FROM EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA WITH LOVE

 

Yesterday the waves were wild and the sea oats almost horizontal. 

Too windy to bike ride but a good shelling day.  I got my usual quota of augers, those sweet little cork-screw shells that lie on top of shell pools when the tide goes out. And olives, thumb-sized cylinders--from a baby's thumb to a large adult's--with a lovely patina of mostly geometric designs. (On the other hand, they do cover their tiny prey in slimy mucus and smother them.)

Broken sand dollars, calico scallops

Mr. Wiggles was decent on his walks.  He didn't make a fool of himself with any of the other dogs.  One woman seeing him pee at every home on the route said, "The boss is in town!"  I liked that.  A man on his phone gave a look and said, "Killer."  Our little maltipoo seems to elicit sarcasm.  

Today at high tide the sand and sea and sky are one. Eastern North Carolina is just one big dripping puddle.  No sun, no cloud differentiation, no horizon.  Just a pool of gray.  I don't have a good picture because there's nothing to see.  Somehow it doesn't matter.  This is still good sheltering.  

River, lake, pond, ocean, creek. . . .  Is it because our bodies are about 65% water?  Is that why we are drawn to it?  I wonder.  We hike miles to glimpse a waterfall.  Riverside and lakefront property with access or a view is so desirable.  And who doesn't love a boat ride?  Or paddle-boarding.  Well, maybe not everyone, but we love doing something in the water. My husband loves fishing. The kids a water park.  Or a puddle.  Anything you can wade in.  Where I grew up there was a sewer we called a creek; we loved jumping it it, over it, around it.  So did the dog.  We'd stay in leaky cabins in the Ozarks just to be able to leap from a rock into the water.  Even now I seldom use an umbrella unless it's pouring.  It's fine to walk in a drizzle. Fine to water my plants with a hose that sprays everywhere and leaves me soaked on a warm day. Sounds fun, doesn't it?

I hope you were able to spend this weekend somewhere you wanted to be.  That you got some free time away from the news.  And that whatever your body was drawn to was there for you to enjoy.  With good wishes for all,  Nina Naomi