After writing yesterdays blog concerning scalloping with Dad I got to thinking. I remember asking my father why he didn't buy property on the beach. I thought it would be ideal. Could have the boat right out front and all. He told me there was a time when you could have bought all the beach front property you wanted for next to nothing. In fact,he knew a man that did just that. Bought acres of it in a tax sale. Lots of people thought the man was a fool.
This remark naturally piqued my interest. I wanted to know why. Dad smiled a little and said,because no one wants to live on the beach. Or at least those of us with common sense don't. If you live at the beach you would have the constant breeze off the water. Not bad in the summer but mighty chilly in the winter months. Not many trees to block that breeze now, is there ? Sand everywhere. Gets tracked into the house all the time too. Can't grow grass in beach sand you know. Storms come in and the last place you want to be is at the beach. Erosion changes the coastline too. Might have a front yard today but in a few years that might be gone. No,the best place is a little inland. The beach is a good place to picnic but I wouldn't want to live there.
Those remarks stuck with me to this day. Makes sense to me and it is just being practical. Seems to me a lot of the older folks were a bit more practical than we are today. Of course from their perspective the beach would always be there and be accessible to them. Back home where I raised their is a document called the Donagan Patent that guaranteed residents access to the beaches. After all many made their living fishing and clamming and working the water in one way or another. Its' primary purpose wasn't recreational like it is now.
Yup,only rich folks who didn't know any better built houses up on the sand dunes. Still do. Now I guess they do it as a status thing. Still not very practical. As Dad would have said," it's alright if you don't mind watching your money float away."
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