LIFE AND DEATH AND STAR WARS IN THE DUNES
The great and terrible beauty in Robert Frost’s work.
I experience my first touch of regret
for a voyage undertaken
too early, while wholly too late.
~ Melissa Duckworth, from the poem “Adrift”, first published in The MacGuffin, 2004
On my last day in Provincetown there was one place I’d never been: The Dunes. While most known, probably, for the presence of dune shacks—where famous writers and artists stayed to work—they’re also a popular tourist destination. But when we pulled the car over at an entrance point on Route 6, I had no idea—although I’d seen pictures—what venturing in would mean.
In 1974, my father wrote a paper called “Robert Frost: An Alternate View.” Not a very exciting title, I know, but accurate. His paper establishes that “the stereotyped portrait of Robert Frost is that of an American romantic—a “Farmer Brown,” so to speak—who loved nature and wrote affectionately about it”[1] and then posits to the contrary: that “Frost is presenting a view of natural process which is always uncaring and often cruel and heartless”[2] and that he “pictures a dark and hostile world bent on breaking the spirit of man.”[3]
My journey into The Dunes brought his thesis alive. Just like in Frost’s poetry, everywhere there was a strange beauty born of nature’s violence. Sea grasses whipped in the wind left intricate geometric patterns in the sand; a tree repeatedly brow-beaten by storms seemed to be rooted on both ends, forming a graceful arch; a freshly-dead seal carcass’ blood gleamed like a ruby against a monotonous beach. Simultaneously, there was the ugly presence of man-made objects in various states of decay. A rusted washing machine; shattered wine bottles; cracked and sand-filled plastic containers; splintered painted boards. This lent the landscape an unsettling air: these objects were alien beings in a warring world in which they couldn’t possibly survive.
But, as my father wrote, “The darkness, however, offers a strange fascination that entices man. It is a lure of beauty that is commingled with a lure of destruction.”[4] The Dunes is a beautiful and irresistible danger-fraught wasteland.
Like many situations in life.
[1] Charles W. Petersen, Robert Frost: An Alternate View. (Unpublished: April 30, 1974), p. 1
[2] Ibid., p. 3
[3] Ibid., p.17
[4] Ibid., p. 8
This was taken from a high point up off of Route 6 and shows The Dunes, where we were headed. The body of water you see in this photo has an interesting history. Originally, it was called East Harbor, and was Provincetown fishing fleet’s winter home. 1868, however, brought the construction of a dike to accommodate a railway and a roadway (where several seasonal resorts and cottages sit now). In 1910, the US Geological Survey re-named the body of water Pilgrim Lake.
The name stuck until 2008, when the USGS agreed to change the name back to East Harbor. If you’d like a much more detailed history, here’s a great article by the Provincetown Banner’s Kaimi Rose Lum.
The video below shows the full panoramic view: from this hill, you can see Truro, P-Town, and the bay beyond.
* WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT AHEAD: ANIMAL CARCASS. IF SQUEAMISH, YOU MAY NOT WANT TO CONTINUE, OR SCROLL QUICKLY DOWN THROUGH TO THE NEXT RED TYPE YOU SEE*
Major. Score. Well, for me, anyway. When we were sitting on this quiet beach with not a soul around us, we noticed two large sea birds picking away at a carcass—a stunning dollop of red against miles of brown monotony. “That looks like a seal,” Pete said. I don’t know how he could tell what it was from that far away, but it turned out he was right. I’ve never actually seen a beached dead mammal up close, and having volunteered at Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut and helped out with animal rehabilitation, this was exciting—and a perfect example of what I’d discovered on our journey about the violence of nature.
Although Pete noted he thought it odd there were only two birds around the carcass—two birds who politely stepped away and let me take my photos and then returned when I was done—the markings in the sand indicate that there probably had been more than just these two at one time. I also thought—because of the brightness of the blood, the moistness of the innards, and the lack of smell—that the animal had been killed very recently (within the past twelve hours, maybe?) and most likely washed ashore and was left behind as the tide started pulling out. I took these photos at 12:45, and the last high tide was at 11. So it could have either been left behind just then, or left behind earlier, when the tide pulled out at 4 in the morning. I’d probably have a better answer if I’d paid attention to how wet the sand was. I’m regretting that now.
Of course, nobody knows when or how this poor creature died. But I have my romantic notions about shark attacks and boat propellers because of the way the body is twisted. While there’s a possibility that the seal washed up intact and then a large animal ravaged it, I don’t know if coyotes or whatever would have left this much meat behind. WHERE ARE YOU, BRUCE SHILLINGLAW, MARINE BIO GUY EXTRAORDINAIRE? YOU’RE GOOD AT THIS STUFF! COMMENT!
Because I just wanted more for the record, the video below is a roundabout of the carcass. There’s no sound except the wind, so it’s actually eerie.
* END GRAPHIC CONTENT*
The video, below, shows Pete checking it out. It’s an old washing machine, turned upside-down, and it’s full of wine bottles and trash.
Posted on February 18, 2010, in Deep Thoughts & Fun Stuff and tagged Adventures, Beach, Dunes, Provincetown, Truro, Waves. Bookmark the permalink. 6 Comments.
What a beautiful, desolate place!
You must be in heaven.
About the seal – certain it is the gulls didn’t do that! From what I can see in the photos, it almost looks as though the top of the animal’s head is gone. For me, this lends credence to a boat’s propeller theory – though whether the seal was alive or dead when the boat struck it, I can’t guess. If what I’m seeing is real, death would have been near instant – and a shark would have followed through, and fed well. Nice find though – I’d have been less surprised by a more mummified carcass!
~Bruce, who enjoyed Nathan’s interview last night!
Oh, man, Bruce. I KNEW you’d be all over this one. You rock! Yeah, I was favoring the boat propeller over the shark. The skin laceration looked too clean for a shark. But I wasn’t sure. I really wanted it to be a shark, because, you know, that plays into my whole JAWS fantasy. But alas…facts are facts!
Glad you liked Nathan’s show! I was listening to it and thought he did a great job!
I love the Star Wars pics 🙂 And I would dig reading your dad’s paper — Robert Frost has long been a favorite poet of mine, and my fave poem of his is “Acquainted with the Night,” which is a far cry from the happy-animals-playing-in-snow image most people have of his work.
HOLY CRAP! I think he has that poem in his paper as one of his prime examples. I’ll make you a copy, for sure. His paper really is pretty good!
So how are things going? I’ll be in touch soon. I’m still re-adjusting.
So, there’s a little box at the bottom of the comments form here that says “Notify me of new posts via email.” I just realized it says “posts,” not “comments” — I was expecting it to work like Blogger and email me any responses and further comments on a particular post. And I was wondering why I never got anything in my inbox from it. D’oh. So anyway, yes, please make me a copy! Maybe next month we can meet up? Drop me a FB message or something!
Oh, I know. I discovered that feature myself on a few others’ blogs I posted on and went ahead and checked the box, but before that, I wondered, too! I think I may have to send out an e-mail to everyone and let them know about that feature, because I answer every single comment I get and I feel bad that people think I may not be responding!! Ha!!