One: Montauk, New York Jan. 1, 2015

A commuter run to New York City waits for its scheduled departure time under a winter moon. 

 

 

 

 

 

The end of the line. You could look at Montauk that way. You certainly can't go any farther east, north or south when you stand at the very tip of Long Island. Well, unless you have a boat or like to swim. At the same time, you can look at such places as a beginning. The symbolic start of a journey into a New Year and a new set of adventures. This is how I decided to look at Montauk and why I am glad that we went there on the first day of 2015.

The Wife and My Little Helper, along with The Dog, drove out to the very end of Long Island on Jan. 1, 2015 and then walked around the grounds of the light house and the state park there. The light house was closed, but the nearby restaurant -- cash only if you go visit -- was open and the beacon was decked out in its holiday decorations. The seas around the point were filled with sea birds and the wind is pretty constant. Across the water you can see Block Island, which is part of Rhode Island and a stretch of that state's coastline, along with a lot more of Connecticut. This is the land's end.

Montauk Light

So I stood at one of North America's edges and I touched the wall. I completed another lap in my life marked by the end of one year and the start of a new one. I felt we came to that moment of rest  where gravity and momentum intersect and pause all movement for just a moment.

Both the highway and the railroad end in Montauk. You can't go any further. Until, of course, you turn around and then the destination becomes the new beginning. The first step west becomes the starting point in a new journey, a new lap. This is the same feeling that drew me to trains in the first place when I was just a little boy at Canton Junction in Massachusetts watching New Haven's named trains and commuter runs roar past the platform. Where were all those people going? What were they going to do when they got there? Where would I go? What would I do?

Well, there is only one way to find out -- get on the train and go.

All aboard, it's time to go.