Another Loss From Hurricane Sandy, But Barack Obama Is Not Impressed...

Besides the tragic loss of life, many long-standing attractions - such as boardwalks in Atlantic City and Seaside Heights - were destroyed by Hurricane Sandy as well, and although they will be rebuilt, they will never be the same.

Incidentally, it's hard to explain the feelings of loss attached to these "inanimate objects" to those who are unfamiliar with them.  Sure, they'll rebuild Seaside, but that wacky ice cream stand (a fictional example) that may have stood in an odd position in the center of the boardwalk  - the one that my dad took me to, and I have taken family to - will not be rebuilt.  If it is replaced at all, it will be with a Dairy Queen quick-dispense, or something similar.  The memory will end, and eventually vanish from history.

It's why Chris Christie shed a tear when he viewed the Seaside Amusement Pier floating out to sea. He understood...

Here's another hidden gem that none will every see again:

In the late 1800s when winter ice closed down Staten Island Sound, the waterway separating New Jersey from Staten Island, an estimated 15,000 tons of shipping were forced to use the narrow channel that ran along the eastern shore of Staten Island. In doing so, the vessels passed dangerously close to Old Orchard Shoal. A bell buoy and a lighted buoy initially marked this shallow area, but mariners considered these navigational aids grossly inadequate.

The Lighthouse Board asked Congress for funds in 1891 to place a lighthouse on the southeast end of Old Orchard Shoal and to rebuild the tower at Waakcaack, near Keansburg, New Jersey, to serve as a rear range light to the new lighthouse. After $60,000 was approved, construction of the lighthouse was completed in 1893. The new fifty-one-foot, cast-iron tower was cone-shaped, built in the “spark plug” style common among offshore lights in that region....

And there is stood, for almost 120 years.  Until about three weeks ago, when Hurricane Sandy rolled into town.  Now all that's left is this:

I remember this light well, from fishing off these waters.  It was just one of those things that was always there, and now never will be again.

I realize this structure is only a "thing".  Just as many survivors have lost only "things", although for them that may well be every thing.  It's just that these pictures -and the emotions it rekindled  -  reminded me of how much people in this region are still hurting right now, and how much has changed, for all of us, forever.

Which is why I didn't find the humor in this picture, which apparently - if I can trust my news feeds - is the most important thing going on in the world today:

President Obama imitates Olympic gymnast McKayla Maroney’s “not impressed” face during a White House visit last week.

Apparently, the media is impressed.  Enough so to continue to ignore the wreckage, and the dead...