The Beach

It's tough for me to admit when I'm wrong, but I do my best to be honest. So I'm just gonna say it: I went to the beach last weekend and had a great time. I know this seems like a simple admission, not deserving of the angst it has caused me. But I've been committed to disliking the beach for several years now, it's become part of my identity and enjoying the beach means changing who I am.I have plenty of reasons to dislike the beach. I'm pale and don't get along with Ultra Violet rays, I had an unfortunate incident involving a jellyfish stinger and my crotch, I drank some salt water once and threw up, and like everyone else when I visit the beach sand gets stuck everywhere. Despite my past misadventures at the beach, I had a great day Saturday. The combination of pleasures was nearly perfect: Friends, food, and childlike play surrounded by scenic beauty and joyful crowds. I went swimming, became one with nature when I buried myself in the sand, and had some amazing seafood from a nearby seafood festival. It opened a new chapter in my life; a new love affair has begun. I'm looking forward to my next trip to the Jersey shore where I'm sure to discover more joy.

making amends with the beach

New Jersey Jazzfest

Some days you wake up and find a Jazz festival in your backyard. This was one of those days for me. How we respond to Jazz festivals in our back yard speaks volumes about how we approach life, so I had to explore this opportunity. When I tried to enter, the main guard informed me that I must first purchase a ticket.
Determined to enter the festival and hoping to avoid payment, I approached the ticket booth and informed the woman behind the table I lived here and wanted to see what was happening. Apparently reading my mind she decided to wave the standard fee and gave me a free wristband.
The music was heavenly and so too was the weather. It's been rainy for the past five or six days here in New Jersey. So I'm don't know if the Jazz brought out beautiful weather or the weather brought out beautiful Jazz, but it was certainly no coincidence. Today's lesson: pay attention to your back yard because sooner or later you'll find beautiful, heavenly Jazz.

In Search of Waterfalls

I went in search of waterfalls today. In celebration of ourselves, Tuesday was our two year anniversary, my wife and I decided to hike to a waterfall and have a picnic. My wife was responsible for the food and I was in charge of finding the waterfalls.We ended up exploring a place called Bushkill Falls in Pennsylvania. I was extremely impressed with their offering of waterfalls. After a brief hike down a small canyon wall on narrow wooden stairs, faintly reminiscent of an Ewok Village, we arrived at the bottom of "Pennsylvania's Niagara", a 300 ft. waterfall. Certainly a beautiful sight, but what seemed most impressive to me was the thundering noise that a small river could produce just by falling off a cliff. Water is usually so very quiet.
We trekked through long periods of quiet interrupted occasionally by the seven other waterfalls at various spots along the river. Before today, I thought that nature could be either quiet & peaceful or loud & destructive. But today I realized that peaceful doesn't have to mean quiet. Today was a day filled with beauty, nature, good food and great waterfalls.

Why is the Old World more Romantic?

I saw a beautiful forest the other day and I thought, if this were in Ireland I'd be struck dumb with beauty, but I wasn't. Because I was in New Jersey it was merely a beautiful surprise. What perceived mystique do foreign places hold?? Why does foreign beauty seem more potent than local beauty?After some thought, I realized that this land is not the land of my ancestors, mostly. I'm 1/16th native American, but the other 15/16ths of my great ancestors spent their lives and energies caring for far away places. There are no hills in America where my ancestors built a castle before the birth of christ. The ancient history of this land is not my history. It is the history of another people who were destroyed a few hundred years ago and replaced by immigrants. We have no Roman Colosseum or Egyptian pyramids, or Great Wall of China. We just have a trail of tears and Plymouth Rock.
I think that is what draws me to places like Europe and Asia. They have a strong, uninterrupted connection with the past. Citizens of the old world stand on the same dirt their ancestors plowed 8,000 years ago. They encounter ancient relics of great civilizations that used the same land and gave birth to their grandfathers. There, history runs deep. I can't wait to explore those places for myself.