THE PEANUT GALLERY: Restore the Shore

Tidal waves don't beg forgiveness. Crashed and on their way. -Pearl Jam

My first clue was the lack of traffic as we headed south on the Garden State Parkway. For it being the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, we glided down the Parkway with amazing ease. We made it to my mom's house in no time. We decided to go to the Boardwalk in Seaside Heights for lunch, since it was "open for business."

My second clue was the ease with which we found parking on the Boulevard. Even for a windy day the day after a wash out, the shore was not busy for a holiday weekend. The quick walk up the ramp explained everything...

The rides on Casino Pier are still
waiting for the pier to be built.

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The Long Road Back #JerseyStrong

It may be difficult to imagine summer with the frigid temperatures most of us here in the USA have been experiencing lately. Still, Memorial Day weekend is four months away. A blink of an eye. That weekend, the unofficial start of summer, carries added significance this year after what Sandy did to the Jersey Shore in October.

Many of the businesses owners, politicians, and residents vow to be ready for Memorial Day. The Friday of that weekend is 117 days from today. 117. So it's actually LESS than four months. I've shared many stories of the impact and recovery from Sandy, because I grew up on  the Jersey Shore. This area means a lot to me and my family, some of whom still live there. It's been a while since I posted an update because from afar, the progress I see is minimal at best. To me that makes the ultimate goal of Memorial Day a bit ambitious.

Recently, workers removed the last of the rides on the Casino Pier in Seaside Heights: The Mardi Gras House of Mirrors. Last summer, Peanut and I made our way through that House of Mirrors for the first time together. Despite my repeated instructions, she refused to hold her arms out in front of her and bumped her face at least four times:

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Hoping for a New Normal #JerseyStrong

We've managed to return to normal here in the DKL house, here in the DKL town, post-Sandy. It happened a while ago, actually. Normal, of course, is all relative. Before that happened, though, there was a whole lot of not normal...

The Witch Pinata

The warnings were there. We didn't ignore them. Not completely, at least. We just... tabled them. Sandy was coming. It was making a bee-line for New Jersey and all indications were it was going to be bad. We had to get ready, but not for Sandy. For Halloween. Our annual child Halloween extravaganza. So that's what we did. The weather on the Saturday before the storm was eerily calm and overcast. Perfect for an outdoor Halloween party for a dozen or so kids. This day was business as usual. Fun needed to be had. A party needed to be thrown. That witch pinata desperately needed to be beaten down in a violent avalanche of sugary paradise. The hurricane could wait... for Sunday. 

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Homemade Chicken Soup for #SundaySupper and #Sandy Relief

This week's #SundaySupper event is very special to me and my family. I am Jersey born and bred. My hometown, which is on the shore, has been battered, bruised, and in parts, broken. This week, as the #SundaySupper team helps raise money for Sandy relief, I thought it would be appropriate to share a recipe that evokes a sense of warmth and healing: my mom's homemade chicken soup,

This soup is a staple in my house this time of year, up until spring comes. I especially make it when one of us is sick. My mom would do the same. She still does. In fact, she included a tupperware full of it in the first care package she sent to me in college. Chicken soup makes you feel good. It warms your body and soul. It soothes your throat and your mind. It gently fills your stomach. It is healthy comfort food.

Please enjoy this recipe that means so much to my family, and follow the links below help those families who need it after Sandy:

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#JerseyStrong: Healing Takes Time

Eventually, there will be healing, but the scars will remain. The broken will be torn down, rebuilt, replaced. When the new rises, we will notice it's not the same as it was before. Never will be.

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Celebrate Real Well

I plan on making the most of this Thanksgiving. It's the one holiday where there really isn't all that much stress. No costumes. No gifts. No cards, church obligations, or pictures with Santa or the Easter Bunny. There's the cooking... but Thanksgiving is usually not my holiday to cook. My Director and I are in charge of Christmas Eve. Even though we are hosting Thanksgiving this year as well, there's not much to preparing a turkey, some stuffing, and popping it in the oven for a few hours. Our guests will fill in the blanks.

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THE PEANUT GALLERY: Unused Tickets

"If you think summer next year will look like summer last year, it won't." NJ Gov. Chris Christie on Friday

Tomorrow is not guaranteed, let alone next summer. Gov. Christie's sobering reality check about the long road to rebuilding the shore is just the latest hit to life as we know it in New Jersey.

Every year for Easter, my mom gets each of her grandchildren a 100-pack of tickets for the rides on Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, NJ. The tickets go on sale early - for half price - in the spring. My mom, like me, can't pass up a bargain:

Notice the Easter Bunny on the ticket book.

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We Survive and Rebuild Because We're #JerseyStrong

"Tonight I'm gonna take that ride. Cross the river to the Jersey side... 'Cause down the shore everything's alright." -Tom Waits

At the very worst, Sandy has inconvenienced the DKL family. I use the word "inconvenienced" specifically here because so many others have it dramatically worse. In our house, we lost power for two days.

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My Hometown #JerseyStrong

"Troubled times, they had come... to my hometown." -Bruce Springsteen

Most of the images you've seen from Sandy's impact in New Jersey have been from the shore. And rightfully so. The destruction is unimaginable. Gov. Chris Christie says some of those towns, beaches, and boardwalks may never be the same. It could take 6-8 months just to get the gas turned back on in Seaside Park alone, for example. That's June.

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A Flood of Memories, Washed Away

"When your best hopes and desires are scattered to the wind. And hard times come, and hard times go, and hard times come, and hard times go. Yeah just to come again, bring on your Wrecking Ball." -New Jersey's own Bruce Springsteen

Typing the title to this post brought tears to my eyes. I see the pictures and they're heartbreaking. Devastating. I know these are just things, places that can and will be rebuilt. But they're more than that to me.

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