Nags Head in Summer

Nags Head Fishing Pier, N.C.

THE LOCATION: Nags Head Fishing Pier, Outer Banks, N.C.

THE EQUIPMENT: Canon EOS 5D Mark IV | EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM | Peak Design aluminum travel tripod | Breakthrough 3X neutral density filter

GPS: 35°58'23.6701" N 75°37'52.3163" W

THE STORY: Labor Day weekend always feels like a long "fare thee well" to summer.

Not quite a goodbye, because like beaches, summer is as much a state of mind as anything. We can choose to spend time in that space and season, even after August, even if it's just a moment to find hope in our imaginations, when in late February and early March, winter seems to be taking its sweet old time in getting out of here.

The Summer of '24 for me began solitary in the Outer Banks, and the lines on the map apps ran through the Southern Appalachians and once more to the Emerald City before a nostalgic swing back to Cincinnati. It ends with a heart fuller than I could have imagined.

C. Day Lewis wrote that summer "filled her veins with light and her heart is washed with noon." That's all of us today, even when during breakfast in Lancaster City, on the porch of a french creperie, when a subtle hint of autumn on a breeze grazed the necks, arms, and knees of the diners in their T-shirts and shorts. It's still the noontime of the year. Just not for long.

Fare thee well, summer. And when it's March, don't be afraid to come back a little early.

IF YOU GO: Nags Head Fishing Pier, Nags Head, N.C.

Dave is a seasoned writer and photographer. He lives in Lancaster, Pa., with his three sons. You can contact him at dave@pidgeonseyeview.com.