Hurricane Irene is now past and as I sit in my apartment, I'm wondering how things look about 12 miles away in the Arverne section of the Rockaways.

Just a few days ago, I stopped by to visit the peeps once again but the tide was still a bit high and they had not yet arrived.  The surf was a little rough (early signs of the hurricane, perhaps?) and I was intrigued by the large numbers of shells and remnants of crabs.