Rainbow over Arverne by the Sea
I live in a coastal area in the furthest reaches of Queens, out towards Long Island, where life is slower and shoes are optional. It’s called Arverne By the Sea, and none of the houses you see in this photo were here just ten years ago.
This is an area that was ravaged by Sandy. Houses were flooded up to the roofs, people drowned in their own homes in certain areas, the boardwalk and a great many other structures were destroyed, a state of emergency was declared, and the entire area looked like a war had come and gone and left everything hollower, somehow.
I only moved here two years ago, but I remember driving up and down the roads of the Rockaways, gazing upon people who stared back, eyes dim, cheeks gaunt, faces ashen and grey. It was October, and all the trees which had not fallen stood bare, dying of the salt water, their hope slowly seeping back down into the ruined soils.
People rebuild. Perhaps it is folly, to build in a place so readily subject to the whims and caprices of the ocean. Perhaps it is arrogance, to assume that something like Sandy will not come again, and come with even greater fury. Perhaps it is ignorance, or perhaps it’s something primal within us that makes us see hope where there is so little to be found. We are thinking machines who crank out hope in the darkest of times. We’re resilient, so we rebuilt, and we live here, the dim specter of hurricanes past and future haunting us still, but we are brave, so we endure.
I thought this photo was of particular relevance for the above-named reasons. It resonates with hope. It is beautiful, and shows that while the future is uncertain, the present is to be cherished, the past remembered, and we were born to hope, and to dream of a brighter, better tomorrow, where there are rainbows by the shore. The sea might be rising, the world might be warming, and the warning claxons sound loud in the distance, but there is still world enough, and time, and hope is… Well, divine.
It’s interesting to bring back Hurricane Sandy as a portrayal of the article by Goberson. I think you showed how nature itself can be something both destructive and beautiful yet it is our responsibility to protect nature as a whole. The photograph makes one feel naturally connected to the sea, rainbow, and scenery around us, yet, we don’t take care of it. The explanation teaches a story of hope after the storm and it is our job to take care of both nature and houses and make that a reality. Great job!!!
I love how you connected the last part of this post to our current class topic. I actually have never heard of this neighborhood even though I live in Queens as well. It seems like a place to be in the summer and I would definitely check it out.
Great shot; two comments excellent. Keep it up.
Caitlan,
Very evocative writing. I consulted with NYCHA Edgemere-Arverne in late 1990s. Familiar with area that was.
DM