If you don't know yet, I love New York City. I especially love it in the summertime when an enormous number of the inhabitants venture out to their share in the Hamptons/Fire Island. There is a sense of calmness that settles on the City during Saturday and Sunday.

People who stay in the City share this unspoken love for the calmness. You can see it in our eyes and our behavior. I can see it in the enthusiasm people have when they attend my Saturday morning Step class. It's also evident in the relaxed aura that emanates from those who are sitting next to you during brunch - not just the fact that you are sitting having brunch but the fact that you did not have to wait for a table.

Few things are more satisfying than opening up the Sunday New York Times and reading it while chowing down on your Lumberjack special WITH the potatoes and toast. Those who tend to avoid the carbohydrates are busy running around Long Island's "elite" beaches. Equally as exhilarating is getting to the gym and stepping onto your favorite treadmill. Most of the people who you normally wait to finish are running outside or running around the Hamptons.

Summer in New York City can be fun. Get yourself a tennis permit so you can play one of the hundreds of well-kept public tennis courts. Venture out to Brooklyn's Prospect park where you can lay out on Long Meadow with a nice picnic and play frisbee. Take the train Jones Beach, walk to the "gay" area, and appreciate the "views". Most of all, enjoy the fact that the gym is half-empty: take that class you always meant to try, start a new weight training routine, try a new piece of cardio equipment. Do it now because, come September, everyone and their next-door neighbor's best friend will be back with lots of angst resulting from the drama that happened "on the Island". Later.  ¶ 12:01 AM