The Ocracoke Journal resumes today.

I'm home again, after spending a week in Indiana visiting a dear friend who had eye surgery. She is doing well and looking forward to enjoying the summer on Ocracoke. Her eye patch will be stashed away by then, but maybe she'll bring it out now and then in remembrance of Anne Bonney, Mary Reed, and assorted other pirates.

I arrived home yesterday to discover everything outdoors covered with oak leaves (live oaks shed in the Spring, not the Fall) and debris from polinating cedar trees. It's quite a mess, and there's occasional light rain, but the days are warm and pleasant (Indiana was beautiful, but it actually snowed there last week!).