My Coastal Dune Lake

Ancient crystle dunes
engulfed by a risen sea.
Ocean shrinks to gulf in time,
baring mounds of sugared quartz.

Rare pools of sparkling life are born
to milliniums of nurturing kisses
from a coddling saline surf.

Embracing tides wash life to benthic worlds
as needle rush nurseries feed
flora, fauna, future.

Flyoff vapors, cool and collected,
fall to stream across shore to sea,
barrow for the rapt organic cornucopia
of our ever renewing coastal plash.

What you see is called purse seining - now illegal so I hear. These boats used to come along shore and drop these semicircular nets out and bring in a huge haul of mostly bait fish. These fish look like lady fish to me. Probably got served up in fried fish dishes at local PCB restaurants.

Back then, the easiest way to get a boat to the beach was via what we called “The Red Clay Road” which was a relatively flat “jeep trail” at the location of One Seagrove Place. Most likely my great aunt Sue White took this picture around 1965.

This jeep was called the "Blue Goose" and was the best in a long line of beach 4WD vehicles. My grandmother, Babo, is behind the wheel in front of my cousin Maunsel White's, house. Since the windshield had not yet rusted off, this was probably around 1970 or 1971.

My brother Keith pretty much learned how to drive behind the wheel of this jeep on the old dirt roads of Seagrove. We did the natty white hood ornamentation and fender striping ourselves no doubt using house paint and a brush. This was a 1949 CJ2A.