THE OUTERMOST HOUSE
     by Sara Drought Nebel

By The Sea

   Calf Pasture Beach in Norwalk was the first place my older brother and I brought our pails and shovels to. Whenever I smell Sea & Ski sunscreen, it reminds me of that beach. The memories are faded, but deeply felt, as the beach with its scents, soothing waves, grass, wet sand imagination and endless tiny pebbles that make a vast barefoot wonderland are woven into my being.
   When I was 3 years old, 17 year old Max H. Peters and his friend Richard Springer, two budding writers and voracious readers, made their way to our house to meet my father, James Drought, because they had found one of his limited edition paperbacks at a thrift shop. This meeting led to a mentorship, and a lifelong influence for the young pair and my parents.
   Throughout our lives, we have experiences while we are growing. We navigate our small everyday world, not knowing how paths will cross again, and early experiences will echo and reemerge later on.
   When I was about 10 years old, and there were four of us (siblings), we went in our Volkswagen bus to visit my father’s uncle George in Virginia Beach. The long causeway was an adventure itself! What I remember most about the little beach house is the spiral staircase. Walking distance to a white sand beach. Going down that staircase in our bathing suits with fresh towels right into the sand… coming back, tan and gritty with salt, shower next to the stairs, and up that stairway. Into a room with big windows flooding the room with light and sea breeze. Like a treefort growing out of the sand. A sense memory.
   As kids we were still pretty unaware of the financial struggles and desperation our parents were experiencing. But at the beach, all of that seemed to go away.
When I was in 4th and 5th grade, we migrated to a rental in East Quogue, Long Island. Another beach wonderland for me. Escaping family struggles with my friend whose dad owned a shipyard. He also carved duck decoys. He had a studio/study for this, and I loved getting a glimpse of him working on them. We listened to the Beach Boys and her older brothers were surfers.

Summer Marsh

   In my teenage years we landed in Westport. Compo Beach was the center of my world. Adventures and summer days at the beach with friends reminiscing and scheming with toes in the sand on the Sound. Some of my friends lived near the beach, and I got to share that with them.
   Dad loved F. Scott Fitzgerald so we learned where he and Zelda lived, near Longshore Country Club, possibly the inspiration for The Great Gatsby.
Our father succumbed to the struggle and died of a massive heart attack at age 51 in 1983.

Seaview Sunset

Truro Sunset