Tribute to the Long House at Singing Sand’s West, Crystal Beach Texas

When I was a kid my parents had always wanted a beach house… it only took them around 30 or so years to make that dream possible. I remember being a kid and having my folks take us to Galveston to stay in various hotels… It was part of the best things I remember about growing up.

They choose putting their kids through college as a priority… and for that I am thankful. But their dream would have to wait until we were grown.

About 4 years ago they bought the view you see below. It was a great little house in Singing Sands West on Bolivar Peninsula. True it is a community fitting of a Jimmy Buffet song… but I like Jimmy buffet.

Here is the house itself. It wasn’t front row, but it was only about 900 feet to a very private Texas beach. Unlike many spots in Crystal Beach it was not easy to get to by car, so it was left alone by much of the drive on traffic. (Only holidays would bring enough traffic to have cars on the Singing Sands West section of beach)

Just like my childhood, the kids you see below got to make the beach part of their lives. My dad lived at the beach house part time, so unlike many of the homes that got very minimal use, ours was always pretty busy. We had just learned where to get a dozen live blue crabs for $7 at Joe’s in bolivar… things were pretty swell.

Unlike many people that own “vacation homes”, my parents were not lawyers, dentists, retired oil field workers, etc. They were hard working Americans (Fed Ex courier and Flight Attendant) that made sacrifices (When Dad was alone he would only air condition one room of the house to be able to afford the electric bill accumulated by the me and my kids when we came to visit). They organized their life so they could benefit from the sort of “heaven” only those of us that worship the Texas Gulf Coast know.

Stop and hang your feet in the waves… pop a top… see if you can relate.

I am sure it will be back one day, but we don’t know when. Below you can see a photo of the neighborhood as it is today. My parents house would be in the vicinity of the houses with the “red roofs” but it is gone. Wiped clean.

If you would like to explore the devastation yourself here are a couple of links that will let you see neghborhoods and photos in crystal beach:

http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/ike/IKE0000.HTM

http://jakeabby.com/cb/(thank you Jake and Abby)

It’s hard to believe that the picture below is the same neighborhood I know…. An atom bomb may have been nicer. I pasted in two more photos at the bottom so you can see and match up a few of the houses. To me it is unreal.

Now compare that picture (you can enlarge it) with the photos from below…. Wow.

I guess what I wanted to communicate mostly is that property was lost, but it is more than that.

Dreams were lost (or postponed).

Be gentle and caring to those that may have lost their dream for a little while. Know that they may have also lost neighbors… That they may also have lost belongings that are worth more than money… Know that they worked hard to have this opportunity (and are thankful that they got it)… And, that in no way would they have ever thought they could be “wiped completely off the map”.

This is what a dream looks like: