The Missus returned from her Colorado adventure just the other day and in keeping with our plan, to keep safe those with whom I share my home and those with whom I share my workplace, her return prompted my temporary relocation to our little Paradise by the Sea.
In between role-playing as a third wheel at Jill and Joe's, I have spent a considerable amount of time simply running and walking around Lake Como, Belmar, and Spring Lake, taking in the beauty of what I see around me and paying attention to Cicero's words of wisdom.
This past Friday it rained (steadily and occasionally hard) most of the day. The skies finally cleared shortly before 4 pm. While I am an early-morning runner by habit, on Friday afternoon I became a "right-about-sundown" runner by necessity.
September 11 Memorial - Spring Lake
Sundown - Friday, November 13, 2020
Beach - Spring Lake
Sundown - Friday, November 13, 2020
Saturday morning demonstrated yet again that weather has no memory. The gunmetal gray skies of Friday afternoon had given way to a simply beautiful sunrise.
September 11 Memorial - Spring Lake
Approx. 20 minutes before sunrise
Saturday, November 14, 2020
Beach - Spring Lake
Approx. 10 minutes before sunrise
Saturday, November 14, 2020
Beach - Spring Lake
Approx. 10 minutes before sunrise
Saturday, November 14, 2020
My "action plan" for Saturday included going to Pat's to get my hair cut. Unfortunately for me - and very fortunately for Pat - when I arrived at his barber shop at 7:15 am, five people were already waiting for him to open, which he does on Saturday at 7:30 am. In the spirit of football season, I called an audible and ran some other errands, which had me home and settled by mid-morning. Other than watching Rutgers play at 1:00 pm and the now 2-0 Colorado Buffaloes play at 3:30 pm, my day was wide open.
So I went for a walk.
Being anti-social since birth, COVID-19 has simply reinforced many firmly-held personal beliefs regarding people and why it is best to avoid contact with, well, most of them. Although it was a bit brisk (it is mid-November in Jersey after all), late Saturday morning the boards in Belmar were filled with people out running, walking, and enjoying the weather. Fortunately, since I was wearing shorts and flip-flops, seeing all these folks on the boards, I called my second audible of the morning and traded the boards for the beach. I ended up walking down by the waterline north from the 17th Avenue Beach to the Belmar Fishing Club at the Shark River Inlet and then returning to the 17th Avenue Beach the same way.
Belmar Fishing Club Pier - Belmar
Late Morning - Saturday, November 14, 2020
Belmar Fishing Club Pier - Belmar
Late Morning - Saturday, November 14, 2020
Late Morning - Saturday, November 14, 2020
10th Avenue Beach - Belmar
Late Morning - Saturday, November 14, 2020
Shameless Self-Promotion - Belmar
Late Morning - Saturday, November 14, 2020
Sunday morning, although the weather app on my phone informed me that with a wind out off the east/southeast at eight miles per hour, the "real feel" temperature when I left for my morning run just about sunrise was only 37 degrees, I was actually quite warm. In fact, I felt as if I had overdressed for the occasion. Internal combustion issues notwithstanding, it was simply a beautiful morning.
September 11 Memorial - Spring Lake
Sunrise - Sunday, November 15, 2020
September 11 Memorial - Spring Lake
Sunrise - Sunday, November 15, 2020
16th Avenue Beach - Belmar
Approx. 15 minutes after sunrise
Sunday, November 15, 2020
Approx. 15 minutes after sunrise
Sunday, November 15, 2020
Shortly before noon on Sunday, I decided to go for another walk. I headed up 17th Avenue to the boardwalk and the beach, took off my flip-flops and headed south. The wind was whipping out of the south at, I believe, between 20 and 30 miles per hour. It blew so hard in fact that it blew the blue skies under which I started my walk clear out of the jurisdiction and replaced them with skies of a decidedly gun-metal gray hue. Although I had no clearly-defined destination in mind at journey's beginning, at some point, irrespective of the wind blowing in my face (or maybe because of it), I decided that I was going to walk the beach south to Sea Girt, which is a distance of roughly two and three-quarter miles.
Am I ever glad that I did. On my way south through Spring Lake, I passed the Essex and Sussex House. In the early 1900's, the first of several fatal shark attacks that served as the inspiration for Peter Benchley's Jaws happened right off the beach in Spring Lake. The victim was a young man who worked at Essex and Sussex, which at that time was a hotel. He decided to go for an ocean swim on his lunch break. Spoiler alert: He did not punch back in.
A trip to Essex and Sussex House had been - until 2020 - a rite of Memorial Day weekend for me for the better part of a decade. The finish line for the Spring Lake Five Mile Run is just south of Essex and Sussex House. When I used to run longer distances on a regular basis, one of my regular running routes took me past it, coming on going, on my journey to the southern end of the Spring Lake boardwalk. Since I rarely - if ever - run five-plus miles these days, prior to Sunday afternoon I could not remember when I had last seen it.
Essex & Sussex House - Spring Lake
Sunday, November 15, 2020
Now I can.
As I walked past the southern end of the Spring Lake boardwalk and continued on towards Sea Girt, I encountered what I presume the town fathers of Sea Girt have deployed on the beach as a deterrent, intended to keep riff-raff such as Yours truly, from feeling their sand 'tween my toes. Their nefarious plot failed. It did not stop me! Truth be told, it was so big and so cool-looking it did slow me down...
Sunday, November 15, 2020
Close-up look of Sea Girt's fearsome deterrent
Sunday, November 15, 2020
...if only to take a couple of pictures of it.
One of the nicest things about walking by yourself on the beach - in addition to giving your mind plenty of space and time to wrap itself around the things about which you need it to wrap itself - is you can look like a cross between a psycho killer and something found floating near the Wreck of the Hesperus and no one gets close enough to you to criticize your appearance.
That which the cat dragged ashore - Sea Girt
Sunday, September 15, 2020
As I trekked my way north to Belmar and, thereafter, home, the wind continued to howl. However, it was now at my back. It not only blew hard enough to carry my fat ass home but it blew hard enough to blow the gun-metal gray skies out and replace them with a new set of sun-soaked, bright blue skies. Judging from the attendance at the gulls' afternoon meeting, I was not the only beach lover who welcomed the sun's return.
Can you guess "the word"? - Spring Lake
Sunday, November 15, 2020
A visually stunning end to an unforgettable afternoon.
Homeward bound - Spring Lake
Sunday, November 15, 2020
As it happens, old Cicero was a pretty smart cat. You can do much worse than follow his advice. Trust me. I know of which I speak.
-AK
No comments:
Post a Comment