Notes on a long summer weekend

Thursday, July 10

Drove down to Bethel Woods from working in Cherry Valley for the Steely Dan show, to attend a wedding and to check on my apartment in Brooklyn.

Stop in Hancock to get some smoked eel and jerky-the smokehouse is on the river and beautiful. Though there is an open sign and smoke billowing out of the chimney, there is no one around. We take what we want and leave money?careful to calculate tax and err on the side of leaving too much. One glance back at the peaceful house where the proprietor lives makes me wonder if perhaps living in the city is starting to get to me.

Haven’t been to Bethel Woods since last summer when I saw Dylan. It’s grown much in the three years that it’s been open (three years, right?) Now, vendors line the walk to the stage from the parking lot, complete with $8 kettle corn and $4 bottled water.

I eat a wrap from Jill’s Kitchen and drink wine from a plastic cup, sitting on a bench waiting for the show to start. Our seats are incredible, and though I come to the show to hear the three songs that I know by Steely Dan (“Reelin’ in the Years,” “Ricky Don’t Lose that Number” and “Do it Again”) I find it enjoyable, even though they don’t play any of them.

Friday, July 11

I borrow my dad’s car and drive out to The Inn at Panther Lake. It is a long drive and I find myself wishing that I actually had printed out directions rather than scribbling them on an envelope.

My stepsister Anna is getting married, which causes me to spend the drive wondering about very serious things, like growing up and falling in love. I find it especially hard to imagine myself getting married, but maybe that’s just because I haven’t had a serious girl friend in quite some time.

The wedding is very nice. I wear my new suit?which I guess, at this point, isn’t that new any more?and I film the ceremony for her. Funny to be the camera expert; I haven’t touched a video camera since film school and actually have to ask Anna’s new husband, Jay, how to use it. The reception is a blast and I find it fun to sit with my family and dance with my mother.

Saturday, July 12

I drive back to the city in the early afternoon and spend the time angrily cursing the traffic that I encounter. It takes me four and a half hours to make the less than 100-mile trek. When I finally arrive, I find that the movers who came to take my couch (a long story) have inadvertently locked me out of my basement office where a DVD sits that I need to take back upstate to finish work. I am furious and I think about calling a locksmith, but decide to spend a few minutes calming myself down on the couch first.

My roommate, Mark, has reorganized our apartment and it looks great.

I nap through the rest of the day and wake up in a much better mood, deciding that I will call my landlord to unlock the door when I get back to the city next week.

That night, my friend Matt and I head over to Bodega, a music venue in Bushwick. We catch this band called Hood Gang, which is awesomely terrible. All of their songs are about parties and the two lead singers writhe around on the ground in gold spandex. I have a blast and buy their CD.

We head back to Williamsburg listening to the CD. It lacks the energy that made the show good. We don’t listen to the whole thing.

Sunday, July 13

I sleep late and go to brunch with Robin and Matt. Robin has to work, but Matt and I venture over to see Matt and Kim and The Breeders at McCarren Pool. I’ve never been to a show there before and enjoy it. It’s a beautiful day and we watch the dodge ball tournament going on for a little while before hitting the slip and slide.

I actually look slightly tan when I get back home that night, quite a feat for me, and meet up with a friend to watch a movie.

The next morning, I drive up back up for my last week of work in Cherry Valley, thinking about the price of gas, loves lost, being thankful that I don’t need a car living in the city and singing “Reelin’ in the Years” at the top of my lungs.

- Zachary Stuart-Pontier