I guess you’ve noticed that it has been a little quiet around here. Or, if you are like me and situated right in the heart of Sandy’s path, you have been more concerned with putting all of your belongings on the front lawn for the garbage truck, staying warm and figuring out what you are going to feed your family, where will you get a shower today and who might have power so you can wash some clothes.
I was actually extremely fortunate and have decided my house is a hurricane hero after withstanding Sandy with no damage or flooding. My best friend and her family were not as fortunate. When the river rushed into their home at high tide on Monday night, they fled to my house and have been here since. We’ve been cleaning out her house by day and huddling around our fire pit by night.
And I’ve been employing my go-to coping mechanism, cooking, which is not easy when you have an electric stovetop and no power. Our Weber charcoal grill and our propane grill with the lone side burner have been life savers. This morning it was boiled water for instant coffee, then scrambled eggs on the burner and toast on the grill. Yes, we’re camping here. My best friend said to me yesterday, “If you weren’t here, I’d be dead.” I don’t think that’s true, but I’m so happy to be able to make them feel safe, well fed, and as warm as we can possibly be with no heat.
There are many people here who need help, so if you have the ability, please donate what you can. Some may think that this area is all wealthy people who can afford a second home and repairs on their homes, but the truth is our town is a working class town. We live here year round, these are not our vacation homes.
Some updates about events. Jersey Shore Restaurant Week has been moved to November 30th. These restaurants will really need our support after they re-open so I hope we’ll get lots of out-of-towners coming down to show their support. We will resume the regularly scheduled programming here on JerseyBites just as soon as I get power. I’m typing this on my Ipad, and praying I don’t run out of juice before I’m done.
Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone coping with the aftermath of Sandy. For the restaurants, if we can be of help in notifying the public when you are re-opened, we are happy to do that. Just send an email to info@jerseybites.com.
Deb Smith, Executive Editor, JerseyBites.com
Thank you all for reading and for your support. I’ve had some very kind readers reach out to see how I am and I appreciate that more than you know.
