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Saltwater Cowboys

Assateague Island stretches like a dragon along forty miles of the Maryland/Virginia coastline; a sandbar rolled up out of the sea by wind and wave, home to wild things. The round egg-shape of Chincoteague lies inside the "dragon's tail" at the south (Virginia) end of Assateague, home to watermen, artists and craftsmen, and the only wild horse roundup on the east coast. I discovered these islands the last year Misty (of Marguerite Henry's famous kids' books) yet lived on the island. I've come back again and again, with tent, pack, and kayak, to slow down to island speed, to breathe the salt air, to lug home a ton of sand and shells, to watch the sun sail west over the continent, to watch a skimmer unzip the bay for breakfast, to go eye to eye with a stingray, to paddle in the company of dolphins, or watch the seahorses come up out of the sea.

Here are some of the pictures (and PDFs; pictures and story) I've taken in the past; of Pony Penning, of sunsets over Tom's Cove, of the Assateague Light, and the other random beauties of the barrier islands called Chincoteague and Assateague.