Some background on The Seahoose

My brother, Tom took over crystalbeach.com just a few weeks before Mama passed away unexpectedly in her sleep on March 22, 2007. In the blink of an eye everything on the site was suspended in limbo.

There was little information coming out about the status of Bolivar Peninsula. We would later learn it was because it was still under water, and the authorities were trying to assess the loss of life before allowing anyone over there.

Tom created a page for people to share stories about the beach while we all waited for news, following is the initial entry, my sister Liz's story, which gives you some background on The Seahoose.

(For many other touching stories click on the following
http://www.crystalbeach.com/CBstories/stories.htm

Our beloved Seahoose is gone,there’s nothing but sand left in its place. It had a ramp for Dad’s (Bop) wheel chair with a concrete statue of Mary at the top. It had a white washed picnic table that family and friends had signed and/or etched their words of wisdom. Mama and Bop had 7 children; the Osten’s to date count 48.

It hosted many a spaghetti dinner for all the pot would feed. Bop always made "Character Sauce", mushrooms, onions, Rotel and fresh jalapenos, so named for what it required to eat it.

The Seahoose witnessed countless games of poker, domino's, and hearts, so many crowded around the glass table, often into the wee hours of the night, Mama and Bop slept through the noise as if it were a lullaby.

The picture of us at our tacky party hung next to those from the Mardi Gras parades, when were 101 Dalmations with Cruella, and Charlie Chaplins and Waldos - we won first place once. Next in line was the Bay Vue first dollar, followed by the framed traffic ticket Bop got in France for going the wrong way in the circle, at the end the picture of Bop with the caption “it’s not so much I mind dying, it’s just I don’t wanna be there when it happens.”

Bop spent many hours in his shop working with stained glass and his beautiful creations hung in all our windows. Bop and Annie painted the little kitchen table with neon paint and glued fish pictures on it they had cut out of one of the coffee table books, we didn't even have a coffee table, but Mama had lots of beautiful coffee table books about the sea. They painted the fan blades to match. Actually anything that stood still was at risk of being painted, ask Felix, our 18 pound black cat.

This was our HOME, not a vacation getaway. How many people sat on the porch swing in 34 years? Is it more or less than the number of shark teeth in the baby food jar on the kitchen window sill found over the same amount of time? How many grand kids got in Mama and Bop’s king size bed to watch Disney videos on the TV suspended from the ceiling? More than the family and friends who, in our 1200 square foot house, looked for their floor space assignment on the nightly bed chart over the years? Too late to calculate now.

In recent years Annie and I spent hours combing the beach for glass and tile. Sorted and saved for projects never started, I guess it was really all about the hunt. Our stash has been returned for others to find.

When we were young we had a 400' seine and would have fish fry's on the beach with our catch. Our “plate” was a brown paper bag, the fish seasoned with just the right amount of sand to ensure peak crispiness. The kids would throw the crabs back, so many pinched fingers. Anheuser Busch bought several Clydesdale horses with the money we spent on beer, perhaps one was Hank.

In our haste to follow the last minute evacuation order, we forgot to bring Bop’s poker fund jar, and Rick’s poker fund jar, and Liz’s poker fund kept in the Halloween purse on the bed post with the “keeper” Mardi Gras beads; Hama’s (Bop’s grandmother) Santa so prominently displayed on the Christmas tree every year, and the 4’ turquoise pre-lit metal Christmas tree with a tilt. We didn’t forget, but were forced to leave, damn near everything else.

Bop and Mama moved to Crystal Beach in 1974 and ran the Bay Vue grocery until 1983. Then they started Mike (Mama’s nickname) Osten Real Estate, M.O.R.E.. When forced to give up the real estate business due to health reasons in 1990, Mama created the crystalbeach.com website to provide information about her community to those surfing the net. She was 72. Mama would spend at least 6 hours a day updating the site and answering all inquiries.

Mama and Bop loved Crystal Beach as did the other 46 of us and many, many friends. We scattered Mama‘s ashes on the dune in front of the Seahoose in March of 2007. Ike may have washed away the dune, but it only served to widen her presence on this place she treasured.

The Osten family will be back soon, but not as soon as we would like. There are too many memories to mention, too many laughter filled times to recall. She was a grand ole house, The Seahoose, and we will miss her. And maybe, just maybe years from now, a treasure will be found buried in the sand by some unknowing hunter….a concrete statue of the Blessed Mary.

God bless all the former residents of Crystal Beach Texas, you will be in our hearts forever.

Bop, Liz, Annie, Felix, P-Kitty, Ditto, Cheech , Chong and the rest of the Osten clan.

September 12, 2008

Dawn....there were 16 projected paths on Stormtracker, one a direct hit on Galveston, my research showing it had been the most accurate over the past few days, which put the "dirty" and most devastating side over Bolivar. The news continued to predict a last minute turn to the south, and reiterated it was "only a cat 2", I knew in my heart this was gonna be the one. So many close calls over so many years can make one reluctant to respond, Gustav just 3 weeks earlier, you tell yourself, it's gonna be OK.

The mandatory evacuation was ordered, the ferry would stop running at 11pm, they wanted us out by 3pm.


There was a woman and child at the water's edge, the child romping in the surf like any other beach morning, momentarily fooling me into thinking this was just like any other day. Sadly the feeling was gone as quickly as it was felt, the reality was I had to get organized, make a plan, and get my family out of our beloved Seahoose as fast as I could.


By 8am the tide water was up the road level with our house. Although at this point we were protected by substantial dunes built for many decades and enhanced by our Mama's presence, the early arrival of the effects was sobering. Too late to go for a trailer or U-haul and return, pack it and leave on time, we spent the morning trying to decide what few things to take that would represent the lifetime of family memories present in the Seahoose.

So many, many storms in the past, the family would rally and come in their vehicles to help save what we could. This time it was too late, Liz, Bop and I were on our own.

We had the Trailblazer and my Saturn Ion to load. First the wheelchair, walker, potty chair, medical supplies, all absolutely vital for Bop's well being. Next a suitcase of clothes for each of us. (We did a very poor job here though, Liz forgot all shoes but the ones she had on, we only packed three days of changes for Bop, I forgot to open my shorts drawer all together, I think we still believed we'd be home in a few days). Next the family photo albums, Bible, Bop's old scrapbooks, the framed Bay Vue first dollar, the ticket from France, some of Mama and Bop's creations, and after that my mind goes blank. There was so much, the Seahoose was crammed full of 35 years of collections, treasures, each thing triggering a special memory, but the clock was ticking, it was absolutely necessary we consider Bop's safety above anything else.



I had boarded up (and thankfully un-boarded) the house myself 3 weeks earlier, for Gustav, so I was confident I could handle it this time. I hadn't considered what a challenge it would be to handle the 4x8 sheets of plywood in the wind, another sobering reminder of what was very different this time and its possible outcome. Screws didn't drive so easily, probably my stress and exhaustion more than anything else, I used big nails for the ones that I couldn't drive the screws through, leaving the patio door open til it was time to leave.

We cleared the deck completely and laid Mama's concrete statue of the Blessed Mary on her back. Surely she would make it, she weighed a ton!



View from The Seahoose deck painted by David Potwin





Then there was the 3 cats, Felix, Ditto and P-Kitty......I wrestled with my conscience all day, if Ike did go south, they would be OK boarded up in the house, this was what I told myself to override what my heart was telling me.....that they would be killed when the house was blown away by the wind and/or washed away in the storm surge. I accepted this fate easily for the outside strays Liz had adopted and fed for years, but our cats, what should I do? I was the driving force, the rational one, in charge, it was my role, they were comforted by this, it's what I always did. But, with the vehicles packed to capacity, and evacuating to a Winnie motel room, how reasonable was it to take the cats with us? In the scheme of things they were our kitties, but they weren't human life and I had to accept they were disposable.

Mama created crystalbeach.com (http://www.crystalbeach.com/) after having to leave the real estate business in her 70's. It began as a way to share her love for this place and became an incredibly successful definitive site for all information about Bolivar and Crystal Beach. Every morning Bop would take a picture from the deck, write a few words describing the day and post it to the site. He developed a huge fan club all over the world, getting emails on a regular basis from people thanking him who had either been there or never had the chance but planned to in the future, who liked to start their day by seeing the beach every morning.

I shot pictures of the inside of the house the evening before

and decided to do the outside right before we left thinking it may be important for the insurance process. While shooting I realized it would be nice to show Bop's fans from where he shot his morning post, as it was a very real possibility it would be gone this time, and with it, life as we knew it. After uploading the photo I moved on and FORGOT to put Mama and Bop's computers in the car so we lost the history of pictures forever. I can't believe I did that, why didn't I think more clearly?

Cars loaded, we heard water was already washing over rollover pass, it was time to go whether or not we were ready. Bop and Liz in the Trailblazer, I filled a huge bowl with water and another with kitty food, and had to drive huge nails to hold the last piece of plywood over the patio door.

The drive to Winnie was uneventful, we got Bop settled in the room, we were surrounded by fellow beach folks. My mind racing as to what we needed to be comfortable I realized we never considered food so I hit the local gas stations and paid a fortune for peanut butter, crackers, chips, candy, water and beer. We watched the news all evening and it became apparent our worst fear would very likely be realized.

The cats gnawed at my conscience all evening, could I live with my decision? I talked to Molly around 10pm about the guilt, I knew I had already decided to go back and get them but presented it as an idea. She made me promise not to go alone, she knew I wouldn't promise NOT to go, so it was please Mom, don't go alone. There was no other way though, Bop couldn't be left alone. I can't recall another time I knowingly broke a promise to Molly, but there was no other way. I had gotten three boxes to put them in, and at 11pm set out for the Seahoose.

My heart pounding for 40 miles, I was blessed not to encounter any high water. Once at the house, the wind was incredible, it was eerie, no one around, the surf pounding, the water creeping up higher and higher into the neighborhood. Standing on the deck I remembered having to nail the board that would let me in. I finally managed to pull the nails on one side allowing me to squeeze through and into the quiet of our beloved house.

One by one I boxed the cats, pushing the plywood open enough to squeeze me and a box through and took them to my car. I wish I had stopped to think about grabbing some of my precious treasures that never entered my mind that busy day. Little Si - one of Liz's strays, and by far one of the most ignorant cats I have ever encountered was huddled on the deck. I opened a can of wet cat food and gave her the whole thing, a real treat for her, it was her last meal after all, she may as well gorge herself.

The plywood nailed back in place, I sat quietly on the deck and took in what I could. This place, this magnificent place, even it its fury it was so beautiful. The smell of the salt air, the sound of the surf. I turned back and looked at the house, trying to etch everything I could into my brain, every inch. Reality nudged me, I had to go, NOW.

The meowing was amazingly loud, a three-some serenade that fueled my anxiety. Thankfully, Felix, our 20+ lb black cat clawed his way outta the box in less than 3 minutes, P-Kitty in the next 2. The kitty screaming let up 'cept for poor little Ditto, she never figured out how to get out of that box and quietly meowed the whole way.

I made it back to Winnie by the grace of God. Bop didn't know I had left, we didn't want to worry him. He was comforted to have the cats in the room, we were all together again. My day finally completed, I turned to the TV again and the torturous waiting for our uninvited guest, Ike.