Good night

There’s only one problem. There’s just one thing that would make this night perfect. Less light.

It’s a little past midnight, our first night on the shore. The kids have gone to bed. The adults have found other things to do. I’m alone on the patio looking out at the black, rumbling abyss that is the Atlantic Ocean, and I am at peace. I’m a warm blooded Floridian, so the mid 60’s is a bit nippy, even in my best flannels (PJs), but the complete absence of man and his influence (besides the light) is all too rare in my life. I’m a quiet person. I like quiet places. You don’t find that much in the most densely populated county in Florida.

But here, just south of Ocean City – in New Jersey of all places – I’ve found that quiet I’ve been missing for so long.

When the trip was first brought up – by my sister who’s paying for the house, I thought, “the Jersey Shore? What do I want with a cold, third rate beach when we don’t go to the best beaches in the US two miles down the road?”

Of course it’s more than just a stay in a house on the Jersey Shore. It’s a long needed get away with the family.

And right now, sitting on a dark deserted deck, overlooking a deserted boardwalk, dunes, and beach, it’s an unexpected gift of peace.