Down by the Bay
Boardwalks of worn wooden planks lay along hot summer sand, connecting families, childhood memories, and vintage cottages along the shore. Rickety stairways plummet down the steep sand dunes of northern Michigan, while wind-bent pines hold on to the collapsing bank of beach grass. These memories mingle together with more recent walks with my family along the May River of Bluffton, SC. Along the century old dirt roads of Old Town, classic white cottages propped high on stilts are protected from ocean flooding and create shade from the blistering sun.