Summer days down by the Fair Haven Dock Photo/Elaine Van Develde
A reprise in honor of the heat of summer, the warmest of times and freedom and fun times at the Fair Haven Dock among kid friends …
Summer fun in Fair Haven doesn’t get any simpler or more treasured than ending the day down by the Fair Haven Dock, sand between the toes, a few antics up the sleeve, a little seaweed in the shorts, and a crab or 20. Dock time has been a time-honored tradition for kids since, well, the dawn of time.
Fair Haven residents and beyond are still fishing for an answer to an unprecedented rogue wave of a Fair Haven governing body decision to knock a volunteer out of a regional committee of his own resurrection designed to protect the Navesink River.
What was dubbed a “slap in the face” turned into some verbal fisticuffs when a wave of riled residents at Monday’s Fair Haven Borough Council meeting turned out to turn the tide of borough business by defending that volunteer, fourth-generation Fair Havenite and boat captain, Brian Rice. It became a full knock-out when the ousting became official with a contentious 3-2 vote with one abstention.
Sometimes it’s just time to ride into the spring sun with the tide — down by the river, of course.
Now’s the time. When isn’t the time right, though? The bright light shows the way to the clarity of it all, though. The sun comes out, the water glistens and calls. The ride has begun. The ride into a tsunami of the simplest best of time-honored times at the Fair Haven Dock.
The dock may have changed over the years since Fair Haven’s existence, but the Navesink River it juts out to still plays the same part, ebbing and flowing with each ride down by its shores. Holding each ride with the times close. A piece of the dock etched indelibly.
The anchor is never lifted on the ride to river times. The moments stay. They will never leave. The sun is always there somewhere, casting its light on them. Always.
Take a look (click one photo to enlarge and scroll) and remember your time that stayed.
— Photos/Elaine Van Develde
There are some rainy days ahead, but the sun will return. Here’s the weather forecast from the National Weather Service …
As the sun sets over the Navesink River, a walk on the Fair Haven Dock sheds light on river time that saw its season, its sunshine — river time that stays within and keeps us warm with a vivid picture of where we were, where we are.
And when you’re lucky enough to go back in river time with a first childhood friend, the winter walk gets warmer with each step. Each step forward brings you back to the same place, together, half a century later, where the sun shines bright, searing the power of one place into your forever inner child’s mind. The sear is an intricate lightning caress. A tidy, stinging storm of light.
It hits hard, bloated with love, and courses through all that you are, all that you were. It knows the two are the same deep inside. The searing light pens the picture pristine, the detail intricate, embeds it in each smile line on your face. It etches, never turning the picture to ash, only refining it.
You can see it all … in that river walk back with that childhood friend. It’s clear — so clear that you can hear it. You can hear the splash as you turn to the girl who dared to jump with the cool kids all those years ago. She smiles at the girl who stood and watched, still anchored, never wanting loose her footing on that piece of home. She’s docked there, forever reminding her friend that she is, too.
They pluck oyster shells from the shore to mark the splash made, the picture emblazoned. The sun sinks into the horizon. Its light stays within. The shells once held a pearl. The river remembers it all. It holds on tight as the friends walk away … clasping their pearly shells.
— Elaine Van Develde
Any time is river walk time. The sun is another story for the rest of this week and through the weekend. Here’s the forecast from the National Weather Service …
Punxsutawney Phil and Groundhog Day be damned! There’s more than a foreboding forecast lurking behind shadows.
Yes, that buck-toothed rodent popped out of his hole in the ground to see his shadow this morning, giving that signature six-week extension of winter to weary warmth seekers. Cold, dismal shadow be damned.
Even if you’re not a brighter side seeker, you know that shadows can also be a reminder that where they are cast there is light. If you follow the shadow, you’re bound to find light dancing all around it — respite rays.
Like the kid who superstitiously side-stepped the cracks in the sidewalk, the shadow chaser won’t disturb the beauty in the reflective shadow until he becomes a part of it.
And, one way or another, when you step into the light in that cozy hometown niche, there’s always a picturesque shadow to see, cast and become.
So, sometimes chasing the shadow is reaching for the dream in a day. That’s how it always seems for a Fair Haven kid at heart down at the Fair Haven Dock. Always casting …
Take a look at the above gallery and dream on (and don’t forget to CLICK on one photo to enlarge and scroll.) Enjoy!
— Photos/Elaine Van Develde
There will be plenty of shadows to see in the next several sunny, crisp cold snap giving way to a little warmth. Here’s the weather forecast through the weekend and into next week from the National Weather Service …
Sometimes you just have to take a walk on the dock side — or top. And so you do …
Call it a locals’ summer stride. Any time of the year, a stroll on, below or beside the Fair Haven Dock is the most soothing way to go. Ahhhhh …
All steps lead to serendipity at the dock. Somehow, it’s there that the sun always seems to shine, casting tall dream-fetcher shadows that lead the way to goodness in every niche — from crusty little washed-up crustaceans to river rocks, oyster shells and the end of the fishing line.
It’s always in with a high tide of happiness nestled in the smallest of things at the dock — even some seaweed and a dead crab.
Then there are the footprints left behind. Kids’ feet, gulls’ claws, parents’ prints. All signs that all came together, each in his own walk and way, in search of the same sunshine and chase of what’s at the end of the good shadows — the stark peace, a piece of home.
Remember your dock walk and exhale with a smile. Get a glimpse of ours in the photo gallery above (Click on one photo to enlarge and scroll. Enjoy!).
When you’re done with your dock walk, take a look at what’s in store with this week’s locals’ summer weather, according to the National Weather Service. There’s still some sun left to soak up …
— Photos/Elaine Van Develde for R-FH Retro exclusively
The weather outside is a lot less frightful. Looks like we’re setting sail for a little summer cruise into more comfortable days in the Rumson-Fair Haven area.
And there’s nothing to soothe the soul better than some smooth sailing river time.
Sails up. Sail on. And exhale …
Be sure to click on one photo to enlarge, scroll and enjoy the view!
Here’s the better outlook weather forecast from the National Weather Service heading into the weekend for the Rumson-Fair Haven area …
Just when you think the sun will shine on river days of spring in the Rumson-Fair Haven area, an inclement chill stifles that exhale of respite warmth.
The tease of sun drenching that’s meant to stay a while becomes a mere reminder of the rite-of-passage river time to come. The reminders bring the light back. They soothe a little. They give us the cue that the sun will eventually drown the chill. The river’s image always reminds us it’s there, the sun coming to sop up the Navesink’s shoreline, those clinging home’s comfort caught in the shadowy drench.
Yes, the chill took the breath out of that exhale tease. With another deep inhale, sunny days promise restore river time springtime warmth. They’re coming soon. Start the inhale. Take a look at the birth of spring on the Fair Haven riverfront.
Take it in along with the promise of warmer days ahead from the National Weather Service … (Click on one image to enlarge, scroll and enjoy! Ahhhhhh!)
Rain, rain, go away. Bring us back to spring dock days.
It’s downright dank these early days in spring. But, there’s always a little hope in the usual Fair Haven Dock scene summoning some spring sun, making the old comfort niche all the more cozy.
Until then, which according to the weather forecast is very soon, we can always daydream of great dock days with an embracing look at the riverfront that always welcomes us like an old friend.
So, open the door, have a seat and welcome your familiar riverfront dock scene for a little comfort and slice of home. It’s the best reminder that the sun will always shine on the power of place.
Click on one photo to enlarge, scroll and enjoy!
— Photos/Elaine Van Develde exclusively for R-FH Retro
Now, here’s that weather forecast heading into the weekend and the promise of some sun from the National Weather Service …
If the winter blues have set in after a day or two worth of spring(ish) respite, a little Fair Haven Dock time is a reminder that the blue hued winter sky and crackled icy shore is always a prelude to sunshine.
If not in the sky, in the heart. Through every crack in the icy snow coat on the beach under the dock, sun is seeping in for a peek into the happy place. The melt? Well, we know the cold sting in the air doesn’t stop the softening of the hometown heart with a glimpse back to dock days.
Of course, some of those dock days of the past involved a little mischief and jumping, which we are always asked to remind is prohibited. All the more the melt. But the daydream of one of your miscreant friends taking a plunge into that icy Navesink River water on a dare does crack a grin on the face.
How about the jaunt to a sliver of beach under the dock with a frozen cheesecake and a bottle of Boone’s Farm? Hmmmm … If that kind of memory doesn’t take away the winter blues … Focus back. What scene do you see?
Say “Ahhhhhh” to the serene river scene of blue and daydream the sun and smiling crazy times back. After all, the weather forecast is promising a peek through the icy cracks into spring again …
**Don’t forget to CLICK on one photo to enlarge and scroll! Enjoy!**
Fair Haven Dock on a hazy day Photos/Elaine Van Develde
The view from the Fair Haven Dock is a bit askew if you’re fast forwarding from a sunny Monday to a hazy Tuesday with The Carpenters’ 1971 song Rainy Days and Mondays burrowing a massive ear worm in your head.
So, just going along with an updated Hazy Days and Tuesdays doesn’t get rid of the tune, just the lyrics. And then there’s the view from the dock. It seldom, if ever, gets one down.
In fact, it seems like there’s always a giant yellow smiley face, just like the 70s, calling all, like a siren, to the end of the dock. It’s that terminal sign that sunnier days always return. So, in anticipation of the sun and solace of the timeless view from the dock, take a look (click on one pic to enlarge and scroll), soak it up and smile.
Sunny days topped with sprinkles on top are ahead, according to the National Weather Service …
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