After Labor Day, Nancy and I like to drive over the Captree Causway, head west on Ocean Parkway, and park at Overlook Beach. Babylon Town maintains and manages this popular place. I call it one of my magical places.

Snow fences are being set up and there are only a few cars and visitors. We bring plastic garbage bags to put litter. Looking for litter is a good way to look at the beach close up. With the piping plover fencing gone, I like to wander up the dune just to see the patterns of sand and beach grass. Anything that happens here is written in the sand.

From the broad, sandy beach we have many sights to see. Fire Island Inlet, Democrat Point ( the western tip of 32 mile long Fire Island). An off shore sand bar creates breakers far from the shore. A fishing boat owner told me that sharks stay beyond these breakers which means safe swimming at Overlook Beach.

We can watch fishing boats come and go, hear their horn when it’s time to pull up the lines. Way off shore, large cargo ships look like ghosts on the edge of the horizon. It’s fun to track their progress.

However, my magic is the sand. Sand has many faces all created by either wind, or water or both. Sand is a chameleon. I see new patterns every time I visit.

Ghost crab hollows hide beneath the surface with some of the sand they’ve excavated on the doorstep. Pieces of crab fill a tire track. Broken and whole shells are everywhere. Afternoon sun casts well-defines shadows of beach brass leaves. Smooth wind-blown sand looks like refined sugar.. I hate to mess it up. Crows leave tell-tale toe prints because they drag them and the drag mark is obvious. Gulls leave their webbed feet initials. Shadows show up clearly because strong sunlight bleaches the surface with bright reflections. The wood slats of snow fencing look like they were printed on the smooth, undulating blankets of freshly deposited sand. Sand also tells the direction of the wind because any object that lays o the beach will catch sand and produce a leeward deposit.

Purple sand lies near the shore. It is heavier than quartz sand and is left behind when wind picks up. Purple sand comes from a semiprecious stone called garnet. Garnet and quartz are sorted and deposited by their color and density due to the repetition of ever-constant waves.

Herring gulls walk about keeping a sharp eye for anything edible. I dropped a potato chip once and 25 gulls appeared in less than a minute. They have their own secret texting system…”food 20 degrees south”

The sand dune is actively growing as wind lofts sand grains that are carried up the dune slope and slowed down by clumps of beach grass. I like to find the perfect spot to sit and look at the ocean. A huge swath of sparkle dazzle us in the Southwest quadrant. We hear a breaker spill water, the curve of the breaker traps air and produces a hollow “whump” sound. This is followed by the rush of swash water up the beach face. Refreshing is too common a word to describe the scene. It is astounding to look along the beach and see the clear cut lines of beach to water and water to sky.

Weaker stalks of beach grass act as paint brushes to compass circles in the surrounding sand. This is magic. The circles remind me that live life is not linear but circular. Beach grass has got to be one of smartest plants on the planet. It can withstand extremely hot, dry, salt, and wind. It knows how to protect itself when there’s a prolonged drought…it curls its leaves into a straw to keep moisture in. Its rhizome system allows it to spread and keep spreading.

Nancy and I visit all winter. We take lunch and reading material. Nancy knits while I sketch or write or take a walk in those magical dunes. A brief nap is refreshing. Sometimes when the wind is strong, tiny droplets of sal water fog the car window. And oh yes, the glorious feeling of sand between toes and fingers, and the brushing off of stand that sticks. We return to hard ground back across the bay. How lucky we are to be within 20 minutes of magic.