Magical Moments on Smithtown Bay

Remember when you had to just use your imagination and there were no photos or videos to accompany what you were reading? Well go back to that time for a minute.

There is a law of the universe around here that goes something like this…”When you neglect to bring your camera down to the beach, something amazing will happen before your eyes.”

I know this to be true. I have experienced boats being stranded, an almost-drowning victim and other phenomenon when I am down at the beach without my camera. I just know that someday that mermaid or whale is going to surface in Smithtown Bay and I will be standing there with nothing but my wine glass in my hand saying “Oh, S---.”

But I also believe that the universe reveals those special "gem" moments when you do not have any way to document it on purpose! It’s meant to be that way.

So tonight I was home early from work and got to see the beach after sunset, but while there was still plenty of low light in the sky.  I spotted two deer down the beach that had come out into the low tide and seemed to be eating something. Seaweed, I guess? I was at the water’s edge but I slowly sat down so they would not notice me and think I was a rock with a furry hood.

It worked. They frolicked and jumped and played all the way down to where I sat. As they got closer I could make out one big deer, a female, and a smaller one, which looked like a yearling.  The mother stood looking out at the water and all I could see was her silhouette. The peaches and pinks of the sunset still hung in the sky.  She looked right at me, but I dared not move! I had an itch on my face, but would not scratch it. She passed about 10 feet in front of me. Then the little one kicked and jumped like he was auditioning for a Disney movie and it too passed within feet of me. I wouldn’t even turn my head to watch them move behind me but I heard them scamper up the hill.

Then just as I was thanking God for the show, a flock of birds passed through the sunset, undulating in all sorts of forms that resembled a modern art painting and flew by on their way to somewhere. The icing on the cake.  This show is not available on Cablevision or Verizon.