Weekend at the Beach

This past weekend, I got down to the beach for a couple days. I took some longer walks up and down the blocks to see what work had been done and what still needs to be down in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. There are still, even a year and a half later, ample signs of the costly damage the storm caused, and how capricious and seemingly at random the "hits" from Mother Nature were.

Down on the bayside, I saw this Great Black-backed Gull is the largest gull in the world, with a powerful build and a domineering attitude. They harry other birds to steal their food and even hunt adult birds such as grebes and puffins. It likely was resting before heading further north.

During the off-season, dogs are permitted on the beach and my dad likes to take his German Shepard, Zoey, down there to let her run. She does love the beach! She tears back and forth like a maniac and attacks the incoming waves.

Saturday night, there was a magnificent sunset. The pink sky glowed for hours. Some of the light show might have been caused by smoke in the air from a number of wildfires burning in the central New Jersey pine barrens.

Whatever the source, I admired the show for nearly an hour.