People keep asking us “But what about the winter?”  It’s really kind of funny because people that live down here say “But what about the summer?”!  We know people that rent out their homes and leave the island for the summer to live where there is less traffic and they can get to work quicker.  They truly dislike the car doors banging and streams of people with every contraption imaginable passing by their house to lay claim to what is all ours during the rest of the year.

We happen to like both the hubbub and the down time.  For us, the season of visitors and sitting on the front porch starts when The Chicken or the Egg opens and ends when The Chicken or the Egg closes.  We welcome the beginning – and the end.  (We ❤️ “The Chegg”, definitely Google it!)

The winter allows us to walk our dogs on the beach.  There is generally a person fishing or another walker or some crazy surfer catching the rougher (and colder) water.  It feels like the universe is offering us a gift everyday and we better be energized enough to go down there and get it.  Like just yesterday, I decided I better walk the dog early.  I heard the waves and it smelled extra fishy outside.  I thought I’d just go and take a look.  When I got to the top of the dunes the ocean was actually flat, but sparkling and the smaller waves just kept rolling in.  It was super calming.  And then I saw little flicks of black, and as I continued to walk closer and closer and look harder I saw dozens of dolphins swimming in packs of 3-4 going southwards.  They just kept coming and coming.  I stood there (with Sammy) for much longer than I had intended taking in a magical sight.  I was hoping that when I got on my Instagram the regular NJ Shore photographers that I follow would have recorded it, because I had forgotten my phone.  But no, it was just MY gift.

I’m a person that swore she was going to get all those closets and photos organized and never did. Well the closets are pared down to the 4-5 outfits that we rotate each week but the photos are still piled up high behind closed doors and waiting for some of those days that are too awful to go outside. It just almost doesn’t happen!   This winter we both continued to get our day-to-day in order, we got our budget on an Excell sheet, volunteered some time to various causes and concentrated on down time so that John could re-energized his business and create several new, exciting ideas and products.  We also got to see each of our kids as well as our grandson separately and spent one on one time with them.  As I just wrote that I was tearing up because I am incredibly grateful for what I call the “small victories” and treasures that are there if you look for them; writing them makes them more clear and winter can be a time to reflect on “the goodness”.

Well, there’s about 20 more days till the end of Winter, but about 45 day’s till The Chicken or the Egg opens.  Gotta go and see if I can get to even a sliver of those photos and get out and look for more “gifts”!