I took a break this weekend from Mysterious Ways-related duties and hit the beach near my hometown on the Jersey shore. The weather was perfect, the ocean was warm, but if I’d been listening to the local news, maybe I would have stayed indoors:
“At least 30 venomous Portuguese man o’ war have been spotted on New Jersey beaches…”
“…marine biologists say their potentially deadly sting is far worse than what you’d get from jellyfish normally found at the Jersey Shore.”
“The 3,500-pound great white spotted off Cape May on Thursday is now making her way up the Jersey coast…”
“We knew something took a chunk out of him… but we weren’t thinking shark until an expert confirmed it. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Yikes. Get out of the water!
Sharks, man-o-wars… to hear the newscasters tell it, the New Jersey coastline this summer is an open portal to the gates of the underworld (admittedly, some Jersey bars have earned that reputation.) My friends and I laughed about the “monsters attack the shore” media blitz—although my wife did get a little worried when she lost sight of me while I was body boarding. Sometimes it seems the media is more concerned with writing the scariest headline than actually reporting the news.
Later, on Facebook, I saw a post left by reader Donna Teti—whose story about the purple balloons that comforted her in the wake of her twin sister’s death appeared in our first ever issue of Mysterious Ways. She too had heard the latest terrifying news, but her decision to “brave” the beach this weekend in Sea Isle City led her to stumble upon a miraculous find:
Purple balloons seem to have a way of finding Donna, reminding her that though her sister is gone, she’s in good hands. That’s something we all should keep in mind—as scary as the news makes the world out to be, we’re in good hands too.
Now if I could just stumble upon my lost wedding ring somewhere in the sand!
Had a Mysterious Ways experience this summer? Share your story with us.
