Summer Pop-ups

I don’t know why there are no yellowjackets, but it used to be that if you dropped a ripe watermelon and it split open on the hard dirt, a wasp would pick up on the scent and, in no time, the busted fruit would be covered in his kind. They gnaw, their black mouths munching into the pink, juicy walls, and the sticky juices flow so that they wade in puddles, slurping as they go. They dine with abandon.

But now I can keep a half melon in my truck. I can leave it balanced, saucer-like, on the console so I get to gnaw on it all day. Never once does a yellowjacket find us out.

I can enjoy the melon safely — but I can’t enjoy it fully. When I look at the melon, its exposure to sun and heat causing it to dry out but not decompose, I consider the absence of a historically common insect.

As summer enters its final chapter, night has the presence to be chilly again. The mighty elm lets go her leaves, and people who step on them, feeling the crunch, also feel a twang deep in their own core. A flicker of a yearning passes out of reach — but lament not! The pop-ups are in full swing.

For everyone who thought the Bridgehampton Race Circuit was razed and dead, you’ll be thrilled to learn that you can take part in high-speed, Le Mans-style driving on any road, at any time. Brought to you by your friends in wealth management, the spectacle is free, but organizers wish to tell spectators to stay well off the right-of-way.

Out in the fields, we have another type of pop-up going on. As all the young and talented college students parade back to college, small farms that relied on them now reel for replacements. Offering on-farm “Pick-ates” classes (trademark pending), a fitness program based on traditional Pilates concepts, might just be the best way to cover the labor shortage. Sign up to have seasoned instructors and hardcore enthusiasts show you how to harvest.

“Unlike a lot of fitness regimes,” says founder and CEO Blanch Farmer (her real name!), “Pick-ates is actual work.” You will learn to balance, safely contort and lift heavy, often edible objects. Ticket price includes long-sleeved shirt and a water bottle. Long-term membership is optional.

But sure to be the most celebrated pop-up of summer is the Cell Tower. This experimental piece, brought to you by your cellphone service provider (yes, they are spending money on the arts, but not on your actual number of bars on your smartphone), is a collaboration between corporations and the communities they serve.

Organizers say they are planning celebratory dances and a massive rose petal toss that will include both drones and the Lipizzaner stallions. The exact location has yet to be determined, and the price of tickets is very high, but sales are brisk. “If we sell out, who knows? Maybe we’ll stay.”