View from the Mountain

This is the south

2009-07-16T16:42:46-04:00

I enjoy helping people make a decision to move. It is usually a tough decision.

It is easy to get comfortable in a place. Folks often know when they are too comfortable and need to move.

Most people are pretty realistic about going to a new location.

They realize that things will be different, and that there never has been a perfect place.

Then there are the other people. Those who want to move to the south so they do not have to face cold winters but refuse to accept the fact that a place without cold winters is likely to have hot summers.

Having lived in places with very cold winters, very warm summers, and everything in between, I have reconciled myself to taking without complaint whatever the weather is going to hand me.

There will be hot days in North Carolina and Virginia, they are part of the south. There will also be some very pleasant days. In fact it is almost a sure bet that there will be more of those very pleasant days than there will be of those very hot days.

Some of the people who are not willing to accept the trade-off on a hot summer for a warm winter also want to live in place with no bugs, snakes, or mosquitoes.

On top of that they would like to be close to a beach which has nice water for swimming. I just told someone that I know of a beach area where there are no snakes. It's Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. The only trouble is that you turn blue when you jump into the water.

I want to say that people should understand what acceptable risk is. I have been in places on Hatteras Island in the summer when you could hardly breath for the mosquitoes. Yet I live on a salty gut of the White Oak River and hardly ever see a mosquito. All I know to tell people is to check with the neighbors before you buy a property. Mosquitoes seem to inhabit much of North America. They might find your property.

I have probably seen about a dozen live snakes on or near our properties over my sixty years. I remember seeing one when I was growing up in Lewisville, NC. We regularly saw the same blacksnake in Roanoke, Va. I saw a number of copperheads sunning themselves on roads near us in Roanoke. Since moving to Carteret County, we have seen three snakes. One blacksnake and two water snakes. I do not know anyone who has ever been bitten by a snake, but I guess that could happen. The odds, however, are against it.

Given my experience with snakes, I find it an acceptable risk to live in a state with snakes. I would rather have some snakes around than live in Canada where there are no snakes and the winters have no end.

I might be hot once in a while, occasionally see a snake, and maybe get a bug bite every now and then, but all that comes with living in the south which is well worth the risk.

After all, you also run the risk of having a perfect beach day or losing yourself by spending a day on the sound.

The old fishing reel

2009-07-08T07:54:50-04:00

In a society which long ago forgot how to fix most things, it is a great pleasure to use something old and mechanical. Last week the fishing reel that I have been using for the last ten years or so had a problem.

In trying to fix it, another part gave up the ghost. With the knowledge that it might be hard to get a couple of parts, I decided to at least look at the prices of new reels. I knew they would be expensive down here on the beach, but I also took the time to look at Gander Mountain in Roanoke. Surprisingly the prices were not very different from coast to mountain or more accurately from small coastal store to large national chain.

One hundred dollars seemed a lot for a fishing reel so I checked out our basement and came across the fishing reel which I had when I was eight or nine years old. I was quite the fisherman in my youth. My mother and I went on a fishing trip with our neighbors to the Santee Cooper area. I think we fished what is now called Lake Moultrie, but I am not sure. There were six of us on the trip. All but two of us have passed away.

My neighbor, Tom Fix, convinced my mom to buy me an Abu Garcia Ambassedeur 5000. He said something like if I was going to a serious place to fish, I needed a serious reel. My suspicion is that it was a big expense for my mom, but as moms do, she got it for my anyway.

Mr. Fix taught me how to use it and how to take care of it. I know that I fished with it into my teens. I would guess that it was sometime before 1958 or 1959 when I got the reel.

I brought it from Roanoke, Va. back to the Southern Outer Banks. Last night I put new line on it, greased it, and made sure that everything was working properly.

Today we are headed out to fish Bogue Inlet, I will likely spent most of my time using this reel. I actually prefer a level wind, free spooling bait casting reel to a spinning reel. I will have both with me since I usually cast my artificial lures with the spinning rods.

We will see how the old reel does today. I have high hopes for it. It makes me very happy to be able to use something old rather than to have to buy something new.

Benson, NC- not a place to speed through

2009-07-03T09:06:48-04:00

If you are traveling through North Carolina on Interstate 95, Benson, NC might just seem like another town on an exit sign. However, if you are speeding through North Carolina, you just might end up remembering Benson more clearly than the Google Map in the post.

Yesterday we were in the Benson area searching for a quick sandwich. When we went to get back on Interstate 95 to go back to Interstate 40, we noticed policemen on both sides of the bridge where Highway 50 crosses Interstate 95. They had radar guns. On the north bound entrance ramp we counted five police cars waiting to be dispatched to catch speeders.

My guess is that there was an equal number on the south bound ramp, since they were checking speeds on both sides of the bridge.

I guess Benson has figured out how to close any budget deficit.

Well I hope they target the nut cases who are out there driving fast and crazy. There were plenty of those on the road yesterday.

Iron Steamer Sunset [Flickr]

2009-02-09T19:15:42-08:00

ocracokewaves posted a photo:

Taken in Pine Knoll Shores

Intracoastal Sunset [Flickr]

2009-02-02T19:35:30-08:00

ocracokewaves posted a photo:

Wildlife Ramp Gulls [Flickr]

2009-02-02T19:35:11-08:00

ocracokewaves posted a photo:

Beach Snow [Flickr]

2009-02-02T19:34:52-08:00

ocracokewaves posted a photo:

Bridge to Emerald Isle in December [Flickr]

2008-12-13T12:03:37-08:00

ocracokewaves posted a photo:

Just after sunset on December 12. Taken from the small park at the end of Anita Forte Street in Cape Carteret