Land Without Shadows

“The only thing about America that interests me is Coney Island.” – Sigmund Freud

Even the Native Americans thought the place was special.

Back in the 1980s, I took a walking toward of Coney Island, the unique amusement area and neighborhood in the southwestern section of Brooklyn.

Our guide told us that the place has always had its own kind of magic, long before the Cyclone, and the boardwalk, and Nathan’s July 4 annual hotdog eating contest.

The Lenape, the original inhabitants, dubbed the place “Land Without Shadows,” which made an impression on me when I first heard it.

The name had this eerie, otherworldly sound to it that conjured up images of spirits and sorcery. I thought it was pretty funky, but upon reflection, I realized that it is the beach, after all, and maybe the Lenape just meant that shade was hard to come by.

But I still like it.

Dutch settlers arriving in the 17th Century called the place “Rabbit Island”, although that’s about the only creature I haven’t seen at Coney Island.

When I started this blog 20 freaking years ago this year (Good God), I struggled for a name until I thought of the amusement area that opened in 1903, which burned down on Aug. 13, 1944.

The anniversary just passed a few days ago and my mother, who witnessed the fire from the boardwalk, was born on Aug. 15.

Years later I met one my uncle’s friends, who told me he had covered the blaze as a young reporter for the Brooklyn Eagle by relating the story to an editor on a payphone.

I’ve been spending a lot of time at the Land Without Shadows recently. First, my sister and I did our annual ride on the Spook-A-Rama, a classic funhouse dating back to the days when America liked Ike so much, they put him in the White House.

Line in The Sand

I made a solo trip to Coney on Saturday to catch the 33rd annual sand sculpting competition, where very talented and extremely patient people take piles of sand and turn them into works of art.

My sister and I went there together once, but it rainy and extremely hot that year, so the event was a bit of a dud--but not this time.

I thought of my mother as I walked among the wonderous work that people were creating. She loved ceramics and working with clay, so I’m sure she would’ve got a kick out of this competition.

Maybe she would’ve signed up and tried carving something of her own.

Summer is winding down, a fact that never ceases to shock, amaze and sadden me. It felt like we were just enjoying Memorial Day and now stores are pushing Halloween displays.

To me it just seems like a sharp slide into winter, with cold dark days and me vowing—yet again—to move to Los Angeles and never suffer through another Northeast deep freeze.

That hasn’t happened yet.

But we still have a few more weeks of the lazy crazy days of my favorite season and maybe I’ll make another trip to the Land Without Shadows.

Among other things, I that see there’s a Pee-Wee Herman lookalike contest coming up, an art show dedicated to the animals of Coney Island’s history and the Miss Coney Island Pageant.

Halloween will just have to wait.