I didn’t know if I wanted to write about Hurricane Sandy at first because I was sad. In a way it felt strange because the storm didn’t directly affect my life as much as those around me. Some of my friends had no power and no access to their apartments for a week. People on the coast lost their homes and the whole lower part of Manhattan was in darkness. In parts of Queens peoples’ houses were flooded or burnt to the ground. I on the other hand was one of the lucky ones that rode the subway to work a couple days later. I am thankful for that.
Many states were affected by the storm in particular my home state of New Jersey. The roads in my hometown were a maze as we drove in circles avoiding closed streets with knocked down trees and power lines. Losing power for a week seemed trivial in comparison to other problems. I found myself spending hours looking through footage of Sandy’s destruction. I saw pictures of the Jersey Shore and the places I go to every summer since I was a little kid. Homes were flooded or knocked down and sand made its way to some of the main roads. The boardwalk that lines the shore is in shambles, pieces of wood thrown back on the shore. Roller coasters are now in the ocean. Author Kevin Coyne wrote an Op-Ed for the New York Times “My Jersey Shore, Now in Ruins,” that really identifies with people like myself who think of the shore as their summer home as he explains in this quote.
“The difference here is that summer dies each year. It is briefer, and thus more precious, and Labor Day is the saddest day of all. That’s why we grasp the Shore so hard, why we hang on to it so fiercely. How much can we squeeze from this wave, from this romance, from this fishing trip, from this bar band, from this sun? How much more before it all chills and fades and we have to wait nine more months to try again?”
For the time being we have lost our summer refuge and my heart goes out to those who lost even more. It’s a hard hit for an area that depends so much on a short season to make money for the year. New Jersey will start to rebuild and then we can contribute by doing what we enjoy anyhow, going to the Jersey Shore. Putting money to the businesses and towns that need it.
For now I will think about the Jersey Shore as I knew as a kid riding the rides at Funtown Pier in Seaside Heights, walking down the boardwalk in Belmar, Asbury Park, Ocean Grove, and Spring Lake. I’ll see you again next summer.

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Last night I went out to eat with Jon and a very close friend and we ate Kentucky fried apple slices dipped in chipotle mayonnaise. The idea of deep frying fruit may deeply disturb some people but we were curious and after eating a few slices I have to say it was quite satisfying. I sense a few experiments of tempura fried fruit in my future. Or maybe deep fried peppers!



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