It was my birthday and we were on Ocracoke Island, on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. There’s no place I’d rather be on my birthday! What I didn’t know was that the ocean was to provide a most unique present to me. No, not a shell or anything aquatic. It offered a most unusual surprise.
We walked down the long boardwalk to the beach. The beach was totally deserted – not unusual on March 29th! The Ocracoke beach always takes my breath away. One can see literally miles of pure, uncommercial beach in either direction. The wind was blustery and the ocean choppy with plenty of white-capping. I love the unbridled wildness of the ocean when it’s like this. It’s beautiful and a bit scary at the same time. Not one boat was in view and for good reason. The tide was receding, cleaning the sand of any footsteps and depositing some shells.
As always, I scan for any unusual deposits left by the ocean. I noticed 2 small objects in the distance. They were right at the point where the water was receding, so I was unsure what I was seeing. The waves would wash over them, move them and they’d bob in the water. As I got closer, I was pretty sure it was trash that had been washed ashore from a boat sometime earlier. I typically pick up beach trash just as many people do – I then throw it in the appropriate trash containers at beach entry.
But this wasn’t tyical beach trash. I couldn’t believe my eyes. These were women’s shoes. They were clog style with wooden soles and leather tops. The wood was water logged and cracks were appearing, so they’d been in the water for a long time. The shoes were not sitting side-by-side as if left there by accident. No, the water had moved them and they were several yards from each other. Also, I’d seen the action of the water on the shoes – the shoes were too light to resist the stormy, crashing waves and also the wood kept them afloat and bobbing in the water. They were about 3 yards apart when I spotted then. It looked like they’d followed the same current or wave paths ashore if that’s possible.
There was no telling where these came from or, how long they’d been in the water. It’s a mystery that I relish. It was a gift from the sea.OK, Poseidon got it a bit wrong; They’re too big for me, though I really like the style (unwearable as they are, being cracked from the water). Nevertheless, I love this gift. I brought them home and have them hanging on my deck as a form of “found art”. Though not as beautiful as the spectacular shells I’ve found on Ocracoke, they do make for a most interesting story and they’re a fond reminder of my birthday in Ocracoke.
