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| Thumper Joe at the beach in 2012 |
last night on the news there was a report about the plans to rebuild the seawall and construct a huge splash apron that would prevent storm waves from washing up on the road and freezing during the winter. the road that goes by this beach is a major thoroughfare, and so any dangerous road conditions are an understandable concern, but who is really at fault? the wild and stormy Lake Erie? or the people who were foolish enough to build a major road next to the wild and stormy Lake Erie.
The plans disclosed in the article detail how they will be dredging up the sand along the beach so that they can do the construction on the bedrock. The plans also include a pedestrian walkway along the new construction. Here is the latest article from the Buffalo News if you are so inclined to read it.
I suppose I'm being selfish, but it was (and still is for the time being!) one of my favorite places to exist. an excellent treasure beach, i often find rare colors of beach glass as well as interesting rocks, fossils, bones and shells. it was a difficult beach to get to since parts of it were often washed out and only accessible by wading, or by climbing down the wall. I could be completely alone, and have a whole beach to myself and i am less than thrilled about the idea that it could become a crowded meeting place.
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| The Alhambra Club in its Heyday |
not only was it a great place to gather freshwater flotsam, but the beach was littered with the ruins of former buildings. The Alhambra, an old supper club sat there from the 1920's until it burned down in the 1940's. The wave-chewed foundation can still be found as a testament to the power of water and to the Lake's temper. Although the plans in the article say nothing of what will happen to the ruins of the establishment, i imagine it will either be buried under the rock, or more likely completely demolished to facilitate the construction.
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| Thumper sitting among the ruins in 2013 |
giant portrait of Bettie Page. As much as i will miss this work of art, my photo of it also demonstrates exactly why these repairs are being done: a huge tumbled portion of the wall can be seen in the right of the photo.
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| Rock in peace, Beach Bettie |
In other news, there was a small earthquake in Lake Erie this morning. it was nothing special impressive, just a 2.1 but its always special when it happens. we get weak earthquakes like this every so often in this region and its the result of crustal rebound in the wake of the last ice age. if that doesn't make sense the weight of a continental ice sheet a mile thick can actually locally depress the earth's crust into the mantle and now that the glacier is gone, the crust has been slowly rising back up over the last 10,000 or so years and every once in a while it rebounds a little faster which causes our earthquakes, which never cause any serious damage. one time when i was 9 years old I experienced such a tremor after school. a 5.0 quake made the whole house shake for a few while. at the time i thought it was fun. but i don't live in a very geologically active area so there is little cause for concern or alarm when it happens (no real tectonic dangers such as the pacific rim endures). Here is a link with a list compiling earthquakes centered or felt locally, although it doesn't give the scale for all of them which is unfortunate.
so in conclusion, I will be spending as much of my summer as i can documenting and collecting memories of my favorite beach while i still can. please enjoy some photos taken in years past
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| frozen drainage holes and the wall is half buried in the ice dunes |
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| Thumper following me along the wall in 2014 |
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| Interesting mildew growth on drainage holes |
and lastly, here is a video of me and my dogs splashing and playing among the ruins on the beach. the crumbling wall, again, is very visible in the background
As always, Thank you for reading :)
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