper and some fresh bagels, and headed out to Long Beach with Zak. A few other people had the same idea.

There were about twenty nets up, and easily north of a hundred people playing. It took us a good forty-five minutes to rake the court clean of glass deposited by the winter’s high tides. I was proud of our contribution when I tossed a Whole Foods bag half-full of glass into the trash can.

My sister Jessica and her friend Jen came out got a little beach volleyball experience. Jeanhee and Huckleberry and I won a couple of games. The wind screwed with my game like a long lost frenemy, forgotten in so many months playing inside at Chelsea Piers.

The best part was simply being on the beach again, feeling the warmth of the sun, the fine sand beneath my feet, and appreciating the clean line of the ocean’s horizon. I love that.