What A Day!     07/21/22

Island Resort Campground, Newark, Maryland

When Joseph saw his father placing his right hand on Ephraim’s head he was displeased; so he took hold of his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head.  Joseph said to him, “No, my father, this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.” ~ Genesis 48:17-18      This is one of those rare times, when I want to move things around into a more chronological order.  It seems like this would’ve happened before the actual blessing was given.  But who am I that I should presume such a thing?  Joseph believes his father is making a mistake – probably because his eyesight is so bad now – but God has bigger and better plans than we can see or fathom.  ‘For My Thoughts are not your thoughts; neither are your ways My Ways.’ (Isaiah 55:8-9)

Have you ever felt like you would melt away like the Wicked Witch?  We’re feeling that every time we leave the coach.  The unrelenting heat that attempts to force us to stay under the protection of our three air conditioning units that run from the time we wake till we go to bed.  (No, we don’t run them at night because they’re too noisy.) 

Today was better!  It was still hot, but not quite as hot as the mainland.  And we had the stiff ocean breeze today!  Still.  There’s that pervasive sense of bodily ickiness to deal with, and the strength-sucking heat and humidity that by the end of day leaves you feeling worn out.  I know we didn’t used to feel this way.  It’s gotta be the underlying issue of aging . . . Say it isn’t so!!

And today, we were searching for wild horses in Assateague Island, so we didn’t mind so much.  😊

Because of the expected heat index and the words of the volunteer we talked with yesterday, who informed us that the entrance to the island backs up for hours, we left practically at the crack of dawn, taking our first picture at 6:45am. 

I’d like to begin the same why the Park does – giving you information about the wild (stress WILD) horses that call this place home.  In this contemporary time, when so many people feel entitled and have lost their common sense, the National Park feels it necessary to print, not one, but TWO brochures for everyone to read about the wild horses here.  Yes.  They are the stars of the Park, but it seems many believe that because they’re horses and they’re roaming free, they must be safe.  But they can be just as dangerous as encountering a bear or mountain lion.  Wild is still wild.  No matter what kind of critter it is.

So here’s a few bites (no pun intended . . . or maybe it is . . . 😊) of wisdom from the brochures we received:

Petting or feeding the horses may seem like a harmless and fun thing to do, but the consequences can be terrible.

Horses bite and kick in response to crowding or competition for food

Visitors can be knocked down and stepped on if horses spook or react suddenly

Any horse may bite, but be aware that each band has a harem stallion whose job is to protect his mares.  Most bites are by stallions

In searching or begging for food, horses grab objects from visitors, bite at clothing and hands, push visitors away from open trunks, car doors and picnic tables, tear into tents and destroy property.

Wild horses can carry rabies

This woman received a painful bite from a stallion defending “his” water source “pooled water at the base of a campground water pump).  Wild horses can perceive the presence of a human as a challenge or a threat to food, water, foals or other band members.

These children were too close and were bitten.  Adults are responsible for their children’s safety around the horses.

The wild horses of Assateague Island are descendants of domesticated animals brought to the island over 300 years ago.  Horses tough enough to survive the scorching heat, abundant insects, stormy weather and poor quality food found on this windswept barrier island have formed a unique wild horse society.

Were the horses shipwreck survivors….

Local folklore describes the Assateague horses as survivors of a shipwreck off the Virginia coast.  While this dramatic tale of struggle and survival is popular, there are no records yet that confirm it.

….or settlers’ horses?

During the 17^th century free-roaming horses, cows, sheep and pigs caused expensive crop damage to local farms.  Farmers were required to pay taxes on all mainland livestock and fence them in.  Like people in the 21^st century, these resourceful coastal residents looked for ways to avoid paying this tax.  They turned to nearby Assateague Island with its abundance of food, shelter and natural “corral” made of water to solve their problem.  It is likely that modern Assateague horses are descendants of those hardy animals turned loose on the island to graze tax-free.

We got pretty close today, but we were always safe.  😊

We walked some trails (one we were attacked by horseflies and mosquitoes, causing us to literally run!), and drove around, then we parked and walked the beach for awhile.

There’s always talk of the horses being on the beach, but we didn’t see them.  We did see some other things, and got to walk in the water, which was good for my injured toe.  😊

ASSATEAGUE ISLAND, Md. (WJZ) — Seeing a horseshoe crab along the seashore of Maryland and Delaware beaches isn’t out of the ordinary.

But have you ever seen a crab with a weird growth on it?

The Assateague Island National Seashore posted an explainer on Facebook. Those growths are actually common clipper shells, scientifically called crepidula fornicata. They attached themselves to the carapace, or hard outer shell, of the crabs.

These marine snails actually pile onto each other to reproduce and use the horseshoe crabs’ shells to do so.

The snails actually change from male to female for reproduction purposes.

“Some slipper shell stacks can be 10 or 15 snails high, with the larger females found toward the bottom of the stack and the males near the top,” the post reads. ~cbsnews.com

After that, Blaine had the brilliant idea to blow up the kayak and head into the marsh!  It was there we had our best interaction with the wild horses of Assateague!  So fun!  And safe as long as we stay in the boat.  The four or five we saw out there didn’t really care about us.

Surprisingly, there’s not a lot to do in the National Park, so we were done by 11:00am.  We ate an early lunch, then decided to head over to see what was happening at Ocean City, Maryland.

It’s about a 20 minute drive from the National Park.  We sorta kinda remember going there once when we were visiting Blaine’s step-grandmother, Bonnie.  Bonnie was an Eastern Shore girl who lived in the Baltimore area and loved to take us to her favorite places.  What I remember about our two trips to Ocean City is two-fold.  The first, Blaine and I went swimming.  But what we really remember is that the sand felt like tiny shards of glass on our skin – especially when it made it’s way into our swimsuits!  We had to use the shower houses to wash off, and I lost my favorite suit when I left it hanging on the back of the door.  ☹  The next time, we stayed overnight with one of Bonnie’s family members.  Chris (our oldest) was an infant and he disappeared overnight!

He was our first, he was an infant, we didn’t know any better, and we put him on a blanket on the floor beside the bed we were in.  When we woke in the morning, he had vanished into thin air!  The windows and door were closed tightly.  Where could he be?  Logically, we knew he had to be in the room, but parent anxiety was kicking in, when we finally discovered him all the way under the bed!  We laugh now, but it wasn’t so funny then.  😊

Enough about our history.

The Ocean City Boardwalk is 2.5 miles long and is 30-40’ wide.  The beach makes it even wider.  It’s 125 years old.

We were hot, we were tired, it was busy, so we didn’t make it the entire five miles it would take to walk the whole thing and back again, but we walked for over an hour and took in most of it.  Wonderful things!  Interesting things!  Things that made us smile and others that made us laugh out loud!

We are so blessed to be able to enjoy life like we do!