Frankie says Relax!

I said it in my last entry but it was buried. So at the risk of sounding shrill:

Dear visitors:
RELAX! Breathe! You are on vacation. Not only that, you are vacationing on an island. Getting two cars ahead isn't going to do much. There's no other place to go. We are surrounded by water.

Everyone wants to get to their beach/minigolf/bar/house as much as you do. Understand that. So please wait your turn. Gunning 5 cars ahead will save you, what, a minute? That's not much time and not worth raising your blood pressure.

Also, when you are at the beach with your wife and daughter, and the sun is warm and the wind is just right and you have your feet buried in the sand? Put away the Blackberry. Heck, don't even bring it to the beach. Nothing is so important it can't wait a few hours while you relax.

Talk to your wife. Find out how she is doing. You're likely always working and she might miss that connection. (Then again, maybe she doesn't and this is part of the arrangement! Who knows!)
Look at your daughter! She is gorgeous and sweet and smart. She won't be that size much longer, where she is still excited about playing with a toy dolphin in a bucket of salt water.

Your email can wait. Your daughter can not.

waves crashing

So, I popped my ocean cherry, which is the totally inappropriate way of saying OMG I WENT IN THE OCEAN AND NOW I NEVER WANT TO COME OUT AGAIN.

I seriously had so much fun this morning, and we really didn't do anything. Katie and I grabbed boards and walked the two blocks from her house to the beach, paddled out, and sat on our boards for about 45 minutes. There were absolutely NO waves to be seen, besides the gentle swells that mark a calm sea.

Despite the water feeling like Lake Superior only two and a half weeks ago (seriously, we let the waves wash over our feet just once and they felt ice cold; twice brought on numbness), the water was warm. The perfect temperature, really. I didn't feel cold at all, even after an hour of bobbing in the waves. This is good cause I didn't feel like investing in a wetsuit.

We eventually ditched the boards and walked down to the swimming beach to try some body surfing. That didn't pan out too well, plus there were some creepy guys who thought a good opening line was "have you seen my swimsuit? I think I've lost it" while in the water.

Anyway, now that I know how wonderful the beach is, I'm going to go there every morning! My usual routine has been to make a big pot of chai and drink several cups of it while I sit on my front deck reading a book. I still can do this...but on the beach and with my chai in a thermos.

And now, 10 hours later, I can still sort of feel the the feeling of bobbing in the waves and having water crash over my head. Its surreal, but I love it.

Last note: the beach badger checkers cameth! What my made-up word means is that, as we were preparing to leave, someone actually came to check if we had beach badges. Since Katie's family has been in Beach Haven forever and since they all lifeguard, we were fine, but I guess I will be bringing my beach badge with me since its a myth that they DON'T actually check.

badge checkers cometh

Today is June 15. Its the day our beaches stop being free and open for us and start being a pay-to-play endeavor.

It seems so odd to me to pay for the pleasure of a beach. You know, a natural phenomenon. I think the reasoning is something about upkeep for the beach, but it just seems so strange in my head. It will be even stranger when I try to go to the beach and someone checks for my beach badge.

A beach badge is how municipalities keep track of who has paid and who is not. According to some of my co-workers (okay, one), I was a fool for paying for my beach badge, because apparently they rarely, if ever, check them. Maybe he was going to different beaches, I don't know.

The two little hunks of plastic I bought for $25 each are emblazoned with a little white surfer, a number and the year. I bought the badges before May 31 so they were cheaper; I think they are $35 for the season now. Day trippers can buy them for like $8 a day or $15 for the week. Some rentals come with beach badges included in the price for the place.

Anyway, the little lady selling beach badges at the Surf City Borough Hall was incredibly slow at getting the little buttons into a sandwich baggie for me, but also very nice! I liked how all the beach badges were laid out in rows, as if they were just waiting, like the rest of us, for summer to finally arrive.

Lazy summer days

The days really are flying by, I can't believe its June and I can't believe its been almost a week since I updated! I honestly felt like it wasn't that long ago. It looks like I've fallen into a weekly schedule of updating, despite having a mental backlog of posts.

I blame it on the lovely days we've had lately. I have no desire to sit in front of my computer. Even first thing in the morning, when I am gross and unwashed, I go outside on the front porch with a mug of tea and something to read. It's really amazing. I love where I live, for reals. The sky has been a beautiful blue with just enough fluffy, white clouds to bring out the absolute blueness of the sky.

Today I went to the dollar store and bought a beach mat, some beach shoes and a beach umbrella. I work nights now, leaving me free to go to--you guessed it--the beach in the morning. I'm very excited to learn the fine art of "laying out." I heard about it on "Laguna Beach," which I probably shouldn't admit I watch since I am over the age of 18, but I need a little junk food too!
From what I surmise from the show, this means tanning for most people, but since I'm already a burnt sienna color, I'll be using the umbrella and sunscreen to help me enjoy the outdoors minus the extra pigmentation.

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Its also been a weekend of a taste of home. One of my high school friends and her husband came down for the day on Saturday. We lazed around and grilled, then headed to the Barnegat Lighthouse. We also went through old high school pictures, teehee.
Then Monday my friend Chao, who still lives in Minneapolis, came to visit. I took Tuesday off to show him around the island, including, yes of course, the lighthouse. Back home in Minneapolis, we used to take most visitors to see some of the Lock and Dams along the Mississippi, but most people were more interested in the Mall of America.

This weekend was one of those times I was really glad the meteorologist was wrong. It was predicted to be heavy, heavy rains all day Tuesday. The rains came...but not until Tuesday night when we were already asleep. And by the time we woke up, they were already gone, replaced with that same blue sky and white fluffy clouds. Amazing.

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I made Chao into my little model...and he did the same for me. We had a lot of fun playing around with different techniques on our cameras. One of my favorite shots I did is on his camera, but I'll share it with you next time.

Lazy days in the lighthouse


Long way down (I know I keep taking pictures like this, but I love how it looks!)


Framed.


Portrait of the two of us. Can you find me?


Impending storm


This is Obadaiah Seagull. I call all seagulls Obadaiah after a book I read in 2nd grade.

BENNYs

EDIT: I wrote this post last week and for some reason it didn't post, so I edited a bit and updated it to make it pertinent after the Memorial Day weekend.

EDIT2: Ok, and by "for some reason" I mean user error. I hit "save draft" as opposed to "publish post."

One of the realities of living in a seasonal place is that eventually "the season" comes around. For Long Beach Island, that season is, obviously, summer.
This past weekend was Memorial Day, which is the traditional kick-off to all things summer and the start of the tourist/seasonal visitor parade to the island. One of the most noticeable changes is traffic.

During the winter months, I got used to careening around willy-nilly, with few cars or traffic lights to bother me. Let me tell you, this island was EMP-TY. Especially January through March-ish, when there are few holiday weekends to bring people to the island until Easter. (There were still regular visits for Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, etc.)

I noticed the traffic start to thicken around April, I'm guessing people started coming out with the Easter weekend. I actually escaped the island this weekend while people poured in, heading to North Carolina to visit my cousin and his adorable twins.

Oh, and the title of this post is a name, somewhat derogatory I think, for what "locals" call summer people. The Wikipedia entry talks about the different possible etymology of the word, but either way its not very nice. I can somewhat sympathize with locals, because it does feel crowded, plus I hear there are some people who spoil the batch of apples by acting boorish and generally like their actions have no effect, but visitors to this tourist area definitely pump economic dollars, as well as tax dollars to the area. There wouldn't be as good of infrastructure if officials weren't constantly preparing for summer.

Nevertheless, I hope everyone pays attention to the second sign and DRIVE SAFELY. I really don't feel like being nosed on my way home from work, simply because you sat in the parking lot called the Parkway for 5 hours.

(PS Someone who is a "local" said I was a "local" now because if you are willing to spend winter on the island, that makes you a local. I dunno about that...what do you think?)

Mary, Mary, quite contrary

I started my gardening this weekend and have already, of course, run into a few snags.

I went to Home Depot on Friday, which was fairly crowded, but, I imagine, much better than if it had been a Saturday. I spent quite a long time there, wandering the aisles confusedly. Let me tell you: the smaller gardening stores may be more expensive, but I bet they provide more help for a start-up gardener. Home Depot is a bastion of people "already in the know"--forget what they say in their commercials about you being able to do it and they being able to help. They had one person who could answer gardening questions and obviously she was quite busy.

So I finally bundled out of there with $40 worth of merchandise: pots, brackets and dirt (oh and replacement tiki torch wicks). I piled everything into my small SUV, and slammed the trunk shut...

...with my keys still inside.


It took about an hour and a half to get all the AAA stuff worked out (lapsed membership, etc.), but about 5 minutes after the call finally went through for the speedy lockout service guy to come.

That meant I couldn't do my planting until Saturday morning, but I did get it done...only to realize I needed to make another trip to Home Depot for another pot. Also, the cute porch railing brackets I bought don't fit and the planters are too heavy for it, so that won't be happening.

But all in all, I started and have most of it planted:

In the main planter, from left to right, is sage, cilantro, hot peppers, cilantro, chives. The pot in the back to the left is mint and the pot to the right is basil. One more long planter will have Cilantro, basil and thyme.

Oh, and how come I couldn't find any cute metal watering cans with rain shower spouts. They all had either single pour spouts or were gigantic. I went to Home Depot, Lowe's, K-Mart and finally found something at Wal-Mart.

Brown thumb (literally. figuratively?)

All last summer, I sat at work and read the Greengirls (then just Greengirl) blog at work and thought, "I wish I could garden."

Today, I went all Dead Poets Society ("Seize the Day!") and Fame ("No day like today!") and stopped by a roadside garden stand and bought 7 pots of herbs to start my own deckside garden.

They are:
--Cilantro
--Tri-color sage
--Hot Peppers
--Orange mint
--Basil
--Chives
--Thyme

I wanted to get bay leaves, but I couldn't find them at the center. They are all full sun herbs and I have a nice sunny spot to plant them on my porch.

But one more pop culture reference: "I'm so excited! I'm so excited!...I'm so scared." (Saved by the Bell) I have not had good luck with plants. My mom said all I need is some attention, but I swear it is not just my lack of attention: I must have plant killer running in my veins. I killed an ALOE plant. Of course, that's because it fell when I was transporting it to move here, but an aloe plant? easiest thing ever.

Friday is my off day, so I am off to Home Depot (or should I go to Lowe's? We have both...) to get some planters, potting dirt and a cute little watering can to make it even more fun. And then this summer? Fresh cilantro in my guacamole and chicken curry and omlettes; mojitos and tea made from my fresh mint; fresh pesto from my basil and fresh chives for my potatoes.

Unless I kill them all first. eep!

baseball!

I am excited for the baseball season starting! I know that going to Phillies games will be easiest, but I've already arranged to go see my Twins play in Baltimore in August. (I am in California during the time when they play the Yankees boo)

In terms of being the greatest sport, I honestly think hockey and soccer rank above baseball. But in terms of being great sports to be a fan of? I think baseball is best. There is no other sport that rewards fans quite as much--from low tickets prices, to excellent atmosphere, to low drama players, to lots of field gimmicks.

Of course, some of that is because (as a friend pointed out) because baseball has about 80 home games a season, while sports like football only have 8 (hence low ticket prices), but I love baseball for being a sport that rewards its fans. Truly All-American.

Anyway, the above picture is from a local Little League game...I'm not such a fan of sports parents, but I do love how into the sport Little Leaguers are. My friend lives a few blocks away from a Little League field in Philadelphia's Center City and we have decided to go watch a few games there.

PLAY BALL!

Surfing, U.S.A.

(I hotlinked that from the cocoa beach club, which is very bad, but I figured that I have low traffic, so it won't use up too much of their bandwidth. I hope. I'm sorry if it does, then take it down.)

Today I went to the original Ron Jon's Surf Shop here on the island. Growing up, whenever I would see the RJ sticker on someone's car, I assumed it was from Florida or California or someplace nice and warm year-round. Not New Jersey! But that goes in line with the fact that I didn't really think of New Jersey as a hot beach spot. I feel that is something that is very prevalent in East Coast/New England thinking, but not anywhere else in the country. You probably don't find too many people from Nebraska (or Minnesota!) on the beaches of NJ. Though, now that I think of it, a guy from my high school used to go to the Jersey Shore...

Anyway, I went and started my research for my new summer hobby: surfing! I surfed for my first time in San Diego summer of 2003 and LOVED it. And, if I may say so, I wasn't too bad at it. I had the distinct honor of being the only person in my class able to consistently get up on the board. On my first time! So, I've decided that, seeing how I seem to have some aptitude for it and I live a few blocks from the beach, I am going to take it up regularly.

It's going to require a bit of investment on my part. A basic foam board is going to cost me around $70-$100 where as a starter fiberglass board will run me around twice that. The fiberglass boards are hard to come by used because people tend to keep them for fun, but they also have higher trade-in value if you buy. If I want to start mid-May and get a jump on the season, I will have to invest in a wetsuit, a 3.5mm one. That will also run me around $70-$100. But it will also extend the season to about 6 months and make sure I stay warm, which is nice. The water in May is around 50-60 degrees, even though the air temp is higher. The ocean really doesn't get warm until August/September and then September and October are the best surfing months because its hurricane season!

It's all a lot to think about, but I am glad I went now so I can start setting aside money for this purchase. Also, I can start looking for deals in the local sandpaper and surf shops now. I have to also set aside money to buy a bike or two: I want a tourist no-gear, wheel-around-town bike, which could cost me around or below $100 and I also want a road bike, which could be double or triple or even quintuple (is that a word?) that. Maybe I'll go with a not so fancy road bike!

Question: Anyone know of a good place to scout out boards? Or, maybe, possibly, even have one to give or sell??

(please don't!) Cue Canon in D

Please! Don't invite us to your wedding!

That's not what I'm saying, it's what one Argentinian couple said in a paid newspaper advertisement a few weeks ago. I wonder if its going to have the opposite affect and they will have no social life now...

Speaking of weddings, I am attending quite a few this year: Five. Spread all over the country from here in New Jersey to California to Texas to Minnesota. I think I am going to hit all the major geographic areas of the United States--Northeast, West Coast, South and Midwest.

I actually like going to weddings. I guess if I was invited to a wedding every weekend it might be a different story, but I feel its an honor to be included on someone's wedding guest list and I should do my best to try and make it. Of course, the happy couple is probably planning on/hoping that a third of their guests can't come...

I wonder if this is my "year of weddings." Five is quite a few for one year, and, even though the majority of my friends are unmarried, I don't see it getting beyond this. Maybe...

It's interesting to see how friendships change and evolve and develop. Nicole blogged about how her friends came for her baby shower and they talked about babies and husbands, which is different from their college year discussions. I'm a step behind her with my friends, who are starting to talk weddings and engagements and long-term relationships and whatnot. Why does it all scare people so much? Because those really are huge life changes. Its sort of the start of "you might turn into your parents someday." Up until that we could deny it by being fun, free-wheeling young adults. But when you are in a relationship and comfortable, you stop shaking things up.

This post is all over the place. I am enjoying seeing all the different wedding invitations, ideas, websites, etc. Not in a "I'm planning my own" sort of way, but just a general appreciate for aestheics and function.

But if anyone plays Canon in D, I will be very upset:

From the vault

Maybe its homesickness or the fact that I just got a CD of backup info from my old computer, but I've been spending a lot of time looking through old pictures. Obviously I always intended to move near an ocean, since I think I enjoyed this surfer dude costume the most. (I started out as Calvin, but when my Hobbes left the party, I started digging in my friends closet to make the hair fit many different costumes: Old lady, surfer dude, disco guy, etc.)

The first time I ever went surfing was three and a half years ago in San Diego, where I was for a professional convention. I loved it. I instantly understood why so many people work just enough to live, so they can spend the rest of their times on the beach. I still remember that feeling of getting up on the board after so many failed attempts...and I felt proud that I was the first in my class to be able to do it, and only two other people managed to stand up by the end of my class.

It's been a long time since I've had the chance to go surfing. Obviously, there isn't much opportunity to go surfing in Minnesota, though some real die-hard surfers have Surfed Lake Superior. And now I am going to be only a few blocks to surfing all summer long! I live about a mile from the original Ron Jon Surf Shop, whose stickers I always saw on cars but always assumed it was in California.

A co-worker of mine surfs, so hopefully she will take me under her wing and help me know the best equipment, the best spots, etiqutte of NJ beaches, etc. I think I will probably start with a cheap foam longboard (cheap is relative) because it should be easy to relearn on, etc.

It has warmed up here a little bit, just enough to think about surfing for us uninitiated, but the long haul of warm weather means the ocean didn't cool down as much as usual, and surfers (with their wetsuits) are still surfing in january. Though perhaps they do that year-round irregardless of warm snaps...