Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Bye Bye



I took a little trip to Assateague Island (connected to the community of Chincoteague Island on the Eastern shore) a few weeks ago. There the beaches are vast and austere, and if you are willing to walk a little bit, you can get away from the crowds.  The island is a nature preserve, so you will not have access to bars with cool drinks, swimming pools or showers to wash away salt spray, and indoor plumbing.  The port-a-potties are clean and in the parking lot.  You must haul your own crap...whatever you cannot live without on a day at the beach.


There are 14,000 acres of protected beach, saltwater marsh, and fresh water marsh to enjoy.  About 1.5 million visitors make their pilgrimage to this island every year, but, as you can see, you can still get away from it all if you want.  Behind the beach area are very important bird nesting and bird migration habitats.

You can see in the photo above that this beach faces an ocean on the move.  Those spindly trees were behind protected dunes at one time.  The surf does not care for trees or marsh grass in its path to the South.  A severe Northeaster hit last year and removed the parking lots and much of the dunes which are precious bird nesting areas. Since it costs the American taxpayer $600,000 each time parking areas, made only of gravel and crushed shell, must be rebuilt, easy access to this long beach is becoming more tenuous each summer.  An additional threat is that the land mass is shrinking and the ocean is rising due to global climate change.  By 2100 there are predictions this may all be underwater.  It is all just grains of sand sifting in time.

14 comments:

  1. intriguing yet sad that it all might be gone...our ever changing world...

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  2. Anonymous9:15 PM

    i love the long uninterrupted shorline, I LOVE to walk and this to me is paradise.
    thanks for sharing
    the thought of what we are losing day by day due to inappropriate choices makes me so sad.
    xxm

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  3. We live on an ever changing planet and the shifting sands are often the most visible change, especially those of us who live on our ever changing coastlines.
    Lovely pictures and post.
    Have a great week.
    Smiles

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  4. What a beautiful shore line!! It is a shame that the beaches are disappearing! Glad you could enjoy them now.
    Hugs
    SueAnn

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  5. Hey I just wanted to connect here because I'm so sad Barry passed away. I know it was his time, I'm glad he is no longer struggling. But what a beautiful soul he was. Anyway, just thinking about all his blog friends today.

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  6. Glad to hear about this lovely part of the world. So much to think about here....Hope the bird nesting areas remain intact.

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  7. Such incredible beauty you picture. Our beaches on the west coast are eroding and covered with rising water as well. Harbinger of more losses to come I fear.

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  8. by 2100 I imagine much of what we take for granted now will be irrevocably changed... partly due to our interference, partly nature's way.

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  9. Sounded delightful until you got to the prognosis.

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  10. I love the spindly tenacious trees against the surf.
    great metaphor

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  11. Our fragile world. Enjoy the beauty while we can.

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  12. We visited that beach a few years ago while on sabbatical. Had such a lovely day we didn't want to leave.

    My kids remembered the Misty books I had read to them when they were small. Most fun.

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  13. It looks and sounds like a wonderful area. It would be sad to see it go.

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Glad to hear from you once again. I really like these visits. Come sit on this log and tell me what you are thinking.