Journal

I found my way to a small park in old Santa Rosa where I met 5 men, one woman, and their dog. They are homeless. We discussed the fire. I wanted to hear a woman’s perspective and talk about the homeless population being taxed by the influx of more people on the street. The fire has destroyed neighbourhoods, a lot of the homes were low-income housing.

Tangier Island is slowly losing parts of herself to the Chesapeake waters. Carol, a waterwoman who visits her beaches and marshes every day, took me to the Uppards, an area where only remnants of habitation are to be seen. This thoughtful and kind woman is the bridge between a past of hundreds of years of history and an uncertain future.

Mary Anne Bonetti has been fishing on Assateague Island for years and has seen major changes. She said that, of course, the natural process of shifting sand shapes the island but that the changes are happening much faster than when she was young.

Teresa, a water woman that I met on the Outer Banks, told me that when she swims far on the ocean, she is invited to be there somehow. She says that this visitation is a privilege.