Wordless Wednesday: Hughlett Point

The Things I Do For Photos

During Memorial Day Weekend, I had the opportunity to visit a local private beach (thank you CBW and Waterman JP!).  The beach was down near the New Point Comfort Lighthouse, and I was hoping to get a shot of the lighthouse from somewhere other than the observation deck.

So, I started off down the beach with my  significant other.

My goal was to head way down to the end where you can see the green reeds growing in the distance.

I knew that the lighthouse was just around the bend, on the other side of the reeds.

No problem.

Then I got to the reed forest.

It was well over my head and there was no way I could walk through the reeds so my option was to find a way around them. 

At the edge of the reeds near the water, it was nothing but mud and 

pointy broken off reeds sticking out of the ground.  

Pointy broken off reeds are very sharp and hurt really bad.

Being the brainiac that I am, I started out in bare feet. 

The only other option was trying to go out in the water to walk around the corner of the beach.

Being the awesome boyfriend he is, my significant other went to see if this was a better solution.

Unfortunately, he ended up with several cuts and scratches from all the the hidden tree stumps.

I did make it around the edge of the reeds to get my shot of the light house.

On the way back to our section of the beach, I apologized to my significant other for having him wade out in the water and get cut up. 

And he told me he would have carried me out there on his shoulders if he had to just so I could get the photo.

Seriously, how did I get so lucky?

Blocked

I've started and stopped and deleted 5 blog posts this evening.  I seem to be in that in between world of wanting badly to write and not knowing what exactly I want to write, or how to write.  Nothing seems to sound right.  Nothing seems to flow at all.  So, I'm going to share some photos I took from this last Labor Day Weekend.  It was after Hurricane Irene hit and I headed out to Aaron's Beach to survey the changes.  I knew things were different.  I expected my favorite tree to be gone.  I hadn't specifically asked anyone if it was still there and no one has mentioned it directly.  I wanted to discover it's passing on my own.  Walk around the corner and feel the biting pangs of loss- for a tree.  And not just any tree- a dead one.  I like to think of it as living driftwood.  Stuck in the sand like a sculpture from Mother Nature.  Imagine the surprise and (sounding slightly melodramatic I'm sure) the sheer joy of turning the corner and seeing my old friend.  Not that we have been friends all that long.  But what's time in the language of kindred spirits? 

 It's weathered many storms, that tree.  Stood and faced gales, nor'easters, Hurricanes, Hurricane easters.... and it hasn't moved.  It's managed to hang on for another morning.  Still stands straight and strong despite the slapping waves of storm after storm. 

There's a metaphor in there somewhere.

Hughlett Point Nature Preserve

Located along the Chesapeake Bay and Dividing Creek, Hughlett Point Nature Preserve is one of the most beautiful natural beaches in the area.  The preserve is a nesting site for rare shore birds and offers habitat for Bald Eagles and Osprey.  It is also habitat for the federally threatened Northeastern Beach Tiger Beetle. 

From the parking area, a boardwalk leads you into the woods towards the water winding through loblolly pines.  It's quiet (except for the musings of the Brat Child about what various monsters mutant spiders animals could be living in tree holes).

The beach is strewn with driftwood trees. 

The sky was gorgeous.

The water was gorgeous.

But the temperatures were hot, so we didn't stay too long.

Looking forward to exploring Hughlett Point more in depth this fall.

Back When Things Were Cooler

Today with the heat index promising to reach 110 degrees, I thought it might be nice to visit some photos from April.  Back when it was cooler out and a sweatshirt was needed on the beach.  Back before the tornado hit Deltaville (exactly one week before).  Back when, overall, life was a little less stressful.

 "For whatever we lose (like a you or a me) it's always ourselves we find in the sea."

~e.e. cummings

 



Reminds me of a squid



 "down by the seashore, where life is a little easier!"

~Unknown



Midge, Me and the Brat Child



“The beach is in our blood. Everyone in our family returns to the beach instinctively, just like the sea turtles.”
~Sandy Archibald



Beach Walk- Bethel Beach

Today I'm just sharing a few shots from Bethel Beach.

Of course what good would pictures of the beach be without some barnacles.

Yes, this is a fish skull.  Yes I realize it's creepy to photogragh dead fish.

One man's trash is another man's treasure.

Treasure Hunting Theme

As I was trying to figure out what the heck to ramble on about in today's post, I pulled up some photos from last October and discovered that the Brat Child's choice of treasures seems to run to the same items.

Feathers and dead crabs.

It's good that he's so darn cute.

It helps lessen the gross factor when he puts dead things in my pocket.

Note: I must confess that as a child, I would routinely find dead horseshoe crabs (there used to be a plethora of horseshoe crabs back in the day).  I would take those dead crabs home to Baltimore where I would then take them to show and tell at school.  Dead horseshoe crabs don't smell nice when they've been in the sun, transported in the covered bed of a pick-up truck for 5 hours and left in a black garbage bag on top of the trash can outside in the sun.

My teachers loved me.

Treasures

During my recent weekend visit to the Tidewater, I took the kids to a couple of the local beaches so I could take some photos and they could run around.  OK, so Big Sis doesn't run, she just looks all broody and draws "I Love Brent" in the sand 50 Brazillian times.  The Brat Child runs, but only until he spots the next glorious and priceless treasure on the sand. 

This time it was feathers and dead crabs.



Because his hands were full of crab shells, the Brat Child decided to use my sweatshirt pocket to hold his feathers.   While we walked along the beach, we came upon a dead seagull.  It wasn't really recognizable as a seagull except for a few long beautiful flight feathers left attached to the skeleton.

The Brat Child and I saw the skeletized remains at the same time and I said, "You are NOT putting that in my pocket!"

The Brat Child continued kicking at the feathers in the hopes of kicking one or two loose.  Because maybe if one came loose I might then let him put it in my pocket.  And because I've poked my share of dead things been curious about things I find, I let him make his attempts.  When he leaned in closer to take a better look I reminded him, "I mean it.  No skeletons in my pocket!"

The Brat Child is not phased by skeletons in his pockets.

Or his hands.

We also came across a Mermaid's Necklace which is really a whelk's egg case.  After explaining to the Brat Child what it was and what was in it, he added that to his collection. 
"What are you going to do with that?" I wondered.
"I'm gonna hatch dem eggs," he answered matter-of-factly like I'm an idiot who didn't realize that you can hatch whelk eggs via incubation.
Can't wait for the next walk.

Beach Walk: Aaron's Beach

Thanks to my new friend Chesapeake Bay Woman, I was able to find a new place to explore: Aaron's Beach.  I love it!  So many things to see and photograph and discover!

Ethan heading to the beach with the "noon-ells"

 

Totally love this tree.  It's like driftwood that's planted.

Storm clouds

Looks like a turtle

Not sure where he's going, but he's determined.

Gorgeous sunset as the storm clouds began building and the rain started moving in.