You know I have talked to you enough about the up side of being on the beach. The down side is I tend to forget all else when I’m on the beach, for instance getting this column in on time.

I was so entranced by the coming warm weather that I had my aide Nick bring me out in the lake for a refreshing cool down.

What was hilarious was the reactions of drivers going by on Lake Shore Road and seeing me in the lake and wondering if I needed help.

In all the big cities I’ve lived in it has been easy to disregard the people around you. New York City, for instance, is famous for people walking by unconcerned or looking the other way at whatever antics their felloe city dwellers are up to.

In contrast with that statement, not only are small town people very aware of their neighbors and community. In the bigger cities, ever since 9-11 and the Boston Bombing and various school shootings like in Sandy Hook, it seems people are trying to be more attentive to their neighbors and surroundings.

I think I’m much more aware of this attentiveness since my sitting in the confines of a wheelchair as well as being in a small town. For instance, people tend to wave, smile, say hello and generally acknowledge you in a small town in a way I didn’t see in the big cities where I lived.

I should also say, there was some reason for the strange looks and calls of concern when I was in the lake. The temperature of the water was 62F according to Herman and his thermometer, who decided not to go further than knee-deep in the water after watching Nick and I out waist-deep for a couple of hours.

When I was in California, I experienced the constantly moving ocean and intense sunshine that was available most of the year. In contrast, here in the Adirondacks after a long winter that seemed like it didn’t want to fade, I may have been a little anxious to get back to the beach and lake.

I’m always anxious to be in the water whenever possible from my days as a Swim Cadet at Cleveland Heights to now I have always been a water baby who loves the sun and beach. So if you happen to drive by and see me sitting in my wheelchaid out in the water with my aide, I’m getting both sun and the cooling affect of the water, and all is well with the world!

(I enclose a picture of my aide Nick Gallup and me smiling from the lake on Tuesday, May 7.)