I looked for Spanish Mustangs and Sea Glass along a 11 mile stretch of beach and tidal marsh land.  Where time has stopped except for the occasional vacation home where folks go that want to be “On Holiday”.  There are no street signs or stop lights, no paved roads or concrete just earth.  Just sand and sea grass and birds.  And if you are lucky and persistent you will find a Spanish Mustangs and Sea Glass.

There used to be an ancient maritime forest where the beach stands.  Stumps preserved by the ocean water, dot the beach as reminders of years past.  When wooden ships sailed these waters.  I bet the bottom of the sea floor is also home to wooden stumps, of ships preserved now, but unable to survive the treacherous storms of the Atlantic ocean.  It is during one of these noreasters that claimed a merchant ship loaded with a cargo for a new land.  Supplies brought from the old country where men were daring enough to travel. 4000 miles across an open sea in search of freedom. In search of not settling for what they had.   The strongest of the cargo survived.  The glass and a beautiful creature full of wildness, power and an elegant grace in this harsh environment.

Its not easy getting here and that is a good thing.

The signs all say no stopping.  Again and again. No stopping. Deflate tires to 20lbs and it is mandatory.

3.5 miles to the 4×4 area.   I was excited I was nervous I was with my family we were on an adventure.  Something that as we get busier we don’t do enough of.  And as the kids get older it should get easier. But it doesn’t. So when we do get to do something exciting like this. Or the day before spending a few hours at the sound. Floating on a raft made for two, close enough to hold hands and dream of nothing in particular.  Just enjoy the kids we created that play and oh how I enjoy watching them play.   Feet dangle in the water. A slight breeze. Perfect. Now back to the adventure.

There is a strip of land along the coast of North Carolina. It is called the outerbanks. It is made up of sand.  It is not very wide and dotted with

Teal colored homes and teal colored toes both dusted with salt and sand.  Miles of whitish sand on both sides.  And if you dig down where you stand you find sand. When looked at from above or from Google Maps it is hard to believe that folks would be willing to chance living here. 175 miles of barrier island that protect the Coast Mainland of North Carolina. Or that each summer for a couple of months millions of people spend one of their two weeks of vacation here. On this little sand island….well not really an island until you get further south and cross the Bonner Bridge.  But it feels like an island. Where salt is in the air.  And a constant breeze blows from the ocean or sound.   Where in the morning you can walk to see a perfect sunrise and in the evening you walk to see the same sun as he gives way to the moon….all with out having to switch locations…It was on this ocean that brought our latest quest.  To find the horses of Carova. These Spanish horses that are said to come from ships that wrecked off the coast and swam to shore.   Run free. They live off the land, for years they have survived hurricanes and Noreasters.  Those storms that blow, that blow the rain sideways.  Yes these horses are our target. But what I didn’t realize was they were only going to be part of the adventure.

We are packed. As I always do I pack way too much.  I’m not sure how I will hike the Appalachian Trail with the amount of stuff I want to bring.  But that is me.  As the protector of my family.  I want the kids to have snacks and drinks.  To have chairs and shade of some sort. So as we pull unto the beach. We immediately enter a different world.  Driving on the beach in the sand is an experience.    There is something exciting and nerve racking about it at the same time.  So as we drove along that beach.  We saw that color again.  That teal and turquoise that blue and green. A cross between the ocean and earth and the sky.  The clouds always look puffiier and whittierer.  My family has had property up here since I was a young man.  That is our destination in Carova where we hope to find not only adventure but wild horses.   Hopefully both.

 

As we stop about mid way up the beach. I do as I always do.  Walk along the beach as the little birds called plover pipers go back and forth following the in and out of the ocean,  In there tracks I do my searching.  I am looking for the other treasure I find here,  Sea Glass.  It is not easy to locate.  A small piece here or there. But today is too pretty of a day to find the big ones.  They only come out when the surf is churned into a foaming, ship destroying, treasure tossing washing machine of sorts.  So today like most of the days I hunt for sea glass I am hopeful.  I honestly believe that if you don’t take time to look for beauty you are less likely to find it.  So I look for beauty…….we stop and enjoy the water, the sand, the family I stepped out into the ocean.  That usual, suck the air out of you, chill of first touching the water to your hips.  Where you either have to dive right in or continue to breathe in labored effort.  So I dive in.   I body surf the waves, I play like a kid and then I just stand up and stand and watch and breathe and smile.  The waves crashing around me.  A line of pelicans float above the waves 30 feet from me. And I thought.  My God I am so small. I slow smiled looked back at my family, waved and I was way ok with that.  I find the ocean inspiring.   The power and beauty both amaze me. I take a nap on the beach and we pack it up, beach chairs and umbrellas, footballs and volleyballs, koolers and snacks.

 

You drive for miles down this beach. And when you feel you have gone far enough you climb the dunes and cross over into another world.  A world that time has forgotten. Of horse tracks and sea grass of live oaks battle tested into the shape of bonsai trees only much bigger, formed by wind and salt and storms from the Atlantic.  One picks a trail and drives slowly looking for the stallions and the mares and the colts. They are here. In their environment that they were forced to make home. And they did.  They are perfectly built to withstand to understand Mother Nature. Just like the live oaks and the pelicans and the sea glass that has been here for hundreds of years.  We find them.  A daddy the Stallion a momma the mare and a baby the colt.   And of in the distance another group. Slowly moving towards the first. The two stallions look at each other, make horse sounds, raise up on hind legs and hoof the air with anger and might… Then they separate and move on.  It was like they knew why we were here.  Gave us a show, I smiled, made a picture and they left. They are real, they are beautiful and I am a blessed man to have seen them.  So on this adventure I found Mustangs wild and free….i looked for sea glass of teal, and turquoise or blue and soft satin white, of black and purple I looked and I didn’t find any.  But I did find is what I already knew.  I love this world, I love my family, I love me my wild mustang self, that roams the woods and searches for beauty in the form of beauty,  sometimes its seaglass sometimes its just standing in the water, just standing.

 

Sea Glass and Mustangs

Both came from the ocean

Neither born there

One Surface smooth like shaven legs

One Surface rough and disheveled like my hair when I just wake up

Elusive to most

Except the few

With patience to look

And maybe not find

But those that do will always return to look for

the Mustangs and Sea Glass

That most don’t see because they live their lives why too fast

For to spot these two treasures of Corova

We must stop long enough to smell the roses

the purple and black, teal and blue

Stallions and Mares

He sits on the beach without a care

 

That’s it this is an adventure that I am so happy to be a part of.

 

You only live once.  Take chances.  Take adventures seriously.  Prepare, and enjoy.

Horses that are wild like a sea hawk I am blessed to see.

MattDad