By TIM KELLY
The Endless Summer.
Yes, it’s the title of a classic surfer flick. But also an apt description of the recent weather pattern in Ocean City.
The point wasn’t lost on the hundreds of folks taking advantage of the conditions on their bikes, lounge chairs, beach blankets or just strolls along the Boardwalk.
Humans weren’t the only ones enjoying the scene. Dozens of dolphins were spotted off the Fourth Street beach, leaping above the surface, playing and generally putting on a show for those within visual range.
We don’t have a telephoto lens for our phone, nor do we speak “dolphin.” Thus, we left it to the humans to try to express how it feels to be outside enjoying 75-degree, sunshiny weather just two weeks prior to Halloween.
They did not disappoint.
“I call this my daily worship,” said author Beebe Bahrami, who emerged from the 68-degree ocean with her boogie board.
Bahrami, a Boulder, Colo., native, anthropologist and an award-winning freelance writer, said she was on the beach and in the ocean each day regardless of weather. She agreed, however, that Friday’s conditions were exceptional.
“I wash the work and (negative) stuff off me here,” she said. “Any worries I might have dissolve.”
Kerri Mecray, a Fourth Street resident, agreed.
“It’s never the end of my summer. I have a home office, and I rarely leave. But I do get to the beach as much as possible,” she said. “This is normal for me.”
Besides taking a break from work and relaxing, Mecray searches for shells and “sea glass” on the beach. She said there have been great finds recently to add to her collection, amassed over five decades.
“I’m in love with Ocean City and my heart is on this beach,” she said.
Bonnie and Bruce Land, of Vineland, know what Mecray means.
“We met here on the beach, on 12th Street, 50 years ago, and we’ve been coming here ever since,” Bruce said.
“We realized this could be one of the last nice warm days, so here we are,” was Bonnie’s take. “I love to walk on the beach.”
David and his four-year old daughter, Evelyn, of Manahawkin, preferred not to give their last name, but were not bashful about discussing their presence in Ocean City.
“The last couple days have not been as nice,” David said. “We’ve been cooped up. It’s good to be getting out here, breathing this clean air and getting some sun. (Evelyn) is really liking it out here today.“
A local resident named Lisa, who also declined to give her last name, saw the day’s weather as a perfect opportunity to take some photographs with her Nikon camera and long lens. We could’ve used her talents earlier when we saw the dolphins.
“Photography keeps my creative side going,” she explained. “I like to look for the unusual and try to capture it. I am enamored with all you can see on the South Jersey coast.”
She continued, “Really, getting images (at the Shore) is about all I shoot. Today, for example, all the rides and things that are closed, but with people still here, makes for some interesting photographs. I like taking pictures that are not necessarily traditional.”
For Joyce and Tom Kirn of Hammonton, who own a second home on Fifth Street, it was about capturing the moment.
“We’re staying over tonight,” said Joyce. “We waited all week for this. You couldn’t ask for a better day.”
