38 hours of chilling south of the Mason Dixon

One of these days it would be awesome to know how many miles I've racked up by car, air and foot in the past 30 years. That would be an interesting find & I'd bet there would be some cheesy trophy involved. By the time I arrived in Virginia it left me with less than 48 hours of family bonding. But you take what you can get. 

We celebrated Tristan's Birthday a bit early, but what fun it is turning three. He was stoked with the balloons, John Deere Tractor cake & his 'super farmer' cape my mom purchased at 

the market. After having cake for breakfast (how great is that?) he had the rest of the day to run around in his John Deere cape and silver mask attempting to help out moving cattle to the next field in his rather impressive four wheel drive. That kid has the life.

Although tired and now playing catch up, the weekend was absolutely worth it. They always are. The recent rain has provided a nice surge of grass growth alleviating a bit of stress on my parents & no longer having to tap into their hay supply. In the past two years I've gained such a greater respect and appreciation for farming and the pertinence in supporting your local businesses & farm community. You can't go wrong with food right out of the ground or off the tree. Not flown in from 1,257 miles away subjected to who knows what. Local is good. Repeat after me in english, gaelic or hebrew. It doesn't matter to me. Buy local! 

So, good times were had. Heading into another week and loving the cool air. 

Are you shore?

There is nothing like a good, relaxing, re-charge of a weekend. I think I've had two of those back to back now which puts me in a good place. Saturday I paddled out into surf that one might say bore the resemblance to the little crevices found in a ruffles potato chip. At times there were short bursts of waist high sets, but that might even be a stretch. But all in all the sun was shining, the water temps were perfect and it was just one of the days that my mind and spirit felt replenished by being in the midst of the Atlantic. For those of you non-beach types the next few weeks are really the best time of the year to be shore bound (don't tell anyone I said that) where the weather is perfect and the people are pretty scarce. Hopefully I'll have another few go's before the infamous wetsuit makes its debut.  

I'm looking forward to another great week of life, work and just simply not having to drive the Turnpike or whip out the EZ Pass. And in the words of John Cleese, "always look on the bright side of life." 

** I found a short clip from my trek in Jordan with a local Beduoin. Being back in Jersey & looking at this now all I can do is laugh and think, I can't believe I was there. But what an experience. 

These Vagabond Shoes...

My plan for the weekend was to soak in the remnants of Hannah, but on a list minute whim 

the car headed for the shore made its way to the city. Mama Blong, Mo, Mike, Liz & I spent the weekend catching up and doing NYC justice. Mike & Mo live in Greenwich Village on Bleeker Street which offers a myriad of cultural experiences from music, dining and fantastic shopping. It seems like everything is at your fingertips.

We drove in on Saturday with clouds billowing above and I think we were pretty certain the heavens were going to open and we would be drenched. We made record time and the weather seemed to keep people off the road and the streets. It was awesome cruising through the Holland Tunnel & then the city with pretty much zilch in the way of traffic. I'll keep that one for the books.

On Sunday we hit Essex, a great place on the East Side for brunch and followed it up by a tour of the NYC library. My attention span peaked at about 12.54 minutes on the tour, but the building and its history is impressive. It houses periodicals that are not allowed off the premises and are stored in an underground area spanning approximately 44 miles. How wild is that? Keep that one in reserve for a possible question on Cash Cab. 

It was a great weekend and maybe I'll get up there again before things really pick up speed here, but probably not. My goal is to hit the shore within the next 96 hours. Hopefully mission will be accomplished. 

See you in September... wait a minute.... that's today

The weekend marked the end of quite an amazing summer. I headed to Belmar for the weekend to recharge, relax and actually attempt to be productive getting some writing and other tasks done. I have to say with the A.D.D and all I managed to accomplish quite a bit & was impressed with my ability to focus.  

The weather was perfect and being that no syringes drifted too far north of the Jersey shore there was ample opportunity to paddle out and soak in a bit of uv rays. It was a blessing to be able to let my arm strengthen during the summer and this has been one the first weekends where I was able to get out and paddle around a little bit. Friday, Saturday & Sunday were from knee to chest high and consistent. The wind switched up last night and as I headed out onto the beach the first words to leave my lips were, "dude, that's awesome." Early morning it was pretty clean & breaking a consistent head high. As the wind got on it the swell periodically increased from decent to hello, paddle quickly and beat the freight train coming at you. Most of the time I just stayed past the break taking in the epic surf and not pushing myself. So with no more than a few waves in hand I called it a day early afternoon as the surf began to close out pretty quickly and the current's pull intensified. 

It was great to catch up with Carrie, Joe & the girls. They are a home away from home and we have no shortage of fun and laughter. Good times & what a way to welcome the new school year. And we're off.....