I had heard whispers from friends about this place...seemed to amazing to be real...but then i saw evidence did some research...and forgot...like you sometimes do with something amazing because it just wasn't time yet......
The yesterday i got a text from my friend Jessica... "Dead Horse Beach Tommorrow???"
that was all i needed
...and thus the adventure began!!!!
Now i have certain aversions to beaches...mostly the PEOPLE....the loud noisiness of them...the greasy bodies slathered and chattering.....but in general i feel they are beautiful places..they can be serene and magical....especially for someone interested in nature and biology such as I am.... So the day was gorgeous...the timing was right...So we packed up the car and set off towards the yet unknown....
From what i had gathered Dead Horse Beach {or Bay}.... was somewhere near Rockaway.....it had been the site of many things, from manufacturing fish oil , to making fertilizer using animal bones and more "recently" as a landfill from the 19th to the 20th century.... So because of this the tides constantly bring in a flow of debris...but not simply garbage...beautiful antique bottles tumbled with time...small rusted metal intricacies... children's toys and ceramic pieces... all kinds of curiosities vomited up from the deep like a treasure trove for someone like me.....apparently now its also a site for sport fishing which we saw many people doing today as well as the evidence of strange fish and many horseshoe crabs and rays....
My friend Jessicas son Auden thought this was a dead crab and was instantly shaken when he "came to life" {I never saw a child run so fast and determined as he did!!! And we died with laughter once he calmed down!!!} I took the crab back to the ocean so he wouldn't suffer the same fate as his brethren!!!
this ray was so alien and flesh...like some otherworldly creature fallen from the heavens rather than evicted from the oceans depths....
there was so much detail and so much texture...things clinging to other things and a lot of life amongst the "trash"....the flotsam and jetsam clinging to pipes and tires created beautiful patterns and small muscles and snails grew and thrived in smashed bottles and soles of shoes creating miniature enviornments amongst the scattered debris....
There were almost as many shoe soles as shells....perhaps even more!!! They ceased to be just trash and became these repetitive organic shapes....as varied and interesting as the organic creatures we found... it was amazingly strange
these worn wood posts stood like sentinels majestically against the sunlight...
One of the most gobsmacking things we came upon was a fallen tree...which in itself was beautiful all twisted and majestic laying in the sand...but people had decorated the tree in bottle on wires and shredded plastic and ropes and the tree became this thing...this being almost...it felt alive and filled with beautiful energies and i couldn't take my eyes off of it...Jessica and I were just so in love with it!!!!
I couldn't stop yelling and gasping at its beauty at every turn and every branch adorned with treasures ....
it glittered and clamored like an enormous chandelier..... it was covered with offerings and treasures from the sea.....it started my mind reeling and inspired me a great deal...this tree and i have more of a journey together indeed.....
playing amongst the branches....
even its roots were filled with magicks....
the trash bags and plastic created this wonderful fringe that blew and danced in the wind and created an amazing rustling sound like fall leaves...
Auden takes a well deserved rest on a displaced slide....
giant metal machinery became a mock reef...
Auden poses next to a tree root that had pierced this piece of stone...mysterious and amazing....
this horseshoe crab was completely covered in tiny barnacles creating an amazing new creature..... like something from a different time....
what looks like a door to a safe became another reclaimed environment....filled with lush sea life.... like a miniature tide pool
these rocks sparkled and glittered in the sun becoming almost too bright to look at on occasion!
another moment of nature taking back over....These little snails made a home inside this tire....it was fun to watch them scurrying about....
A sea monster of sorts.....
On the way back we stumbled across this beautifully lush path and decided to take it ands see where it went...it ended up bringing us back to the street and the car...but it was fun to take this unknown path and wander seemingly lost through this magical forest...
taking a moment to take in all the beauty....
so what started as a whim...a simple trip 30 minutes from where we lived...became this amazingly magical adventure...full of inspiration and surprises.... New York has SO MUCH to offer...you just have to look....sometimes just a little longer and a little closer than you are used to...we left exhausted and happy...smiling and talking endlessly...and so inspire... so VERY inspired!!!!!
SO when the day is nice...and not too warm... if you get the chance you MUST go...it really is a magical place....and if you see me wandering around... come say hi and ill show you what i collected!!!!
XOXO
