A Jersey midsummer reality: My halfway-through-summer check-in

Guess you could call July 15th through 25th summer's midpoint. A Jersey midsummer reality, if you will.

It is human nature to look back on the summers of our youth, our single days, maybe when our kids were little, and call them the best summers ever. I have had plenty of those. Great vacations over the years at the Jersey Shore, but also Maine, Block Island in Rhode Island — one of our favorites — the Delaware beaches, the Outer Banks, all the way down to Hilton Head.

That was then. This is now.

Times are different for a lot of us. Maybe we do not have the disposable income we once did, and our vacations happen closer to home now, for shorter stretches. That is certainly the case for us. But we are blessed with a family cabin in Sullivan County, Pennsylvania. My wife and I just got back from a great week away — hiking, swimming, eating at some genuinely great mountain restaurants. It was a full reset.

EJ on a hike in Sullivan County, PA | photo by EJ

These are the good old days

There is a line in the Carly Simon song "Anticipation" — these are the good old days. As much as I love scrolling old Facebook memories and digging through boxes of photos, there is another quote that comes to mind. This one is from Tony Soprano: remember when is the lowest form of conversation. And with that, he got up and walked away from a perfectly nice dinner with friends.

I am not sure I fully agree with Tony on that one. But somewhere between Carly Simon's lyric and Tony's grumbling, there is a real point buried in there. Live in the present.

I will look back eventually. For now, I am only looking back on the summer of '26, and keeping in mind that the glass is still half full.

What this summer has already given me

Just in the past few months, I got to broadcast live from East Rutherford at the New Jersey Hall of Fame celebrating Big Joe Henry's induction with Judi. From the Asbury Park boardwalk with Judi. From Atlantic City with Kyle. And, most importantly, I got real time at the cabin and Strathmere beach days with my wife.

Sure, we have had some smoky, stormy days, and parts of the state got more rain than anyone could handle. But most of the days have genuinely been spectacular. And as I mentioned, we are only halfway there — to borrow another song lyric.

SEE ALSO: EJ and Kyle broadcast live from the Steel Pier — see the photos from Atlantic City 

EJ, Kyle & Dennis were live from Steel Pier this summer | photo by EJ

What's still ahead

Here is to more beach and boardwalk days. I am already looking forward to another broadcast from the Asbury Park Boardwalk Studios in August. We also have a long weekend planned in Wildwood Crest, and plenty of backyard time with friends still to come before the season turns.

So consider this my halfway-through-summer check-in with you. How is your summer going? What's still on your list? I am always looking for something fresh, something fun, something happening right now — for our listeners, and honestly, for myself too.

Let's live in the present and make this one of the best summers ever, without trying too hard to make it one.