let us call the island "the East'ard": as the natives say, i'ma headed to the East'ard. it was the place i was born and the home of my mothers half of the family to this day. it is the site of my granny's home and the place i spent new years with my family. the East'ard is a small island: 5mi long and 3mi wide at the widest point, much narrower than that for the most part. the folks who have lived to the East'ard for the bulk of their lives are fishermen and dredgers, married to women who have raised large families and can dip snuff and spit t'bacca as well as any man and better than most. they are what one would call the salt of the earth, and indeed you spend much time on the East'ard and you will be a bit salty yourself. the East'ard is not the end of the earth, but it is your last stop before you arrive there. many of those who live on the East'ard have relatives on the Banks, especially on Ocra'co. in the not so distant past mail travelled from the East'ard to the Banks and back by means of the coast guard who maintained a post at the end of the East'ard, known as Shell Point, and on Cape Lookout at the Lighthouse. my mother remembers her grandfather running the mail back and forth on his boat.
Cape Lookout is no longer a coast guard station and the last of the homes over on the Cape were closed a few years back. but the light still runs...and it can be seen from most anywhere to the East'ard. i offer the view from Shell Point: Cape Lookout Lighthouse lies 4mi east of the East'ard.
LoA, "Cape Lookout Lighthouse from Shell Point" (Christmas 2006)best wishes to y'all, and real posts to follow tomorrow.
good night.
LoA.
5 comments:
did you live there long? do you have memories? I'd love to live near water.
Leaving near water it's been my dream too, It's nice to see your past homes, sort of looking through your "evolution" :)
koonj: i have very few childhood memories before i am 6years old...by which time we were getting ready to move out of the trailer (now inland in nc, where my father was working hard to complete college) and my little sister was on the way.
we did though return 'down east' on a regular basis, and i have plenty of memories of playing in the water and going scalloping etc. staying at my grandmothers, on the mainland (to the West'ard) and at grannys (to the East'ard), playing with my cousins, etc. we would go down every couple months, as soon as my parents and their family could put together the money for them to make the trip home.
um ibrahim: i won't put up pictures of ALL my past homes. there are waaay too many. :) you are quite right though. life on the water is beautiful. we enjoyed many walks around the island over new years.
I live in Sag Harbor on Long Island, and have a view of the waters of Peconic Bay and Shelter Island out of my windows. It is lovely, and for most of my adulthood, I have been blessed with living near water, with water views. Sag Harbor is an old whaler town, mentioned in Moby Dick.
Peace and Water Blessings!
thank you for sharing! lots of love to both for this upcoming year... xox a
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