By Trish Minogue Collins

I hope you are warm, dry and shovelled out after Winter Storm Grayson! Most people consider themselves lucky if they were able to stay indoors all day yesterday. But for extreme weather lovers like me, that state of emergency was a bit like a prison sentence, so I was really looking forward to getting out this morning. I like to start most days at the ocean, but no surprise, the Smith Point Bridge was closed at sunrise. It usually takes at least an extra day to get the beach roads clear after such a storm.

After enjoying daybreak on the beautiful shore of Narrow Bay in Mastic Beach, I decided to try to reach the ocean via Ponquogue Bridge in Hampton Bays- also closed. Third try was a charm and I was able to get to the ocean in Westhampton Beach. The north wind was blowing snow across the road like crazy, but I didn’t have to go far because Lashley Beach parking lot was plowed clean.

The pristine snow was sculpted beautifully on the dunes, and made a stunning sight against the clear blue sky. I was so taken with the snowy dunes, that it took me a few minutes to realize that the waves had a very different look to them today. The waves offshore had spray blowing back from the crests by that strong north wind, but closer to shore, the waves were weighed down by a blanket of slush. Ocean ice is a fairly rare sight here, and I considered it a special reward for my time in the cold this morning.

 

Sea Slush Photos on Page 2