Looking up is different than looking down

Written By: Joe  Woulfe

Is it possible to experience the same joy in this hospital bed as I experience looking up at the new dawns sky from my Montauk deck? Am I hearing the same deck side rolling sounds of the surf just a stones throw away as I am hearing here in the busy, but tolerable S Hampton ER? Or is it the position I take as I lay and look up at life receiving rather than looking down like driving a one-way street. Waking up several weeks ago with a right swollen arm gave cause for concern but being a true MTK man dictated I go on with what has become a Sunday morning tradition with my 2 neighbors both guys around my own age of (65) and a common love of what has become our own true piece of heaven. Fulfilling my wife’s life long dream of owning a MTK home seemed a bit out of our reach until we came upon MTK shores condominiums (former campground/trailer camp > now a popular Manufactured home community) situated on some of the most beautiful ocean views in the world. This Eclectic version of the east side Hamptons marches to a different drummer holding on to it’s identity while yielding only slightly to those that would gentrify it’s future. Only lately have I come to appreciate the east ends smells, it’s thriving wildlife and unruly natural manifestations. Most of those views are looking up at the sky, out at the ocean or hearing myself think. It’s a drug of sorts RX by God himself available to those who open up their senses. Transformation very often needs a catalyst and is ongoing. Ignoring my arm and equipped with a cup of strong black Costa Rican coffee I leave my sleeping wife to join my 2 new found brothers this bright sunny Montauk Morning to solve regional, global and domestic issues of every sort. Am I member of a coffee klatch !? Or have I found brothers who in common truly appreciate what we see, smell and hear on the good ship MTK. It seems we speak endlessly jumping here and there hesitant on some topics well informed on others but I think maybe the content is secondary to the feel of the air! Johns wife looks at my distended arm and aggressively suggests that I go to the E care service in Amagansett ….John drives me there and I was quickly advised there by the PA to go immediately to S H ER. We left there and I thought it important to pick up my newly tuned up bike from the MTK bike shop as well as shower, shave and make sure my I pad, laptop and phone all accompanied me to the S Hampton Hospital. Several years ago I broke 3 ribs and spent several well attended days there. After quick processing I was admitted with exercise induced DVT (Paget-Schroetter syndrome – a blood clot in one of my shoulder veins). The staff here remind me of family as they make heart felt contact. I learn and remember over a dozen first names of the various doctors nurses and assistants involved in my 5 day stay. It seems to me people care more here about each other and I have an amplified understanding into the hearts and minds of each person that comes to my bedside….a familiar feeling but one that is hard to identify beyond this hospital environment. I remember just a few days ago laying on my deck lounge at Mid day watching a sea gull soar on the ocean air currents graceful, full of life contrasting against a deep blue Montauk sky with white puffy clouds creating a living portrait new in every aspect every minute! Looking up from my hospital bed allowed me to look for good things out of people seeing them reach out at this angle in a fashion that is transparent in every sense. Looking down is easy and we find our selves in that position frequently weather behind a desk on a mission or in our minds. When we go to a broad way show we feel it – the focus and the elevated position of the actors on stage or position we take on the couch as we look up at the TV. Looking up at the MTK sky reminds me of the most important aspect of our life out here on the east end – appreciation of each other, creation at it’s highest level! Joe Woulfe