Thanks to the Indian, I mean Native American summer, we’ve enjoyed until this recent freeze, my husband and I, both nature lovers, and our two neighbors, Debbie and Lon, decided to partake in our last attempt at a water sport on the East End of Long Island.

An interview with the energetic, Linda Ronstadt, also known as the Queen of Rock, and unprecedented as a singer, songwriter, musician, record producer and actress can leave you breathless. Born in 1946, and mother of a grown daughter and son, Ronstadt has triumphed as one of the top-selling female vocalists of the late 1970s, with numerous smash hits expanding over four decades.

“This is gonna be a trip you’ll never forget!” my husband said. Unfortunately, these were his only words of wisdom for the next 3,000 miles. I winced, telling my own kids to listen to their father and get into the vehicular trap — the upgraded Audi Quattro SUV. Seems like yesterday when I was a kid, entrapped in our ’56 yellow station wagon we called “The Lemon,” and endured those “heart to heart” talks during the dreaded family vacation road trip.

The tiny blonde author, also known as Professor Kaylie Jones, glides lightly into her Creative Writing classroom at Stony Brook University at Southampton. Natalie, the teacher’s pet, a fluffy white shih-tsu, shadows her delicate movements. Jones repeats words of advice to practice reading good books: “You cannot just sit down and write a great novel. I just reread some early Hemingway stories and realized how sophisticated they are! I never understood them before, not in their innuendoes, not in their depths.”

In our family, we happen to have a reporter in Iraq, my 28-year-old nephew, Marc Santora, who is still a wet-behind-the-ears rookie at the Metro desk for The New York Times. Like many families who have loved ones in the Middle East, we cant wait for his safe return. We watched him evolve from a goofy kid, to a well-educated adolescent, known for his zany sense of humor that matured over the years into one of suavity.

Bobbi Brown, 43-years old and only five-foot tall, stands high in stature as a quintessential businesswoman, new author and beauty editor for NBC’s Today Show. Bobbi, who purchased a home in East Hampton last October, is among the most sought-after makeup artists today and in great demand by the hottest fashion designers. Although she works with top photographers, models and movie stars, Bobbi remains as down-to-earth and as fresh as her own makeup line.