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Last night was pretty scary, with 40 MPH winds rocking the camper and lightning striking all around. I'm not sure when I fell asleep, but I was surprised when I checked my watch and found that it was 7:AM. It was still dark out, even though the sun should have risen at 6. The rain and wind continue. There is a small boat going by, along with the trucks, where the road used to be. I guess it's gotten deep enough for that to be a commuter option at this point. These pictures show the view out of my window... before and after the rain.
I went over to the main lodge this morning, just to be in a building that didn't move. I played a few tunes on fiddle and kalimba, and enjoyed duetting with the rain. I hope it lets up long enough for me to walk out to the beach before dark. I like watching a stormy ocean. Here's another comparison... the ocean during this storm, and the ocean on a normal day. Both photos were taken from the same location. You can click on most of my photos for a larger picture.
Here's a neat link to visit:
May 18, Tuesday
Side 1
Side 2 If you're interested in owning your own copy of this recording, we'd love to send you one. The cost for a tape, including shipping, is $10. CDs will be available after March 1st, 2000. If you'd like a copy (or would like to hear samples), click here.
In other news... About two mies north, we encountered some sort of carcass that had washed up. It was about 16 feet long, and approximately shaped like a small whale. Pete thinks it was possibly a whale-shark. We just looked them up on the internet and the pictures seem to fit that possibility. Here's a good photo of a live one: http://www.wow.org.tw/species/shark/whale-s.jpg (Apologies if the link doesn't always work. Try again in a day or so if it's not working.) I took some photos of the carcass, but I'm not sure you'd want to see them! (OK - I've received a pile of requests, so here they are...)
A little further up the beach, as the tide was coming in on us, we discovered a handful of rental properties that have become ocean-front homes in the worst way. We saw balconies dangling perilously over the crashing waves, stilt supports broken off halfway, and stairways which no longer reached the ground.
May 21, Friday For those of you who have been here, you know that the sunrises and sunsets are a full 360-degree experience. The sky on the opposite horizon tends to light up with brilliant colors as well. Jockey's Ridge is my favorite place to watch either event, because you're up high enough to see both the ocean and the sound without any buildings interrupting the view. The ducklings, at least a few of them, have returned to the pond. They had left during the storms, in search of calmer puddles. So far, one family of four 'klings has returned. We also have resident geese, a snapping turtle, and jillions of hungry seagulls. There are even a couple of neighbors with cats, so I can get my cat-petting fix every so-often. There's a bus convention here - dozens of folks in half-million dollar bus/motor-home things. Apparently they travel from place to place together. Some of them are headed to Alaska after this! They invited me to play a bit for their dinner meeting, so I got my first taste of playing in the new hall.
May 31, Monday The days leading up to Saturday night's dance had Pete and me constantly busy. While I finished up the artwork for the cassette and studied song lyrics, Pete created and programmed the accompaniment tracks for each of our songs. We had our whole brand new sound system set up in the new conference hall, and everything sounded great. We moved all our gear into the game room Saturday afternoon, and started playing around 8:30. We had a great crowd, and we played everything from Country to Swing to Rock. I was so excited to get to sing for this event! I've wanted to do this for a long time. I'm still getting comments from the camp staff that the guests loved us! Sunday night, we put on a completely different hat to play for sunset at the marina. We played several things from Island Time, and we sold our first copy to Vivian from Chesapeake, VA! We enjoyed a perfect sunset, and the full moon rose huge and orange just as the sunset faded away. Pete and I packed up and headed down to the beach to see the moon over the water. There were dozens of campfires all along the beach! Some people were fishing, some had fireworks, some were toasting marshmallows, others had instruments... a perfect close to a perfect weekend!
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