My good mate in NYC has written a wonderful intro to my piece on Bahia Honda.
I hope you all take a moment to go over there and check it out. Thanks to all the good people over at Beliefnet for making this happen. It is a good way to round out the year.
http://blog.beliefnet.com/onecity/2009/12/bahia-honda-the-edge-of-forever.html
On a little wander over the weekend in the town across the river from Tokyo of Urayasu, I stumbled across a few little gems in the glowing winter light.
It is a rare sight to see a bullet hole in Japan. Granted these were probably caused by a BB gun’s bullet, and not a black powder cartridge. Still, the all too familiar concave exit hole told the Miamian in me what it was. I wonder who and why it was done.
I have always planted my roots near the ocean. I have never strayed far from what the sea has to offer my soul. Whether it was the Gulf of Mexico, The Atlantic Ocean, San Francisco Bay, or all the way to Tokyo Bay, the blue green has been there for me to look out into the water and see myself. At times, the murky water looks back and asks me questions. We as a global community are tied to the sea. We cannot escape these bonds. We must nurture them so that the sea will be there for us. I need the waters in my life to meditate, to align my compass in the proper direction. This is what Bahia Honda is for me. The source I return to when I am lost.
I have traveled down there from Miami many times alone and other times with my wife, brother, and father. There is something about the journey to the ocean’s edge driving down that long two-lane highway US 1 a mere 30 miles (48 kilometers) from Key West, Florida. Bahia Honda sits on the melding of the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. These two masses of water create the gravitational spot of Bahia Honda State Park. Most people just zip right on past it with their cars. Few ever make that turn off on South US1 and into the tiny meditative locale.
Bahia Honda is an intersection where iron, concrete, sand, and tropical waters all meld into the extraordinary. It is a last refuge one can travel to before there is nothing but endless ripples of water. The manmade will slow return to its elements and meld with the sea. We need to care for our seas. We need to mend them when they are crying out for pain.
To stand at the edge of the quickly dilapidating bridge and stare off into my dreams of nearly 20 years ago is to be a youthful again. The location bridges my past into my unseen future. Looking back and into the future with the eyes of my youthful days when the days were as infinite as the horizon.
My Analog Bridge to my Dreams, 2009
Dad Reflecting out into the Ocean, Bahia Honda, 1992
Self Portrait with my Father at Bahia Honda, 1992
Vertical Bridge, Bahia Honda, 1992
Pointing Palm, Baha Honda, 2000
Jerry and Me, 2009
Hugging Palm, 2009
Two Palms, 2009
Edge of Forever, 2009
Big Blue Bahia, 2009
ahhhhh, I really did!
Happy Holidays to everyone out there, no matter what your faith might be.
one love
m2c
jacob
After a traditional end of the year party, I wandered back to Gyotoku station, snapping a few frames along the way. The time was only 7:30 p.m. but these pics feel like they were taken in the middle of the night. It might just have been the hot water and shochu I had been drinking. Or it could just be the magic of that town just across from Tokyo, Gyotoku.
Look closely at all that surrounds you in this world. There are hidden treasures in all little nooks and cracks in this crazy mixed up beautiful world. If anyone knows what the fruit in the picture is please let me know.
So I was enjoying the weekly stroll back to the station this afternoon. The sun was out, the wind was blowing on the streets of Ichikawa. Today the abstract caught my lens. I was tuned into the the shapes, colors and textures that made up my walk. Look and you shall see, if you really want to.
