Wendi {at random}

Is this for sale? Cause Ima tell you, I want to live here. In that light house. I'd close it to the general public, of course, but I'd invite my friends and family. I'd install a fancy elevator or at least a nice stair lift to spiral myself and the groceries to the top of my delux abode. I wouldn't charge a penny, either. Which reminds me, I really think we should get rid of the penny. It's just too pricey to maintain. Go here to see my thinking, which isn't my thinkin', but I do agree. 

In 5 days we'll be on Hatteras Island, near the tip of North Carolina's Outer Banks. Not living in the light house as Pete's Dragon and his family did, but we'll be on that very Island. We always stay in Hatteras Village, a nice clump of houses and small businesses with not a McD's among them. Not a single chain that I can think of except for the Life is Good store out by the ferries.

We have these matching hats. Corny, yes. But we bought them years ago just for our beach trip. And we take them every year. The house we used to rent at Hatteras Island had this cool hat rack that spelled (guess, go ahead, guess...) OCEAN. That was also the name of the house we rented. Now we rent a different domain. It has no hat rack. But, hey, you can't go choosing your houses on account of the hat racks.

The waves are always a mix of happy and rough. It varies day to day. One year Camden took a beating on a rough-wave day. He wound up with a high fever and our first case of swimmer's ear. They pulled a taper candle-sized glob of ear wax from Tall Boy's ear. Eweuuuuuu!

One year we went to the Wright Brothers' Memorial in Kitty Hawk. Honest to goodness, in spite of it being hotter than I typically even complain about, I enjoyed the feeling of being someplace historyish. But I longed for a nice air-conditioned space to ponder the accomplishments of Wilbur and the Gang.

We never eat out when we're on the island. We probably will break that trend this year since we know we'll spend a day on Ocracoke, the island south of Hatteras. But when we're on our own land, we buy fresh seafood from Vicki at Harbor House Seafood. She's taught Curt how to steam fresh shrimp to perfection! We also grill tuna and feast on her seafood enchiladas. Oh my gosh, I don't know if I can wait five more days!

This is THE POINT. Get it? It forms a point. It's where a bunch of currents, or at least two, meet up. And they make for some awesomeness. For many years, we've been able to tread water to a sandbar right off the point where at low-tide we could hang out and shell-hunt and possibly spy some sharks. Last year? No go. You couldn't even see the land to tread to. No fancy shells from there. No magic from the point. Maybe this year....

Just a favorite pic of Tall Boy modeling his hat. This is at the Point. See the able-to-make-it-to-the-other-island-spot in the distance? That was two years ago. Last year? There was no island.

A favorite picture from one year at Hatteras. Cool, huh?

Boogie boards? Anyone? My boys live for seven days of this!

I, meanwhile, live for the quiet moments. 7 days of reading on the deck. For at least 30 minutes. (I was reading Scarlett, the sequel to Gone With The Wind. That was worth reading.)

Want to know what if felt like to come over the dunes and see the Atlantic for the first time in a year? This is it. Wow. Wow. WOW.

Did I mention the winds? They're perfect for flying kites. Perfect for breezes when you can't take another second of hot sun. Perfect to make the sea oats sway and do their thing. I need some wind up here in New England and some sea oats in my line of sight. I could pretend to live on OBX. I'm a good pretender.