Upstairs, downstairs

If you ask the universe for what you need you might be surprised at the answer. After a December 2010 Nor’easter the stair case down to the beach washed away leaving me with no way to access the beach. I had to get creative. I re-routed the pathway down a sloping hillside and found a section of dock that had washed up. I always say that if you need something, just wait long enough on Smithtown Bay and it will wash up eventually. I am still waiting for that briefcase full of money, but I did get the dock. This has served as a pretty good substitute, but in the almost two years since the storm, it has become more difficult to get down. So I always ask the universe for a new staircase, since having a new one built is just not in my budget right now and I am not dating a carpenter. I never lost faith that one day the universe would send me what I needed and last week, there I was walking a half mile from my house when “Viola!” There is was. A 13-foot almost-intact staircase. Sure it was missing a few stairs, but I was ecstatic. It weighed about 75 lbs, and I stared at it for a while trying to figure out how to drag this monster a half mile. I felt like a Neanderthal faced with a huge problem in physics. I dragged it a few feet into the water, tied a piece of nylon rope around it and pulled it like a mule on the Erie Canal for half a mile of shoreline. I dragged it up to its new home and here it will stay until I find a very strong person to put it in place for me. I think I have it all figured out how to anchor it down with some giant stakes and rope. Home Depot loves me. I hope to have it in place by next week when I will celebrate with a ribbon cutting. Of course I will not be paying for ribbon. I am sure I can find some down at the beach. However, I am still waiting for that brief case of money to wash up. Give it time. Give it time.

Draconid Meteor Shower

Rain o'er me, meteors! Tonight be on the look out for the DRACONID METEOR shower. According to Space Weather News for Oct. 7, 2012, http://spaceweather.com

 Earth is about to pass through a stream of debris from comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner, source of the annual Draconid meteor shower.  Last year, Europeans witnessed a faint but furious outburst of 600 meteors per hour when the shower peaked.  No such display is expected this year, but the Draconids are notoriously unpredictable.  Northern-hemisphere sky watchers should be alert for slow-moving meteors emerging from the head of the constellation Draco the Dragon (not far from the North Star) on Sunday night, Oct 7th, through Monday morning Oct. 8th.

The waves are huge...

...for Smithtown Bay, that is. I would say about four feet. I love the wind whipping across the water because it means NO BUGS! Blow those little bastards out to sea, I say. The sunset was vivid orange and it had the feel of the south shore this evening as the waves crashed onto the shore. My glass of wine actually blew over. Now that is really sad, isn't it?

Stormy Treasures

I went down to the bay just to see how it was reacting to the severe winds. The rain was pelting me, but I still managed to assess the situation since, after all, I am the Beach Lady. There was a tug boat out in the bay pulling a huge barge. I guess Smithtown Bay will provide a safe place for it to overnight, but then again, what do I

know about ships, tugboats and all that nautical stuff? Nothing! At least there were no Idiots out this evening with their sail boats or fisherman in tiny boats who think the weather reports do not apply to them. What gives? There's usually one idiot per storm. I did get lucky by stumbling upon these two treasures: an awesome rock and a piece of drift wood that will be transformed into something useful, as soon as I figure out what that is. So even the gloomiest of days have an up side. You just have to look for it.

It's a tough job

Yes, I have a tough job on the weekends: watching the sun go down. Somebody's got to do it. I am fabulous at it, too. If only someone, somewhere paid me to monitor the nightly miracle!

Tonight was quite lovely, with all the low clouds hanging around just waiting for the moment to shine and throw off pinks and oranges into the sky. Last night my friends and I got to see fireworks all the way in Connecticut. What were the celebrating? Friday? I'll drink to that!

Tornado watch

It's all quiet out there on Smithtown Bay. The waves were crashing, but it was much calmer the further east I walked towards Crane Neck. No tornado.

s to be seen. Mother Nature is buzzing-bees, butterflies, birds, squirrels, deer-they are all running around gathering "stuff." Even the trees are busy dropping acorns, pine cones and other weird, amour-plated nuts. Flowers are still blooming and I haven't let go of summer just yet.

Victory on the wagon wheel issue...or 'Am I a pain in the neck, or what?'

I know have been like a pit bull with something in its grip, not wanting to let go of this issue, but I think, finally, some progress has been made on the plastic wagon wheels! Just to give a quick recap, in March 2011 a sewage water treatment in Mamaroneck accidently released thousands nitrogen filters into the Long Island Sound. These filters look like little plastic wagon wheels and if you walk the beaches along Smithtown Bay, you have surely seen them. I periodically collect them by the bags full and then send then with a terse letter to the Environmental Facilities Commissioner over there, Thomas Lauro.

He said he tried to come here to clean them up, but couldn't get on our beaches. So I wrote to Suffolk County Legislator Kara Hahn, who took on the issue and finally the Commissioner took notice. Now this recent article, http://www.lohud.com/article/20120830/NEWS02/308300054/Westchester-nears-Sound-cleanup-deal-over-Mamaroneck-sewage-treatment-plant, from a Westchester paper states that Westchester County, where the plant is located, could be fined and there will be some money to clean up the wheels. Hurray! That's all I ever wanted. I wanted to see them take responsibility for the garbage and to be fined. I think that is the least that should be done. I mean, who do those people think they are...Wall Street bankers? I have to say I feel good about getting results on an issue that matters. I love my beach. Don't mess with my beach. Thanks to Legislator Hahn for always being an advocate for our environment! It would have been nice, however, if Mr. Lauro had at least mentioned me as a thorn in his side, maybe slamming down a box of wagon wheels that I sent him, saying, “I’ll do anything, just please stop her from mailing me these packages!”