Preface: a few years ago, we took a trip to the lovely tropical island of Anguilla and went on a snorkeling excursion. Upon our return our guide reminded us, in his charming British accent, to “gather our bits and pieces”. We have joked about it since and use the phrase as often as possible.
March 13....It is mid March with snow on the ground; forsythia and camellia are in full bloom while the green tips of tulip and daffodil leaves are up about 6 inches: the conundrum of March in Virginia makes it hard for the body and mind to adjust!
March 13....It is mid March with snow on the ground; forsythia and camellia are in full bloom while the green tips of tulip and daffodil leaves are up about 6 inches: the conundrum of March in Virginia makes it hard for the body and mind to adjust!
I’ve spent the past 2 and a half months on a project: cleaning out and sorting through the belongings of Great Aunt Blanche whom I’ve written about numerous times. It is fitting to write about her this week since Thursday marks her 103rd birthday! You would think that the belongings of a 103 year old would fill a barn but the truth is, she downsized many years ago when she left her home in Florida to come live near us where the majority of her blood relatives live.
What’s left of her life are primarily photos. I have spent hours going through each one to determine whether it should be thrown away or saved for a family member. Then the ones that get saved get further sorted into which family should at least see them and decide for themselves what should be kept or tossed. 3 families are involved: the “Bloods" (that’s us who are related by DNA); the “Swedes”, first in-laws who are those related to her first husband, an artist and map maker who was killed in a plane crash in the Andes Mountains in 1959; and then the “DNA doesn’t matter she’s our true mother and grandmother" in-laws who are related to her second husband, a doctor and NIH cancer researcher who passed away about 20 years ago. While it may seem like a chore (which it was at first), this daunting task has kind of turned into an investigative journey as I examine photos, old newspaper clippings and assorted bits and pieces of her life that have taught me all kinds of things about her, the family, her siblings, etc. that I would have never known had I not had the privilege to clean out her belongings. What strikes me most is the lack of material possessions and anything of value...at least value to the average person. But Aunt Blanche is not average. She was never attached to anything but the people that she loved...and she loved all people! So it would make sense that her most precious belongings would be her photographs. Why am I cleaning all this out while she is still living? She recently moved into a tiny assisted living apartment and she wants to part with everything she can to simplify her life as much as possible. I’d rather do this while she is still on this earth than wait. Plus I don’t want her things gathering dust in my basement since I am also on a mission to declutter and simplify my life as much as possible!
March 23.....We celebrated the 103 with a small gathering at dinner on March 15th, her actual birthday. Then another group of relatives (the Swedes) came to town on Saturday and brought cake and laughter. I call them the Swedes because Blanche’s first husband was a son of Swedish immigrants who came over on “the boat” to live life and raise children. These are grandchildren and great grandchildren of those very immigrants.
March 23 again.... I’m sitting at the dining room table at 10 Cuttin Sage eating lunch and taking a much needed break from spring cleaning, a now annual March ritual as predictable as tulips and daffodils, pollen and wind, and unpredictable weather. The cedar pollen, to which I am grossly allergic down here on the island, is not bad.... hearsay is that it came and went during the early warm spell in February, praise God for small blessings!
At lunch at the bar in Howard's Pub yesterday, we met Rex, a burly islander who’s as friendly as can be. His Ocracoke accent (e.g. “hoi toid” for high tide) readily gave his identity away. He owns a fish camp cabin down the boardwalk from us and is related to half the island. He was a talker and gave us bits and pieces of fish camp insider info we didn’t really need to know! I heard later that he loves an audience, loves to sing, and loves to tell stories. I sure hope we can run into him again sometime. He was quite fun and entertaining!
And while meeting Rex at the Pub, our waiter, Brandon, who apparently knows Rex so well that he knew exactly what Rex was going to order for lunch, gave us more bits and pieces of life info; that he and his wife live on the other end of Cuttinsage Lane (he calls it the suburbs); that he moved here 16 years ago for a temporary job and loved it so much he decided to settle here on Ocracoke, despite he and his wife having college degrees and giving up lucrative careers in their fields; they work numerous and varied jobs throughout the year depending on the season, all because they decided that the importance of living where you love far outweighs careers, wealth, and prestige. Lesson learned.....
March 24....Today we saw a new friend, William, who finished renovating our kitchen this past winter. William is related to the Howard family who was one of the original Ocracoke settlers in the 1700’s. William didn’t live on the island growing up but he came here with his family to vacation and visit relatives. He now lives here and is a contractor during the winter and a stay at home dad during the summer when his wife begins working during the busy tourist season. He had lots of stories to tell about growing up here before the popularity and commercialization of Ocracoke Island; what Oyster Creek (where 10 Cuttin Sage is) looked like prior to dredging out the canals many years ago, the many people we’ve met to whom he is related, his interests in raising chickens, raising goats, and beekeeping, and his wife’s interests in playing music and studying essential oils/herb tinctures.
March 23.....We celebrated the 103 with a small gathering at dinner on March 15th, her actual birthday. Then another group of relatives (the Swedes) came to town on Saturday and brought cake and laughter. I call them the Swedes because Blanche’s first husband was a son of Swedish immigrants who came over on “the boat” to live life and raise children. These are grandchildren and great grandchildren of those very immigrants.
March 23 again.... I’m sitting at the dining room table at 10 Cuttin Sage eating lunch and taking a much needed break from spring cleaning, a now annual March ritual as predictable as tulips and daffodils, pollen and wind, and unpredictable weather. The cedar pollen, to which I am grossly allergic down here on the island, is not bad.... hearsay is that it came and went during the early warm spell in February, praise God for small blessings!
At lunch at the bar in Howard's Pub yesterday, we met Rex, a burly islander who’s as friendly as can be. His Ocracoke accent (e.g. “hoi toid” for high tide) readily gave his identity away. He owns a fish camp cabin down the boardwalk from us and is related to half the island. He was a talker and gave us bits and pieces of fish camp insider info we didn’t really need to know! I heard later that he loves an audience, loves to sing, and loves to tell stories. I sure hope we can run into him again sometime. He was quite fun and entertaining!
And while meeting Rex at the Pub, our waiter, Brandon, who apparently knows Rex so well that he knew exactly what Rex was going to order for lunch, gave us more bits and pieces of life info; that he and his wife live on the other end of Cuttinsage Lane (he calls it the suburbs); that he moved here 16 years ago for a temporary job and loved it so much he decided to settle here on Ocracoke, despite he and his wife having college degrees and giving up lucrative careers in their fields; they work numerous and varied jobs throughout the year depending on the season, all because they decided that the importance of living where you love far outweighs careers, wealth, and prestige. Lesson learned.....
March 24....Today we saw a new friend, William, who finished renovating our kitchen this past winter. William is related to the Howard family who was one of the original Ocracoke settlers in the 1700’s. William didn’t live on the island growing up but he came here with his family to vacation and visit relatives. He now lives here and is a contractor during the winter and a stay at home dad during the summer when his wife begins working during the busy tourist season. He had lots of stories to tell about growing up here before the popularity and commercialization of Ocracoke Island; what Oyster Creek (where 10 Cuttin Sage is) looked like prior to dredging out the canals many years ago, the many people we’ve met to whom he is related, his interests in raising chickens, raising goats, and beekeeping, and his wife’s interests in playing music and studying essential oils/herb tinctures.
He is a man after my own heart!!! More bits and pieces of people’s lives that are unique and fascinating to me.
March 25....Last night we met Ann, the owner of the local and infamous Howard’s Pub. Always wanted to know who owned that place... Howard’s was one of our daughters’ favorite eateries growing up because they serve King Crab Legs and for some reason, our girls loved King Crab Legs when they were little. Ann has owned the restaurant for 28 years after purchasing it from a Howard family and couldn’t tell us how old the pub really was. She alluded to a rather bawdy history way back before the restaurants were allowed to serve alcohol and the bars were, simply, bars. She is a widow after her husband fell and broke his neck while boating about 16 years ago. How she managed to gather up the bits and pieces of her life and continue operating a restaurant on her own, raising two young children, and turning the Pub into one of the most successful businesses on the Outer Banks is beyond me. What a lovely and delightful woman.
I just heard the ferry horn blow (12:30 Swan Quarter ferry, I guess). I’m watching The Doer out on the dock with Jamie, The Dock Builder who also runs the local car repair shop, repairing our dock that got damaged during Hurricane Matthew in 2016 (yes it takes that long to get docks repaired around here). The Doer looks happy as a gull out there in the sunshine doing......Gimpy, The Gull is also out on the dock again and everything is peaceful at 10 Cuttin Sage......
Time to get back to spring cleaning.......
March 25....Last night we met Ann, the owner of the local and infamous Howard’s Pub. Always wanted to know who owned that place... Howard’s was one of our daughters’ favorite eateries growing up because they serve King Crab Legs and for some reason, our girls loved King Crab Legs when they were little. Ann has owned the restaurant for 28 years after purchasing it from a Howard family and couldn’t tell us how old the pub really was. She alluded to a rather bawdy history way back before the restaurants were allowed to serve alcohol and the bars were, simply, bars. She is a widow after her husband fell and broke his neck while boating about 16 years ago. How she managed to gather up the bits and pieces of her life and continue operating a restaurant on her own, raising two young children, and turning the Pub into one of the most successful businesses on the Outer Banks is beyond me. What a lovely and delightful woman.
I just heard the ferry horn blow (12:30 Swan Quarter ferry, I guess). I’m watching The Doer out on the dock with Jamie, The Dock Builder who also runs the local car repair shop, repairing our dock that got damaged during Hurricane Matthew in 2016 (yes it takes that long to get docks repaired around here). The Doer looks happy as a gull out there in the sunshine doing......Gimpy, The Gull is also out on the dock again and everything is peaceful at 10 Cuttin Sage......
Time to get back to spring cleaning.......
The new kitchen redo. We had the old cabinets painted and replaced the old tile counter top with quartz: suede-finished Cemento to get the concrete look.
New sink and faucet.
The white cabinets make the kitchen look so much bigger!
And the best things of Ocracoke, the friendly wildlife, the tried and true friends!
Comments
Post a Comment