It’s Coming!

 Spring is now really on its way!

We just ate our first lettuce from our little salad garden.  Trish also had an early radish!  The lettuces and radishes are thriving as are the carrots, beets, and Swiss chard.  We love this time of year!

Most of all, we are happy to see the first flowers coming into bloom.

Just as all the bulb blooms are finishing, the early annuals and perennials are taking their places.  The marigolds I started inside in December are adding their yellows, golds, and reds to the back yard.  The perennials are getting their buds and some are showing color.

We have two new perennial shade beds this year.  These are new and very promising.  There is a Columbine blooming and you can see growth daily.

One of the best things about being at home is that our home is as much outdoors as inside!

Snow!

 We have been at The Swag for ten days now and the weather has ranged from 70 degrees to snow!  The temperature dropped and the snow came in from over the mountains to the west.

By morning we awakened to a world that was just white enough to be beautiful but not cause us any trouble.

Trish and I are both glad that we are not leading hikes this week.  This is not because of the snow but because the wind across Cataloochee Divide is quite bitter.  It is hard to remember that we had the picnic here outdoors on Wednesday!

Just another reminder of the roller coaster of springtime and the wonder of the creation in which we love.

Easter Sunrise!

 Trish and I are at The Swag, The Great Country Inn of the Smokies, where I am telling stories for about ten days. This put us here through the Easter weekend and we had a sunrise service here for guests and staff this morning.

We left our lodging at 6:30 am ready to walk about a half mile up to Gooseberry Knob where the service was to be held.  We were departing when it was Nautical Dawn, we could see the horizon but there was not enough light yet to be able to read.

By the time we got up to the knob, we were approaching Civil Dawn, when we could begin to be able to read the printed program for the service. The eastern sky was flowing orange-red all the way from north to south.

Then the sun popped and the whole world was aglow.  What a beautiful reason to have gotten up on this glorious day.  We watched and watched until the world was bright.

Back down at the Swag House for breakfast, we never told the late sleepers what they really missed; we didn’t want to spoil the enjoyment of the extra rest they had enjoyed!

Rest Stop in Williamsburg

 Last week Trish and I were in an intensive week long workshop in Connecticut. When we finished and headed to North Carolina, we had a day to stop somewhere and rest.  We stopped for the night in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, one of our favorite places.

We like to stay in one of the historic Colonial houses right on Duke of Gloucester Street and this time we were in Brick House Tavern.  This way we can walk all over the Historic District right from our room.  It makes the whole time there better.

After moving in, we headed out for some exercise.  We enjoyed stopping at the blacksmiths’ shop, right next door to our lodging.

In down the street we visited the dyeing and weaving house and watched weavers making various samples while they told us about what they were doing.

One of the nicest things about this time of year is that the tulips and other spring flowers were in bloom.  We wandered through gardens until it was time for our dinner reservation.

Even though this was a short one-night visit, it left us rested to start the next week’s travel and work.

A Hard Springtime

 This year the storms of springtime have been especially hard on the island.  We seem to have another high tide storm every week or so.  The surf is extremely high and ocean overwash is repeated.

With every storm centered high tide, we seem to have ocean over wash and the road to the Hatteras ferry is closed until it is put back together again. This is actually the road with ocean overwash.

The project underway now is to fill about eight hundred giant sandbags and use them to rebuild the base of the dune system where the island is very narrow at the north end.  It is fascinating to watch this process as the sand is pumped with water into the bags and then it drains out leaving them sand filled. 

Finally, it is hoped, the sand will fill in and the dune will hold once again. It is an endless process that happens over and over again.

Why is this happening?  Two things seem to be in play.  One is that barrier islands naturally migrate from north to south.  This is all at the extreme north end of the island where the island gradually gets smaller.  In fact, more than forty years ago, the present road was relocated totally moving it west to where it is today.  What we need is to move the ferry landing south and let nature be in charge.  Meanwhile, at the south end of the island, the beach is wide and the dunes are abundant.

The other factor is play is, of course, sea level rise.  We watch and wonder whether all this is cyclical or is an unchangeable part of global warming.  Still…we live here.

Hints of Spring

 We had the first real hints of springtime on the island when we were at home this week.  They are called blooms and the promise of blooms!

The hyacinths were mostly finished when we got home.  But, their lovely smell still filled our house with cut ones and we admired the rest.

The little salad garden I planted on our last time at home has come up well.  There are watermelon radishes, Tom Thumb lettuces, Nantes carrots, beets, mesculun lettuces,  Bibb lettuces, Swiss chard, and Parisian round carrots.

The daffodils are just beginning to pop out.  They will be in full bloom when we get home from this trip.  We picked a bunch for Leslie at Books to be Red since they are her favorite flowers and we will not be home to enjoy them.

The perennials look great as they come back to life and all the annuals I had started under lights got set out.  We look forward to our next trip home as this is the time things really SPRING to life!

Sunrise Beach Ride

 Trish and I got home from Texas to discover that the first restaurants are beginning to open for the season. Just up the street a hundred yards or so from our house the Pony Island, serving breakfast only, was slated to open yesterday. 

So, we decided that the thing for us to do was take the Jeep out to the beach for sunrise at 7:18 and then come back for breakfast at the Pony Island before a day of spring yard work.

We got there (less than a mile from our house) just in time for the morning show to begin.

Sometimes we see dolphins when we ride on the beach, but, today it was only the glowing sunrise.

There are so many beautiful reasons to live in Ocracoke Island.  Going out to breakfast by way of the ocean sunrise is just one of them!