COBB ISLAND STATION and PURPLE MAGIC

WELL, OK, NOT YOUR PARLOR TRICKS kind of magic… a much different sort…

We went to a program yesterday down in Northampton County at the World Healing Institute at Cobb Island Station. It was a Native American poetry reading by Ron Welburn and Karenne Wood. I knew both of the authors and thus knew it would be a good reading and discussion afterwards. But, program aside, just being at the Station is a wonderful, almost magical, experience, and I knew I would be with many wonderful people. I have learned in my old age to chose which groups of people to hang out with – some bring a sense of peace and serenity and it is a healing experience being around them. Other groups are filled with what I call ego issues… certain people dominate the groups and push their agendas which are not always for the true benefit of others but are often just extensions of the individual’s agenda. I avoid those groups if possible and knew none of those people would be caught dead in a place like the WHI. It is a place of prayer and meditation, peace and cooperation, but not a place of religion and dogma, or RIGHT and WRONG. There are places that bring a sense of sacredness. Sure, it can be disrupted and damaged. Greedy people on ego trips can do that to anyplace, but I think most sacred places will heal themselves in the long run, regardless of what man does to it.

If you google Cobb Island Station, you will find this:

WHI Cobb Island Station, Eastern Shore Virginia

Cobb Island Station was built on the south end of Cobb’s Island off the Eastern Shore of Virginia in 1936 and served as a Coast Guard Station until the 1960’s. The station was moved by barge (see picture below) to its current site near the village of Oyster, VA in 1998. It was restored by The Nature Conservancy and subsequently acquired by the founder of the World Healing Institute. Overlooking the Barrier Islands, the facility, which includes a large conference room and overnight accommodations, is ideal for educational programs, workshops and retreats.

Virginia’s Eastern Shore is a peninsula embraced by the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean. It encompasses a rare coastal wilderness of forests, shallow bays and lagoons, mud flats, beaches and salt marshes. The Nature Conservancy's Virginia Coast Reserve protects 14 barrier islands with nearly 60 miles of Atlantic shoreline. This incomparable landscape is utilized by 380 resident and migratory bird species and myriad fascinating creatures of the land and sea. The peaceful setting provides an ideal backdrop for World Healing Institute’s holistic healing programs. Our facilities include The Nature Conservancy's award-winning restoration of the Cobb Island Coast Guard Station.

I could go on and list the numerous programs that have been held here, but I will leave it up to you to do your own research if you are interested. So today’s program was of special interest to me as I knew I would be seeing some old friends and maybe even relatives from the Monacan tribe from over near Amherst, Virginia; folks I have not seen for about 15 years.

Out of respect, I did not interrupt the reading to take any photos, nor did I take pictures of the crowd. It’s an Indian thing. But what I did take pictures of – a field on the way in and then later in the afternoon on the way home… my brain just will not conjure up the name of this purple “weed” as it is called by many here. But you can see acres of it in these shots. This is why I like to take the old back roads… if you see something like this on the highway, it is difficult to get a shot – sometimes we whiz past things on the other side of an 18 wheeler and don’t even see these magical places and moments. 

No, this was NOT color enhanced, photoshopped or any of those tricks most photographers use to make their colors brighter or a slightly different color than mother nature put out there. This is it. In fact, my memory has it even bigger and brighter. But then, I saw ALL of it, not just the amt I could cram in my viewfinder. Is this awesome or what?

This old shot of the Station from long ago, before it was moved, is borrowed, the other shots are mine.