Massapequa Preserve

This beautiful Park is the location of my fondest childhood memories. We called it The Woods. It is now called Massapequa Preserve. It is 423 undeveloped acres, ponds, rivers and wetlands. It is home to hundreds of species of plants and animals. I decided to become a member of the Friends of Massapequa Preserve, the group working on preserving and restoring the park for the last ten years. The preserve gave me far more then I could ever give back to it, I plan to remain a member for the rest of my life. It is the first place that birthed my undying love of nature. Spending my childhood wondering around its acreage gifted me with an unbreakable sense of wonder that has lasted past middle age and that shows no sign of waning. How fortunate was I, living in suburban Long Island surrounded by houses and shopping, to have this tiny piece of paradise only a block away? I'm not sure that my parents even considered what the woods would end up meaning to me when they purchased their first home. My dad did have a love of nature, and used to take us to the Park to walk and later to fish. At a very young age we were allowed to go out exploring alone. I think that's when I realized just how much at home I felt out in nature. I was never afraid, well except the one time we stepped on a yellow jacket hive in a tussock sedge mound. Although I didn't get stung, my two best friends did, many times. Every since then I have a good respect for bees. When I was in my woods anything was possible. I could escape from all of life and just be. What an idyllic childhood I had, Summers filled with nothing but time to be outside from morning to night. Time to just be children. I feel so blessed that this was my childhood.

*These beautiful images are not my own, I borrowed them from google images. I have not been back to the woods in 20 years, far too long.*