Full Bloom of Summer!

 For these few weeks, Trish and I get to be home undisturbed on the island.  We are enjoying our community, our wonderful summer restaurants, our little house, and the blooms and plants on our yards.

The lilies are mostly finished by now, except for the Day Lilies that go in all summer, but they have been spectacular this year.  They lasted for weeks and we hope will be even better next year.

Our huge cedar, that fills the space between the main house and the garage apartment, is home to ferns, citronella, blue bottles, and wind chimes.  Our grandson, Beckham, calls the wind chimes “music pipes.”

The beds of annuals are overflowing their bounds and give us joy as we see changes each day.

We love our yard and our little house.  It is manageable and just right for the two of us.  Ocracoke is such a lovely place to call home.

Big Parade!

 The biggest island event yesterday was the Fourth of July Parade.  We gathered, along with hundreds of others, at the start of the parade route which is just at the end of our street.

Of course the parade started with the fire trucks as they came out of the station, which is also just at the end of our street.  We feel fortunate to have a great and well trained volunteer fire department and that they are located only a few hundred yards from our house.

The parade was then led off by Grand Marshall, Dallas Mason, our remarkable ten-year-old island drummer and guitar player.  Dallas plays with several bands on the island, everything from Rock and Roll to traditional music.  Each year the Grand Marshall is driven in our little convertible, so, even if we are not in the parade, one of our cars is!

There is a new drive underway to build a community swimming pool.  Lots of children (and adults) here do not know how to swim…there is no community pool.  We are supportive and hope others will join and help to make this possible.  This was the Community Pool Association float!

The parade categories included: walking, bikes, golf cards, and vehicles.  Here is a golf  cart carrying a very calm African Gray parrot.  It said nothing as it passed.

Everyone loves the parade.  It ends with the National Anthem and the awarding of sand sculpture prizes and parade prizes.  The day then ends at the beach with a big community bonfire.

Happy July 4th!

 Here on the island the Fourth of  July is a time of huge celebration lasting over three days.  

The start of events is fireworks.  Our fireworks presentation was last night.  The island is full of tourists for this week and, in addition, hundreds of people from up the Outer Banks come over for the day.  Trish and I gathered, along with what looked like many hundreds of others, down by the harbor to watch a fabulous display.

Tommy Hutcherson is the disc jockey playing music for a couple of hours as people gather and visit.  Then, at 9:15, everyone stands to join in the National Anthem, at the exact end of which, the first rockets go off.

Traffic to that end of the island had been cut off earlier, so, it was pedestrians and bicycles and an occasional golf cart getting there and back.  It was a very happy gathering of people for the whole evening.

Tomorrow events continue from the village to the beach, including a gigantic fish fry. Then, on Tuesday, the big parade will happen. It is three full days of celebration and fun!