Hurricane Irene - two years on and a tide of goodwill continues

After Hurricane Irene in 2011, a couple of Bruce Springsteen fans were visiting the New Jersey Shore town of Belmar, a defining district of the so-called Irish Riviera.

They were taking pictures by the large sculpture of a Fender Esquire electric guitar which lies on the corner of Tenth Avenue and E St. It’s the same instrument that appears on the cover of Born to Run, the famous 1970s recording of Springsteen and his E Street Band.

A motorcyclist approached and took his helmet off. Inevitably — the amazing always happens around this part of the Shore — it was The Boss himself. He was checking on the sculpture to make sure it had weathered the storm.