SCENE FROM A WALK: CONEY CREEK

While I don't mind running a handful of routes different days of different weeks, or even up and down the same street to spell out a certain word, my son is pickier with walking routes.  He wants to discover new places and I try to comply.  Since last week's bike accident, he hasn't gotten on a bike, in the beginning it was just to take some time off, but then he started to depend on his cousin for fun in number, which I hate because then if the fickle cousin decides not to go, we ain't going anywhere.  Good thing with walking son doesn't mind going with only me.

Yesterday we drove to Kaiser Park to walk the beach of Coney Creek.  I recall the very first time I visited the beach, maybe six or seven years ago, I instantly thought of it as "The Poor Man's Beach."  It was a beach alright but it was so dirty.  Garbage almost everywhere.  Things got better later.  On a different visit, I went on the road but along the beach then discovered a path to the beach.  Toward the tip of Coney Island I encountered a fence that told beachcombers to turn around to avoid trespassing private property.  On yesterday's walk, I planned to take my son just as far, but we never saw any fence.  Only after seeing what appeared to be people's backyard that I decided to head back.  Getting back to the road, I saw that the fence was buried by sand deposited by Hurricane Sandy.  Or maybe it was the work of the Corps of Engineer or whoever responsible for re-creating the dunes of Coney Island.  I suspect it was Sandy.  The very first area we visited was what used to be a picnic area, around 33rd Street and Bayview Avenue.  There used to be some grass and if the Parks people didn't mow the place its entrance would be overrun with weed.  Now there is sand everywhere and only a handful hardy plants manage to survive.  A picnic table is still there, but the area is no longer well-shaded like before.

Maybe I'm a jaded visitor of the area.  I only took a few photos of the plants.  I wish I have a close-up photo of the spikes on the grass.  They cling to everything and were quite prickly.

I need a close-up of the spiky seed pod(?).

Only the top of the fence is seen here, the rest is buried.  The water is to the right.