Perhaps you read my slight posting entitled “Hello from Ocracoke.” Well, this is when I wrote it, at breakfast using Michael’s laptop computer and the wireless internet connection at Ocracoke Coffee. I spent some time there five different mornings, conveniently located as it was just down the road from my house. No, I don’t like coffee, but there were other items worth drinking, like protein smoothies and orange juice. There was also a selection of teas, but none were marked as decaffeinated; requesting help in determining such met with willing assistance one day and resistance the next (there was some variety in the friendliness of the personnel). Also, one day, my orange juice arrived in a cup completely filled with ice — you don’t do that!
For part of the morning we visited a few of the shops Michael had not seen yet. As we approached the door to one place, a woman exiting paused slightly and looked me in the face before continuing. A minute or so later I noticed the woman was back in the store talking to the clerk, and she seemed to be indicating something about me. I was moving in their direction at that point, and she must have thought I had overheard, because she explained that she was trying to determine if I was someone on television…that I looked like someone she might have seen on TV. I kind of laughed a little, and said I hoped it was someone good. She said it wasn’t someone she could name, but I just looked like I might be famous. Michael is beside himself at this point trying not to laugh out loud, and I was probably blushing a little bit. I assured her that I was not famous. But then Michael, ever ready to prolong such a moment, added, “You know, that’s exactly what a famous person would say!” When she left again, she seemed a little excited and embarrassed, and not really sure whether I was unfamous or not.
After lunch we took advantage of the nice weather and walked the Hammock Hills trail. Beautiful stands of old pines grew out of tall dunes, while myrtle and bay and cedar created thick dark patches of shelter for wildlife. There were not many bird species evident that day, but lots of individuals, mostly Yellow-rumped Warblers. Some others were Eastern Phoebe, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Winter Wren, Dark-eyed Junco, and Song Sparrow. And there was an Eastern Mud Turtle in the grass beside the trail. This is the same kind of turtle that bit my sister Karen on her lip when, as a toddler, she inspected it a little too closely.
After the walk, we took the beach back toward town. The blue sky was a welcome feature.
It was back to the Back Porch Restaurant for dinner where the people were friendly and the food was delicious. TV and conversation took up the rest of the night…a good day.
Balance 