10 Cuttin Sage

The last time I wrote was on day 6 of COVID-19 Isolation/Social Distancing/Quarantining/Mask Wearing. We had plans to go to Ocracoke for our regular annual Spring cleaning at the end of March like we always do. There was much to be done because we had hurricane repairs in addition to the annual cleaning to ready the house for rental season. We had no dock, no backyard deck, a wonky Boathouse that was knocked off its pilings by the flood, and an outdoor shower leaning against a tree. (See last post for Hurricane Dorian experience).  Well it is now day 135 of COVID; 5 1/2 months of Isolation/Social Distancing/Quarantining/Mask Wearing which I foolishly thought might last a couple of weeks! Since the Outer Banks were closed, we couldn’t go to Ocracoke until the end of May to do clean up and repairs, and then ended up going twice because there was so much work to do (the end of May and then in June). We lost the Fall rental season due to Hurricane Dorian and th...

It has been 6+ months since Hurricane Dorian ravaged the Outer Banks. I have tried to put words on paper about this experience from our perspective but I seem to fail  time after time. I guess the reason is that I don’t feel worthy of writing about something that I didn’t actually have to live through. There is no way I can give Ocracoke Island what it deserves in the aftermath of this destruction and devastation. Now I’m sitting in Social Isolation because of Covid 19 (Day 6) and I’ve exhausted things to do around the house (at least for today) and maybe it’s time to try to write again, really just for something to do and because I’ve had more time to think lately. Looking back over these blog years, I see that I am strongly inspired by natural beauty in water, sunsets, bird life, marshland, flowers, color, etc. Beauty in nature inspires me to write to help fulfill the longing to reach out to the Source, the Creator of all beauty.  So to p...

2019 has been an eventful year so far, no doubt about that. I know there are lessons to be learned in it and I'm trying to figure them out. Our oldest daughter, The Teacher, married The Love of Her Life and we had a celebration that was pretty epic for our family on March 30. Although being surrounded by closest friends and family and having the time of our lives were blessings that don’t come around often in life, I was left totally burned out and exhausted like I never have been before. Maybe because I’m now 61??? I really don’t know. Anyway, it’s led me to have some blood work done and wait for results as well as do some things to work on myself such as seek wise counsel, and give up some activities that were probably adding stress that I don’t need right now, and not feeling guilty if I take naps now and then, and letting go of some perfectionistic tendencies, and practicing quite a bit of self-reflection.  Even though we’ve been “empty nesters” for quite some time and alread...

It is Wednesday night, September 12 and I’m at home, along with multiple others in their homes, anxiously awaiting Hurricane Florence. It is scheduled to hit land tomorrow and, according to all news reports, is expected to pretty much decimate the coastline of North Carolina and much territory inland from days of torrential rains and flooding rivers. I am surprisingly at peace. I have prayed for the sparing of lives more than anything because property can, in most cases, be replaced. It’s odd awaiting a hurricane. Although we are hours and hours from the coast, “they” are predicting record flooding even in my home town! For 3 days now, we have been told to stock up on water and food supplies (at least 3 days worth, which I have not done) and be prepared for flooding of low areas and power outages. (The Doer did spend 2 hours in line to buy a generator!) It’s almost surreal to watch the hurricane develop slowly over many days and listen to the weather experts predict ...

There are many blogs. I follow about 3. Many of them, if produced by women, have beautifully photographed recipes to accompany their thoughts, opinions, travel adventures, etc. Aren’t we so fortunate to have an outlet for all these “thinks” by way of the internet, imagining that there may be someone, somewhere, out in the vast universe, who might just care about what we have to say? If these blogs have their own websites attached to sponsors (ads), then they must be popular (enough) and there are people out there who really do care about what the blogger has to say!  I enjoy cooking, but not enough to photograph and publish every step in my cooking processes, and my recipes are not at all original. I like to travel, but I don’t often (except, of course, to Ocracoke Island) and I’m not very good at photographing things (although these iPhones have awesome cameras and you don’t have to be a photographer anymore to make ordinary things look extraordin...