Winter Yard Work

 Now is the time of year to begin getting things ready for next spring and summer.

This year we have undertaken a big project building raised beds to convert areas where grass doesn’t grow to flower gardens.  So far we have built fifteen beds for bulbs, perennials and annual flowers.

Here is Trish just finishing laying out 160 mixed daffodil bulbs in a bed that will follow the daffodils with summer annuals.

Our neighbor, Monroe, brought us a whole dump-truck load of black topsoil from the mainland for building these beds.  Guess how the dirt got hauled to its final locations?

Some of this dirt will soon cover these 250 tulip bulbs that face our street.

We are having a great time remodeling the yard and looking forward to what we see in the springtime.

Stella Maris Chapel

 The Catholic Stella Maris Chapel is now finished and dedication.  The formal dedication was held on All Hallows Day followed by open house and a luncheon for all present.

Stella Maris means, in Latin, Star of the Sea, and is a title given to Mary as she protects the ways of mariners, fishermen, and ocean travelers.  It is an appropriate name for a little chapel here on the island.

The chapel, which seats eighty-five people, is strikingly beautiful.  It has stained glass and tiles reclaimed from historic churches from the past.  The pews are reproductions from another church and are remarkably comfortable.

Everything inside is old while the chapel itself is brand new.

The statue of Mary in the garden is a calm place for meditation and relaxation.

We are happy that island Catholics and visitors alike have this beautiful spiritual home for fellowship and worship.

Trick or Treat on Ocracoke

 Halloween on the island is a very important but gentle time for all of our children.  Without anyone ever saying anything about it, Trick or Treating has evolved over the years to its present tradition.

Instead of Trick or Treating all over the island, now a single road is the Trick or Treat road.  Lighthouse Road starts at the main road through the village and runs out past the lighthouse where it becomes a loop and comes back around to join itself.  The entire length is less than a half mile.

There are many houses along this road, but, in addition, everyone else on the island goes over there and sets up along that road.  There are tables and trunks and truck beds all lining the road with people giving out Treats.  We take our little truck over there and are in the back with our offerings.

The time is also very early.  Trick or Treating starts about 4:30 and is all finished before dark.  This way it is all safe for everyone.  Even our sheriff’s department deputies and part of the event watching out to see that everything is safe and calm.

Some of the kids we recognize, but some we never can quite figure out.  They work in very creative ways to become who they want to be for this event.  Yes, and even the adults dress up to make it more fun.  This kind of event is another reason we love living here.

Railroad Museum

 While waiting for our train rides at the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad, we visited their museum.  It turned out to be an amazing attraction in itself, not just something to do while waiting.

While the walls of the museum are filled with thousands of historic engines and cars for model railroads in various gauges, the central attraction is a gigantic O27 gauge layout.  The layout itself is twenty-four by forty feet…we figure this to be as wide as and eight feet longer than our entire garage apartment building at home!

Not only is the overall layout fantastic in its dimensions, the tiny details kept amazing us.  There was a tiny brush fire in the woods being put out by the fire department.  The police car that stopped a speeder had tiny blinking blue and red lights. The figure of a welder wearing a mask actually had a torch that emitted blue flame at intervals.  There were too many to name.

There was even a drive-in theatre with a movie being projected in real time.  

By looking at the control panel at the end, it was possible to see that there were seven separately wired track systems so that seven trains could be simultaneously running without any possible contact with each other.  It must be something to operate this layout.

If you have a chance to ride the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad, be sure that you take time to adequately visit the museum…it is very much worth the time spent there.

Two Train Rides!

 Trish and I have spent the past few days in Bryson City, North Carolina, in the mountains in the midst of fall leaf color time.  While here, we have had two different rides on the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad.

Our morning ride was by steam train to the Nantahala Gorge.  We crossed part of Fontana Lake and then followed the Nantahala River up the Gorge.  The trip included an hour lay-over stop at the Nantahala Outdoor Center on our way back.

In the late afternoon, we took the sunset ride by historic diesel engine from Bryson City following the Tuckaseegee River to Dillsboro and back.  This ride included the long Cowee Mountain Tunnel and lots of scenery.

We loved these train rides, and, we loved the fact that this excursion train has turned the little town of Bryson City into a busy destination for tourists.  If you are in this part of the world, give it a try!

Riding the Rails

 Fifty years ago I was the minister at the Andrews United Methodist Church in Andrews, North Carolina.  In those days the train came right through town every day, just over a block from the church.

Today there is no train, bit the tracks are still there!

As a branch of the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad, there is a rail bike tour option headquartered in Andrews.  Yesterday Trish and I took this most enjoyable little trip.

We got our rail bikes in Andrews and got our instructions.  About twenty other people were with us on a half-dozen rail bikes.  We headed east out of town with our five mile goal being the Rhodo Tunnel.

With the fall color of the trees, this was a perfect time to take this trip.  You have to pedal these bikes, but they do have a little battery boost just like an e-bike to help on the hills.  Since this is railroad grade, we did not ever realize that we were going uphill on the way out of town.

After five miles, we came to the destination tunnel.

The tunnel is more than 300 feet long.  It was built over a four-year period of time by hand using prison labor in the 1880’s.  You can see how the slate-like rock was broken up with chisels and hammers.  It is much cooler in the tunnel than on the outside.

On the other side, we had a picnic while they turned all the rail bikes around using a small turntable.  Then we were lined up to go back.

When we started back, we realized that we had actually come uphill more than we knew.  We got to coast almost all the way back.  It was delightful!

This is an easy trip and anyone would enjoy it.  We had one lady with us who was celebrating her 98th birthday…we think her daughters did the pedaling!

If you are near the little town of Andrews, give it a try.

My Friend Freddie

 When I got to the seventh grade, I became close friends with Freddie Hall forever.  

We did a lot of camping together and were in band, chorus, and orchestra together throughout high school.

After graduation, Freddie went to the University of North Carolina and then volunteered for the Air Force.  After basic training, Freddie entered flight school and became an F-4D fighter-bomber navigator.

In December of 1968 he and Julie, whom he met when in training in Arizona, got married and drove across the country from California to visit home in North Carolina.  After that visit, we told him goodbye, and he was sent to Vietnam the end of February.

On April 12, Freddie and his pilot, Colonel Ernest DeSoto, were recalled to DaNang before completing a mission.  Their plane entered a cloud bank and never emerged.  No wreckage or other record of the lost plane were ever discovered.

For the past fifty-four years we have all lived not knowing what happened to Freddie.  His parents both died never knowing.  He was simply listed as MIA. (There are still 1,235 servicemen listed as MIA from Vietnam.)

In March of this year their wrecked plane was discovered just over the Vietnam border in Laos.  From the tail number, DNA analysis, and Freddie’s wallet on board, remains were secured and identified as Freddie and Colonel DeSoto.

On Tuesday, October 10, it was my privilege to give the eulogy as Freddie was returned for burial at home in WAYNESVILLE.

We all followed his casket as it was borne a mile up Main Street from First Presbyterian Church to Green Hill Cemetery.

The honor parade was led by a bagpiper and Main Street was lined with hundreds of people, including countless veterans, many of whom came from far away. It was an emotionally moving remembrance.

With full military honors, including a three gun salute and a closing fly-over, we finally said goodbye to Freddie knowing at last the end of the story.  The folded flag and other symbols were presented to his widow, Julie.  She will be buried here with him when her time comes.