Post-Jonas Post

I wasn't going anywhere on Saturday.  I was sick with the flu, there was a foot of snow outside of my North Wilmington home, and Governor Markell said I couldn't drive anywhere (even if I wanted to).  All the while, I was following social media and seeing the scary photos of roads that I drove on a week ago that were now completely under water.  Pictures of street signs from Bethany being found on the beach in downtown OC, shots of roofs that were blown off and docks that were broken in two, videos of sea water rushing under beachfront homes, and reports of hurricane-force winds that were hammering the area that I call my second home.

Snowman by the Snow-cean

What could I do? 

I still don't know how my beach house fared during the storm.  I'm going to believe that all will be well when I show up there this coming weekend.  All of my furniture was put away in the shed and my trash can was in my fenced-in back yard (and, hopefully, still is).

I'm more concerned with "my" dune crossing on 136th St., which took such a beating in October and still wasn't quite right when I crossed it a couple of weeks ago.  I worry about the damage to the OC Fishing Pier, where I love to walk and hang over the ocean. Most of all, I feel for the business and property owners in places like Dewey Beach and downtown Ocean City, where the bay and the ocean were rushing on to the city streets.

As much anxiety as this storm caused me, it also helped to remind me that certain things cannot be controlled. In the almost two years since I purchased my OC home, I have seen portions of dunes and boardwalks built up and re-built due to storm damage.  The shore communities are incredibly adept at quick repairs and remediation.  Ocean City's town web site is encouraging visitors to come back this weekend because they will be all cleaned up by then (a stellar feat when you look at the photos of the inlet on Saturday morning).  And I believe that they will be.

Damage to the OC fishing pier

I'm looking forward to my trip down this weekend.  I know that there will be bigger storms in my future and many nights of worrying about how my little beach shack is doing.  It's the flip side of the coin to the joy of owning a beach house - the worry of owning a beach house.  Many would say that it's a good problem to have. It is.