The Jersey Shore shimmers in December under a clear, cold sky. The angle of the sun causes its rays to kiss the water and sand and send the shine over all the landscape. As the waves rise to their crests there is a millisecond of silence when the misty spray lifts toward the sky. The waves begin to curl on themselves before the booming that echoes across the expanse from the edge of the earth that you can see on the horizon.

Even the sea gulls are bigger and plumper in December as though they’ve bulked up for the days ahead.