April 16, 2025
Sunrise
I was the first to arrive as I parked next door at Johnny Jet’s shop and walked in the early morning darkness out onto the Cortez Bridge to get a shot of the sun rising for the final time behind our beloved little bait shop. As I walked out onto the bridge, something I have done literally thousands of times throughout my life, the first wave of deep sadness came over me. I looked north to the Seafood Shack knowing that it would soon meet the same fate as Annie’s. Even the bridge below my feet would not stand in the way of “progress.”
I was born here and came home to the hospital to the house next door to the Shack. I spent my entire childhood and most of my adult life here. My grandparents lived directly across the bay on the island. This street was my street. This was my neighborhood store. This feels intensely personal. The sense of loss is real…