Beaches, Birthdays and Tiger

Based on the weather forecast I was expecting to get shut out of another beach weekend but Sunday got a true bonus.

Not only did the sun come out but it turned out to be one of the nicest beach days of the entire summer.  We had to move our location from North Avenue to Brighton Avenue in Seaside Park because of the beach replenishment project but that was a small price to pay for what was pretty much a perfect 10 day.

Since the work on the beach was so close to us we watched as the blue-green ocean turned into more of a grey right in front of our eyes and while not an especially pretty sight it’s only temporary.  The project in Seaside Park is moving to the north first with about 1,000 feet of beach closed at a time and as it moves beaches will be reopened.

Once the work reaches the border of Seaside Heights somewhere around Labor Day it will then resume around 4^th Avenue in Seaside Park and move south to the border of Island Beach State Park.

We Americans seem to love when so-called heroes or idols fall and more than anything else we also relish their attempts at comebacks.  Since he first burst onto the scene as a 22-year old in 1997 I have rooted for Tiger Woods and watched as he elevated the game of golf to another level.

Of course we all watched as he crashed and burned first on a personal level and then with his golf game due to numerous injuries.  His popularity certainly began to trend downward but if you watched the final round of the PGA Championship Sunday afternoon you saw that nobody fires up a crowd like Tiger and he is writing a great comeback story, the kind we seem to really like.

My wife’s aunt and godmother Gloria DiLillo of Toms River celebrated her 90^th birthday Saturday night with a terrific dinner for 25 hosted by her children at Café Italia in Toms River.  I had a great time catching up with relatives who I had not seen in many years and as always the food and service was outstanding.  Gloria and her younger sister Gilda Viggiano (my mother-in-law) are two great examples of the benefits of staying active.