Inspiration for Live Oak Ashore

Live Oak Ashore depicts both the beauty and intrigue of Naval Live Oaks as my childhood memories recall it. As a boy, my brother and I roamed up and down this shoreline looking for treasures. (I had my heart set on pirate gold—still do when I stroll the beach, in all honesty!) But we were curious, imaginative kids, and we were generally excited about any ol’ interesting thing we found. An especially good time to hunt for curios was after a hurricane swept through the Gulf. We would find all sorts of things—wooden pallets, lamps, futons, and even whole boats. In retrospect, our little treasures told really a rather sad story. I mean, these items had belonged to someone, and nature had suddenly stripped them away. But in our innocence, I don’t think we ever fully connected the dots. We just played hour upon fun-filled hour on the coast, taking these finds and enjoying them until the sun dropped below the horizon.