SpeakEasy
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•June 29, 2016
World War II Memories – a Time of Caring and Sharing
In 1939 we heard news that the Nazis had invaded Poland. All signs were imminent that World War II was on the horizon. My father, Victor Favino, was in the U.S. Army during World War I. Ironically…
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•June 22, 2016
Welcoming Summer to LBI With Chants and Mimosas
First, I needed to find my summer solstice celebration ritual. OK, where did I put the ritual outline this time? In the drawer, in my files or did I actually think modern and download a copy to my…
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•June 15, 2016
Captivated By Dawn’s Earliest Light on LBI
If you’ve been lucky enough to have vacationed on LBIthrough the years, you have probably witnessed countless sunsets. Your viewing locations have probably been both on thebayside facing west and the…
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•June 8, 2016
Anxiety Is Not Always the Answer
That’s all I heard from doctors, nurses and even my friends and family each time I regained consciousness after passing out. During the first month of my freshman year of college, I passed out every…
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•June 1, 2016
Squirrel Intervention
Warm weather was here and I was finally enjoying my back deck again. The sun was out and there was a gentle breeze. I was busy admiring the tiny buds on the trees when my son Alex came out to join…
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•May 25, 2016
Memories of War and Finding Peace on LBI
My daughter, Claire Marie Rose Endres, was married to Steve Wildman last Nov. 27 in the sameparish churchin South Philadelphia where I married her father, Stanley, on Aug. 12,1972. Shelooked…
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•May 18, 2016
Love and Loss and LBI, Part II: Wedding Joy
“Put this aside,” a term used in cooking, is necessary here. “A bruised reed He will not break and a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish …” (Isaiah 42:3). Put this aside, we’ll use it later …
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•May 11, 2016
Form, Function and the Need for a Garden Fence
It was late afternoon one day when I looked out where the sun was shining on an ugly green fence that surrounded my flower garden. The fence was a few years old and now shone fluorescent in the sun…
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•May 4, 2016
Bird Watching 101
I looked out my kitchen window and saw a large gray bird sitting on the top of my bird feeder. “What kind of bird is that?” I thought to myself, but it was too far away for me to get a good look at…
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•April 27, 2016
The Worst Part of a Colonoscopy Is Not the Colonoscopy
It was five years this April Fool’s Day. Putting it off any longer would only prolong the inevitable. The facts need to be faced. Like spring follows winter, it was time for my colonoscopy.
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•April 20, 2016
Ant Season Is Here
The other day I poured myself some cereal for breakfast and left it momentarily to get milk and strawberries. I got back in just a few seconds to find an ant balancing on the rim of my bowl. Of…
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•April 6, 2016
Do-Si-Do’s and Do-Si-Don’ts
I had just gotten home from work and went right to the couch to lie down.
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•April 5, 2016
The Best Seat for Mother Nature’s Light Show
In most cases and places when a thunderstorm rolls through, it is either a minor nuisance or mildly entertaining. When you are on the oceanfront, however, it can become a spectacle. It is like being…
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•March 23, 2016
LBI Winter Visit Offers Taste of Fun to Come
Please tell me it’s almost over! I long for the feel of the warm sand between my toes and a beach chair. Forget the water, at least at first. I will wait until it warms up by mid-August to put my…
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•March 16, 2016
Partaking in the Rebirth of the East Coast Oyster
French poet Leon-Paul Fargue wrote “Eating oysters is like kissing the sea on the lips.”
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•March 9, 2016
The Best Treasure of All Has LBI Beginnings
My husband and I have walked many miles over the years while beachcombing the shores of Long Beach Island. We have come across many treasures. We have found unusual shells, a whale rib, numerous…
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•March 2, 2016
Double Trouble No Trouble for Volunteers
With a name like “Double Trouble,” you’d expect somebody’s up to no good.
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•February 24, 2016
The Snowmobile Challenge – Once Is More Than Enough
Presidents Day weekend last year promised an Arctic chill for the Northeast. While most people were either planning to hop on a plane and head for warmer temperatures or stay indoors and hunker down…
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•February 17, 2016
Sand Between My Toes
My family has spent summers in Surf City on Long Beach Island since 1952. My parents built our house when I was 8 years old. We never went camping to Florida or on sightseeing trips around the U.S.…
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•February 10, 2016
Here’s to Hair!
This column is about hair, the stuff on your head. I’m at the point in life when I am very thankful that I have hair on my head, even if it is thinning and changing shades. I don’t mean to aggravate…
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•February 3, 2016
No Dogs Allowed
I saw you. You think you’ve gotten away with it, your dirty little secret. For the record, it wasn’t the first time I watched you allow your yapping dog do his you-know-what on our new front lawn.…
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•January 27, 2016
Storm Damage Another Sign of Disastrous Policies
In the wake of severe flooding along the Jersey Shore from Winter Storm Jonas, not only does Gov. Christie refuse to admit there was much damage, but it is clear that his policies have failed to…
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•January 20, 2016
Resolve to Use Less Energy in 2016
Why would you use less energy? To save money? To simplify your life? To reduce greenhouse gas emissions?
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•December 22, 2015
Jean Dean, a Woman Ahead of Her Time
I have had my own go-round with Forrest Gump. My last five years have been in the company of celebrities, presidents, professional athletes and stories you might read about if you are lucky. Let me…
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•December 16, 2015
The Grumpy Baker
The holidays have arrived! And you want me to do what? Make how many dozens of cookies? And let’s throw in the several pecan and coconut cream pies I need to make for gifting, as well as send all…
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•December 2, 2015
There Goes the Neighborhood
As a young child, I felt sad as the tide or an enthusiastic toddler demolished a sand castle that stood at the edge of the ocean. Today’s regret doesn’t begin to describe the feeling that sweeps over…
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•November 25, 2015
Thanksgiving Misgivings
As fall rolled into November, I started thinking about Thanksgiving. Even an amateur athlete understands the need to prepare for upcoming events. Thanksgiving is no exception. For a start, I began…
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•November 11, 2015
Why I Had to Deep-Six Epic Whale Photographs
The following is republished from an entry Sunday on the author’s blog, exit63.wordpress.com.
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•November 4, 2015
Memories and Memorytowne: Our Pocono Adventure
After hearing “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore” on 91.9, my husband, Carl, came up with the idea to get away to the Poconos for a couple of days this summer. It took a day or two to convince me I could…
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•October 28, 2015
Sisterly Compassion Trumps Brotherly Mischief
Life is never boring when my younger brother Frank is around. And, while sometimes a tad rough around his burly edges, he has never been without an edge. I admire that about Frank.
