THE END OF THE SEASON

When a community has existed for families with children out of school, golfers, and sun worshippers, it becomes quite a different place.  The pace of life slows down and people settle in to downtime from the summer madness.  But, if you are a left over of the tourist season rather than a resident, everything seems different than any world you once knew.  Twenty five miles from the mainland, the shape of the sands constantly shifts.  Much of it has been declared a part of ,   This land, the Outer Banks (OBX to many) is part of the National Seashore.
for more detail, click here.

The article states:  "Wind and water shape the island's dunes and inlets, and yet a maritime forest at Buxton provides a calm oasis. The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, tallest in the nation, was nearly claimed by the Atlantic Ocean but was rescued in the nick of time in 1999 by moving the entire structure away from the sea.  But perhaps most importantly is the fact that Hatteras Island is one of the last places on earth where you can go on the Fourth of July weekend and stake out a stretch of beach to call your very own."

The season ends, the residents go back to living less frenetically, and go on to more regular lives.  Some take the winters off, some go further south, some go back to school, and some just go back home and some stay around getting prepared for the next tourist invasion while others settle down to breathe easy again while serving only the locals for the winter.

In New England we can tell the summer is over when the leaves turned beautiful shades of reds, oranges, yellows, and other shades which is really beautiful.  The southern shores let you know that summer is over by Hurricane warnings and few strangers around.

MY VERSION OF VACATION

There is little new in this world when you've been in it for several decades, only variations on a theme. Tourist sites are for the younger, especially those with small children whom they can push in strollers and let scream so that we elders may appreciate being too old to have them. Occasionally a few senior masochists are strong arming the little ones, while they appear to be aging before one's very eyes. These white haired wonders are ludicrously quick to tell you that the kiddies are their grandchildren (as if you hadn't filled with pity on sight).

I'm visiting a couple who are even older than I, with similar disregard for paying even the senior's slightly lowered, exorbitant fee for the pleasure of climbing to the top of a lighthouse (Sherpa not included). One of us has had a time share here for many years. Click here. We have the luxury of time to sit in a Hot Tub with the patience of a fishing enthusiast, or just to watch the grass grow (similar time expenditures). If we wish to chase a little white ball around green grass in the hot sun, only a cart requires payment. Most people get a lot of exercise this way; stooping to place the ball on the tee, swiping it with a golf club, then walking ALL the way to the cart!

My activity tastes seem not to vary from the things I like to do at home. I read a lot, observe, talk to any one who will respond, and soak up the foreign ambiance from the scenery and territory around. The area has the store, The Dollar Tree, in which everything is just a dollar! There are no ethnic restaurants (actually I think I did see one Chinese restaurant somewhere) but I've had to go cold turkey on Thai, Indian, Japanese, and all the others around home. Happily, there is broadband though it is like dial up without the transmission noise.

I'm quickly realizing the joy of reading without constant phone interruption. Old age makes me appreciate life's simpler pleasures as I look around at the frenetic actions of people looking for more of something they are unable to define. It occurs to me that I'd forgotten feeling a need to cram a lot of living in the few vacation weeks from work. Once again I watch others living life like a blivet (cramming three pounds of manure into a two pound bag). We old folk haven't slowed down; we just no longer have a need to speed up!

It is great to enjoy a change and I am fully appreciating these two weeks. The thought of being back home is, however, looking like a preview of a movie I'd like to see.