Another 2 weeks on Ocracoke Island in May-June and I am surely spoiled! We timed this logistically so that our first week covered Memorial Day weekend when our children would only have to sacrifice 4 vacation days instead of 5, and then covered the next week which covered the full weekend of the Ocrafolk Festival, an annual event that we were able to attend for the first time ever! We also hauled Big Fun (the brother-in-law’s boat) down to use for the 2 weeks there.
Having a boat at 10 Cuttin Sage really is Big Fun! The men spent a huge portion of the week fishing and catching!
I made sure I took a walk every morning to avoid blood clots (yes, I’m still on blood thinners, bummer, see last post).
We probably spent an inordinate amount of time at SmacNally’s restaurant on the harbor. It’s just too good, and probably a health hazard, but hopefully the fried stuff is outweighed by the fresh catch in it! Fried oysters, shrimp, mahi, hush puppies, french fries...... and topping it all off were pitchers of mimosas! Yum!!! We could have gone there every day and I would have been happy (and we did eat there close to every day!)
But the highlight of the vacation was the Ocrafolk Festival, an event organized by Ocracoke Alive. The mission statement of Ocracoke Alive according to its website is “to enrich the Ocracoke Island community by encouraging and sponsoring cultural, artistic, educational, and environmental activities including the production of plays, musicals, musical events, exhibits, schools, workshops, and festivals.” (Go to their website to learn more about this group, its activities, and its history). I won’t go into much detail except that this was a weekend chocked full of music. The artists were incredibly talented and there was music to meet the needs of any musicophile! There were multiple stages, multiple artists, and music all hours of the days. It seemed that COVID did not exist for one blissful weekend! (Nor did Politics, Division, Farleftrightmedia, Anti-this-and-that sentiment, etc.) It was a wonderful blessing to be a part of this festival on a small intimate island. No huge concerts or crowds. There were opportunities to meet the artists as well. Because our neighbor up the street housed a married couple from VA, (Beleza is their name and oh, how talented they are) we got to spend an evening with them on our neighbor’s dock a few days after the festival ended. They also performed an impromptu concert on a back porch of another Ocracoke artists’ home later in the week- music with Brazilian and Cuban roots. Where on earth can you partake of great talent on an island in such a small setting as someone’s back yard???
We also fell in love with Bill and the Belles and Violet Bell. Please look them up!
There were tents with vendors set up the entire weekend as well. We got to meet a lovely British artist and designer, Vicky Lowe from Avon, NC who founded A Good Catch design company. We were able to buy from her a lovely watercolor of Springer’s Point (perhaps the subject of a future post!) and some tea towels that she designed and painted.
Wow, another great experience on Ocracoke Island. Now... how do I bring God into this? I must always bring Him into this since He is the very breath I take and He is the sustainer of me as well as Ocracoke Island and our little 10 Cuttin Sage.
God is blessing us with a growing family. Our first grandson is due in about 7 weeks. This creates kind of a paradigm shift in our thought patterns and attitudes and expectations for the future. It is a little scary to realize how quickly the Doer and I have reached this stage in life. A baby not only changes the life of its parents, but it changes the life of the entire family! We now have a 5th generation of family members (remember Great Aunt Blanche? She is still alive and doing well at 106. See previous posts!)
Anyway, to be able to experience this stage of life and to take on the responsibility of this stage of life is daunting. But it is a huge blessing of God and He alone will give us the wisdom and ability to be the grandparents He wants us to be.
Grandparenting gives us kind of a second chance in life. We can look back on things we regret in our young parenting years and hopefully encourage our children to do things better than we did and teach our grands better lessons in the quality of time we will get to spend with them. Time to teach things regarding life and love, sin and redemption, forgiveness and sacrifice. We are excited and more dependent than ever on our great God and His mercy and faithfulness to us! What an incredible gift to welcome the next generation of our little family! I didn’t have much of a grandparent influence in my life because their lives were cut too short but I did have my nana who loved me with an unconditional love and left me with a perfect example of how to be a good grandmother. And her love for Christ wasn’t vocal but it sure seemed tangible in her hugs, her uninterrupted time spent with me, and her love for hymn singing.
So... our next family trip to 10 Cuttin Sage will include a baby!!! Wow!
10 Cuttin Sage after a night of rain. The cedar shakes took on a really dark hue.
Just some lovely views on my many walks.
Fresh catch on Big Fun!
Must always have some evening views.
The top is the watercolor we bought from Vicky Lowe. I zoomed in on the action on the beach because it’s so cute! The painting is wrapped in plastic until I can frame it, thus the line down the middle of it.
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