By JOSEPH SAPIA
Outside Serpico’s Pizzeria Restaurant in Allenhurst, Anastacio Acevedo sat in a chair, feet up on another one, working his cellular telephone.
“First time in a long time decent weather,” said Acevedo, 37. “You can actually sit outside and enjoy it a little. I prefer the heat, the hotter the better.”
OK, so Tues., April 1 was not exactly beach weather. But after this winter season’s snow-every-other-day and single-digit-temperature weather, it was at least sweatshirt warm of about 50 to 55 degrees. Additionally, it was sunny with a bluebird sky.
“Nice,” said Boris Shambat, 68, an Asbury Park resident as he walked in Allenhurst, “sunny, not very windy, not very cold, not hot, it’s good weather.”
On that kind of day, people were out and about: not only strolling and lounging, but working in the yard and hanging out at the oceanfront.
“Finally, blue sky and sunshine, been awhile since we’ve seen it,” said Trudi Soldi, an Asbury Park resident as she walked her pit bull, Sammi, in the city. “Today, really (feels the) first day of spring, winter is behind us.”
So, will spring remain? Or was this just a taste of warm weather to come?
March had some warm days — “I guess a teaser for us,” Soldi said.
“We’ve had a few days in the past that have felt springy,” said Brian Gray, 36, of Ocean Grove
Gray, who was working on an outside flower display at the Ocean Grove Flower Shop, said he judges the coming of spring more by the scent in the open air and the changing position of the sun.
“It feels good out here,” Gray said. “I think I’m happy for the spring coming and seeing more people in town.”
But Avon residents Margaret Ryan and Elaine Donnelly, out and about in their town, were unsure if spring had actually sprung.
“It’s not warm,” said Ryan, 82. “All of a sudden, my hands get a little chilly.”
“You get that breeze off the ocean,” Donnelly added.
“(But) it’s gorgeous, even if you’re in the house,” Ryan said. “It’s not gray and drab.”
Both Ryan and Donnelly said they like warmer weather.
“I think it was one of the worst winters I remember,” Donnelly said.
Noting how she spent February in Florida, Ryan said, “Other than that, I would have killed myself. You can keep winter.”
Acevedo’s job as a tow-truck driver takes him outside. He said he “took a beating” this winter
“The beating lasted longer than normal,” Acevedo said.
Various people said they like New Jersey’s different seasons.
“I like all four seasons,” Gray said. “Winter doesn’t bother me. Just as I get sick of a season, it moves to the next.”
“I, of course, look forward to spring and summer,” Soldi said. “But I like the cold air. It refreshes me.”
With the weather, Shambat said, “Whatever happens happens.”
Now, according to Soldi, a gardener, it is the time of sprouting crocuses, daffodils and tulips. As for the weather, warming yet or not, we will have to see how it goes.
“April could be a terrible month,” Donnelly said. “But today is a great day.”
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