Never having been 64 years old before I was wondering what I would write about. Just what do old people think about ? Well it seems 64 year old men think about pretty much the same thing as 63 year old men. Who would have guessed that ? I have to say my 64th birthday was a great one. I did go clamming just as I had planned. Although after about three hours of digging I only managed to uncover one clam, that's right one, I felt somehow refreshed in my soul. I can feel it more in my arms and chest this morning but yesterday it was in my heart. No, not a heart attack but just a nice warm feeling of sentiment and memory. As I wandered from place to place in search of my elusive prize I did remember the days of my youth. I figure it may have been the same water ! Oh sure it would have been evaporated and recycled a few times over the last 47 years but I think it was still the same. A ways south of Gardiner's Bay New York sure but water flows downhill right ? That's why it's frozen at the north pole, to keep it from all running downhill ! But anyway, it was good time and I really enjoyed myself.
After leaving the bay side of the Island we drove over to the ocean side. My wife remarked how remarkable it was that it was such a short distance from the bay to the ocean. I told her just how common a thing that is to me. Drawing a sketch of Long Island in the sand I showed her how that worked on the eastern end. Assateague Island is only 37 miles long and the width isn't very much at all. Assateague is a barrier island and changes almost daily. You know when you live somewhere you just don't give it a whole lot of thought. Driving from the Bay to the Ocean seems like the most natural thing to me. Something taken for granted. We went to the ocean and walked out into the surf for a bit. That Atlantic ocean water is a bit cooler than I thought it would be. Very refreshing ! It was a beautiful sandy beach reminiscent of Main beach back on Long Island. Just listening to the sound of the surf and smelling that ocean breeze is a tonic. I received a transfusion of salt into my bloodstream. Just what the doctor ordered. The screech of the gulls , along with the screams of the children truly is music to my ears.
I have never been one much for sitting in the sand at the ocean beaches. Now, I'm thinking that may change. It was such a tranquil time amid all the excitement around me. It is hard to explain. As I watched the children running and playing along the waters edge I found it satisfying. I just sat there with my memories. Yes my wife was with me and I think she was lost in her memories too. There is something therapeutic about the ocean. They say life itself sprang from the ocean and I agree. Every human emotion can be expressed with the ocean waters. There are times of calm and times of turmoil. You can watch this unfold before you every day at the beach. The water forever touching the land and receding once again. Time and tide wait for no man is an expression I heard often as a child. It does best explain life. I do wonder what if ? What if you were an Iowa farmer would you feel the same connection to the land as I do to the water ? I expect I would. Perhaps the smell of the land has the same effect as the smell of the Ocean. I can see that, the smell of the pines and the forest. All of it can take us back to our youth, to our earliest memories.
When I was brought home from the hospital 64 years ago it was to a fisherman's shack on the beach at Napeauge. That house was on stilts and the water would rise and fall beneath it. Although I don't have any direct memory of that, we left that place when I was about four years old, I think it influenced me. My mother tells me we once sat in the car during a hurricane in fear that house would be washed away. That house was still standing in the 1960's and it was pointed out to me. I expect it is long gone now, perhaps washed out to sea. When my time arrives it is my hope that the same can be said of me, he went back to the sea. Back to where it all began.
After leaving the bay side of the Island we drove over to the ocean side. My wife remarked how remarkable it was that it was such a short distance from the bay to the ocean. I told her just how common a thing that is to me. Drawing a sketch of Long Island in the sand I showed her how that worked on the eastern end. Assateague Island is only 37 miles long and the width isn't very much at all. Assateague is a barrier island and changes almost daily. You know when you live somewhere you just don't give it a whole lot of thought. Driving from the Bay to the Ocean seems like the most natural thing to me. Something taken for granted. We went to the ocean and walked out into the surf for a bit. That Atlantic ocean water is a bit cooler than I thought it would be. Very refreshing ! It was a beautiful sandy beach reminiscent of Main beach back on Long Island. Just listening to the sound of the surf and smelling that ocean breeze is a tonic. I received a transfusion of salt into my bloodstream. Just what the doctor ordered. The screech of the gulls , along with the screams of the children truly is music to my ears.
I have never been one much for sitting in the sand at the ocean beaches. Now, I'm thinking that may change. It was such a tranquil time amid all the excitement around me. It is hard to explain. As I watched the children running and playing along the waters edge I found it satisfying. I just sat there with my memories. Yes my wife was with me and I think she was lost in her memories too. There is something therapeutic about the ocean. They say life itself sprang from the ocean and I agree. Every human emotion can be expressed with the ocean waters. There are times of calm and times of turmoil. You can watch this unfold before you every day at the beach. The water forever touching the land and receding once again. Time and tide wait for no man is an expression I heard often as a child. It does best explain life. I do wonder what if ? What if you were an Iowa farmer would you feel the same connection to the land as I do to the water ? I expect I would. Perhaps the smell of the land has the same effect as the smell of the Ocean. I can see that, the smell of the pines and the forest. All of it can take us back to our youth, to our earliest memories.
When I was brought home from the hospital 64 years ago it was to a fisherman's shack on the beach at Napeauge. That house was on stilts and the water would rise and fall beneath it. Although I don't have any direct memory of that, we left that place when I was about four years old, I think it influenced me. My mother tells me we once sat in the car during a hurricane in fear that house would be washed away. That house was still standing in the 1960's and it was pointed out to me. I expect it is long gone now, perhaps washed out to sea. When my time arrives it is my hope that the same can be said of me, he went back to the sea. Back to where it all began.
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