It Warms Our Hearts....Really!

I really did appreciate the concern shown by folks when they didn't hear from us for a few days. The person who wanted me fired.....that's another matter. You just can't tell who your friends are anymore I swear. To the friend who was here and asked how the storm was in intensity compared to others we have known, it wasn't bad at all. The ocean was roiled enough to breach the dunes up and down the banks which is a concern but the flooding wasn't bad and neither were the winds. It was just enough that put all together it messed up the last profitable week we hoped to have on Ocracoke for about three months. So ya'll come on down and do your Christmas shopping here the next couple of weekends. We offer no crowds, friendly conversation, no traffic, very few muggings last time I checked. The pick pockets have all gone south and the parking meters are real cheap this time of year. Our meter maid is a real looker. Come grab a bit of sunshine and have a few laughs. Celebrate Christmas shopping Ocracoke style. We'll be looking for you. Later.....Jude

You can read our latest newsletter here. It's the story of two old maps (1590 & 1795) and place names on the Outer Banks

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Calm Down!

Sometimes .... folks....things get a bit beyond our control and we just need to calm down. Last week was quite a week for the entire Outer Banks. A Nor'Easter hit us on Monday evening and lasted til Thanksgiving. Rt. 12 was closed at Rodanthe where the ocean washed over trying to make a new inlet again. The dunes on Ocracoke were breached in a numbered of places and 12 was flooded both on Ocracoke and on Hatteras. We had over 7" of rain. The power was off and on, off and on and finally off. They did turn the generator on at Ocracoke but it went off Thanksgiving afternoon so most dinners were delayed. The Hatteras ferry didn't run til late Thursday. My sister, visiting from Maryland, came in on the 4PM Swan Quarter so we had Thanksgiving dinner about 8PM. But all the turkeys and trimmings eventually got cooked and eaten, friends and family got together and the sun came out. Mother Nature spared us from the hurricanes this year but I think she just wanted to remind us that she's still around.Now that everyone has gone the weather is in the 70's and sunny. Go figure. Anyhoo , I was a tad busy and what with mailorders and all I haven't been able to take a breath and that's my story and I'm stickin to it. Hope ya'll had a wonderful Thanksgiving. It's good messin with you again. Jude

You can read our latest newsletter here. It's the story of two old maps (1590 & 1795) and place names on the Outer Banks.

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Thanksgiving Week

Greetings from Ocracoke. As for many of our readers, this week should prove to be busy for Ocracokers also. Family and friends will be arriving on the island for Thanksgiving dinners. And visitors will be here for one last walk along the beach before the winter holidays.

I will be visiting Lou Ann for Turkey Day so I have asked Jude to keep up the journal while I am gone. As usual, several off-island friends will be staying in my house, looking after things while I am gone. I'm wondering -- why do they all like to visit while I'm gone??

While I am away Jude will be keeping you up to date on island happenings. Happy Thanksgiving to all of our readers!

You can read our latest newsletter here. It's the story of two old maps (1590 & 1795) and place names on the Outer Banks.
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Community Litter Pickup

Saturday morning Ocracoke School's Beta Club sponsored a community litter pickup. Wind and tide contribute to a certain amount of trash scattered around the island. So do roaming dogs. But people contribute also, of course. Papers and boxes blow out of pickup trucks, bottles and cans fall out of opened car doors, kleenexes drop from pockets. Many times it's accidental. Unfortunately, it happens all too often that careless people throw bottles and bags out of car windows, or leave their trash on the beach, or flick cigarette butts on the ground (yes, this is litter, too).

Many thanks to the Beta Club and all of our island volunteers who helped out on Saturday. And thanks also to all of our readers who act responsibly, put trash in their proper receptacles, and even pick up litter when they walk through the village or stroll along the beach. We appreciate your efforts.

You can read our latest newsletter here. It's the story of two old maps (1590 & 1795) and place names on the Outer Banks.
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Flat Cat Cafe

Last night at 7:00 Ocracoke's Youth Center put on a musical variety show for the community. Deepwater Theater was nearly full. The program kicked off with an impressive duet on violin & flute. More violin followed, along with several pieces on keyboard (three by a first grader), some vocals, guitar, more flute, and even dance. Conga drums made their appearance now and then. The audience was appreciative and enthusiastic.

I left a tad early since I host our Friday night poker game at 8:00. When the last game was over shortly after midnight I discovered that I had exactly as much money in my pocket as when I sat down to the table. At least I didn't lose any money.

You can read our latest newsletter here. It's the story of two old maps (1590 & 1795) and place names on the Outer Banks.
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Old Graveyards

A neighbor recently asked me about a grave marker she'd discovered along an island path. We went to take a look. As so often happens on Ocracoke we found a number of old graves. They are just scattered among the oaks, cedars, yaupons, and brambles. To my delight I discovered my great uncle Stanley's grave. I never knew where he had been buried.

I also came across Alexander Garrish & Epherena Fulcher Garrish's graveyard. Alexander was the originator of the old-time saying, "Too damn late....I've done promised Freener." You can read the story of this unique island expression here.

You can read our latest newsletter here. It's the story of two old maps (1590 & 1795) and place names on the Outer Banks.
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Mid-November??

Can this really be the week before Thanksgiving? It is 73 degrees here this morning. Actually, the weather has been super most of the fall. Yesterday I spent part of the afternoon on the beach -- walking alone, and later playing with Lachlan. He entertained himself with shells, feathers, and piles of sand, then splashed in the water for a while. We had a grand time.

Today a change is in the air. Winds are increasing, and thunderstorms are in the forecast. We're hoping the winds aren't as severe as several days ago (Dale says at least one gust was clocked at over 60 mph). I believe I'll get out my paper & pens, and draw some more this morning.

To see new items we've added to our on-line catalog, please click here: "What's New at Village Craftsmen".

You can read our latest newsletter here. It's the story of two old maps (1590 & 1795) and place names on the Outer Banks.
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OPS Potluck Dinner

Last night Ocracoke Preservation Society hosted its annual meeting and potluck dinner. I arrived early with my deviled eggs, only to discover that three of the other four people there had also brought deviled eggs! By the time we were ready to eat, however, the selection of dishes was outstanding....and tasty.

This year I was the featured speaker. After the business meeting I offered some insights and stories about preserving Ocraocke's oral traditions. It was especially satisfying to share island tales with locals, and they were a fantastic audience.

I told about squaredancing in the 1950s (and how we'd revived the dance more than a decade ago), I demonstrated a traditional Ocracoke bird trap, I related the story of the woman who was buried alive and was found turned over in her casket, I talked about amusing anecdotes you can learn by studying cemeteries, I shared insights about our island's unique dialect, and I told a short story that illustrated Ocracokers' pithy sense of humor.

In the space of about 30 minutes the audience was, in turn, captivated, amused, creeped out, and intrigued by some of our island's diverse and fascinating history. Best of all, I learned this morning that two of our local children are already building a bird trap.

To see new items we've added to our on-line catalog, please click here: "What's New at Village Craftsmen".

You can read our latest newsletter here. It's the story of two old maps (1590 & 1795) and place names on the Outer Banks.
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Crew Accommodations

I was glancing through a book my father purchased for $1.00 in 1939, "The ship's Medicine Chest." In the back of the book, as part of an appendix entitled "Exerpts from Maritime Laws," I read this: "Crew space required on vessels constructed between June 30, 1895, and March 4, 1915. -- (a)....Every place appropriated to the crew of the vessel shall have a space of not less than 72 cubic feet and not less than 12 superficial feet [square feet], measured on the deck or floor of that place, for each seaman or apprentice lodged therein."

Do the math. If you allow six feet to accomodate most men, then the bunk only needs to be two feet wide. Allowing for the thickness of the bunk frame and mattress, (maybe a foot), this leaves about three feet by two feet of space under the bunk to store all of the sailor's belongings; and about a foot and a half between his nose and the deck or bunk above him.

I don't know what the regulations are today, but you can be assured that before 1895, when coastal schooners were a regular sight along the Outer Banks, it was probably the luckiest of common sailors who had 72 square feet of space to call his own.

To see new items we've added to our on-line catalog, please click here: "What's New at Village Craftsmen".

You can read our latest newsletter here. It's the story of two old maps (1590 & 1795) and place names on the Outer Banks.
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Fish

Many of our readers may have already figured this out....but I am not a fisherman. Not infrequently I think about this. Here I live on an island with superb fishing. I really ought to learn more about fishing. I have most of the equipment. It's just been so long since I've thrown a line out into the water. Maybe when I retire.

In the meanwhile I am the beneficiary of other folks' expertise at commercial & pleasure fishing. Saturday afternoon the newly created Working Watermen's Association sponsored a fund-raising fish fry. It was yummy. And it helped preserve the island's last remaining fish house. Many thanks to all the folks who are helping to make this effort succeed.

Then yesterday Amy & I sat down to a tasty dinner of speckled trout. My friend, Al, an avid angler, left two sizeable fillets in my refrigerator. Thanks Al! I still think I'll try my hand at fishing again. Maybe when I retire.

To see new items we've added to our on-line catalog, please click here: "What's New at Village Craftsmen".

You can read our latest newsletter here. It's the story of two old maps (1590 & 1795) and place names on the Outer Banks.
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A Night to Cozy up to the Fire

Wind and rain today. Actually, mostly wind. Trees are bending, porch swings are swaying, screen doors are banging. Gusts as high as 45 mph, maybe higher, have whipped up the ocean and sound. Even the ferries quit running for a good part of today. I'm told the tide has been flooding Highway 12 on Hatteras. By now it may be over the road on Ocracoke, but I haven't heard.

It was the perfect day to stay indoors. I spent the entire afternoon making pen & ink sketches for Audrey Penn's new book, due out this spring. It will be a sequel to her last book "Mystery at Blackbeard's Cove."

So I suppose I'll walk back home and sit down to do some more drawings. I can't think of a better kind of evening to foster creativity.

To see new items we've added to our on-line catalog, please click here: "What's New at Village Craftsmen".

You can read our latest newsletter here. It's the story of two old maps (1590 & 1795) and place names on the Outer Banks.
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John Lovick

On this date in 1719....that's almost three hundred years ago....the Lords Proprietors of Carolina granted Ocracoke Island to John Lovick. According to William S. Powell in "The Proprietors of Carolina" Carolina was "roughly from the present-day Georgia-Florida boundary northward to the middle of Albemarle Sound and from the Atlantic westward to the 'South Seas,' some vague place in the west not then fully understood."

Blackbeard had been captured and killed slightly less than a year before the grant was made. Lovick, a Welsh Quaker, used the island only for grazing livestock. It was not until some years later that pilots began to settle in the area known today as Springer's Point. The rest, as they say, is history.

To see new items we've added to our on-line catalog, please click here: "What's New at Village Craftsmen".

You can read our latest newsletter here. It's the story of two old maps (1590 & 1795) and place names on the Outer Banks.
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What Do You Do All Winter?

This journal entry is not about Ocracoke at all -- except that I live here, and I want to share something that I read this morning. There is a fascinating little book that just came out this year entitled "What We Believe But Cannot Prove." It is subtitled, "Science in the Age of Centainty" and is edited by John Brockman. Over 100 people, including scientists, philosophers, and medical doctors, contributed short essays based on the idea in the book's title.

Susan Blackmore, in four paragraphs (page 40 of the paperback edition), reflects on the notion of free will. She claims to have systematically altered her thinking to do away with the feeling of acting with free will, which she apparently believes is an illusion.

She ends her essay with "I just keep on seeming to exist. But though I cannot prove it, I think it is true that I don't." What would Descartes have had to say about that?

On second thought I suppose this journal entry really is about Ocracoke. It is the off-season, and I guess there's not too much to do around here right now.

To see new items we've added to our on-line catalog, please click here: "What's New at Village Craftsmen".

You can read our latest newsletter here. It's the story of two old maps (1590 & 1795) and place names on the Outer Banks.
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Chocolate Cake

Both Jude & Dale, along with two other islanders, Lisa & Pat, serve as Ocracoke's precinct workers. On Tuesday they were checking in voters at the Community Center when talk turned to cake. Dale allowed as how Kay Riddick, who happened to be present, made the island's "best chocolate cake."

Lo and behold, later that afternoon Kay walked in with a package for the workers, laid it on their table, and walked out. Dale opened it and exclaimed, "Kay's brought us each a piece of her chocolate cake." He passed the slices down the table.

Jude looked at her cake. "Dale, this isn't chocolate cake. It's yellow cake with chocolate icing."

"That's chocolate cake," Dale shot back. In the ensuing "discussion" (Jude describes it a s "lively discussion") Jude learned that on the island "chocolate cake" means that the cake has chocolate icing, not that the cake proper is chocolate. Now I know that non-natives can't rightly understand this. And understandably so.

Greatly outnumbered, Jude finally conceded. But then she demanded to know what islanders call a "dark brown cake with cocoa in the batter and chocolate icing." She betrays a smirk when she explains that the native islanders never provided an answer to that one. Come to think of it, I don't know the answer either. Maybe it's illegal to bake that kind of cake on the island!

I'm wondering, do any of our island readers know the answer to the question. And....do any of our other readers call a yellow cake with chocolate icing a "chocolate cake," or is this just an "island thing." We're waiting to hear from y'all.

To see new items we've added to our on-line catalog, please click here: "What's New at Village Craftsmen".

You can read our latest newsletter here. It's the story of two old maps (1590 & 1795) and place names on the Outer Banks.
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Springer's

This morning Amy, David, Lachlan, Claudia, & I walked down to Springer's Point. Actually we slogged down to the Point. Last night's rain left puddles deep & wide. Remove our shoes, or just wade through shod? We did both. Lachlan, of course, ran, jumped, climbed, and fell as we made our way along the path and onto the Sound shore.

It was warm (about 70 degrees) and the sun glittered off the water. Lachlan was ready to "go swimming" but we distracted him with grasses, shrubs, shells, lichens, branches, hills, & seaweeds. I was reminded of an article Lou Ann read several months ago. Americans all too often, the author lamented, move from one paved surface (a garage floor), to another (a driveway), to another (a parking lot), to another (concrete steps into a building), without ever putting their feet (even if shod) down on real, solid earth.

We had no reason to be concerned about Lachlan. He pushed through head-high grasses, stumbled over dead sticks and prickly vines, tumbled down inclines, reached into puddles for soggy "treasures," and climbed up onto low slung trees. He was a mess when we got back home, but he had a great adventure.

To see new items we've added to our on-line catalog, please click here: "What's New at Village Craftsmen".

You can read our latest newsletter here. It's the story of two old maps (1590 & 1795) and place names on the Outer Banks.
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Election Day

It is already in the mid-70s this morning! Rain is in the forecast, but we are hoping for a large turnout for today's elections. Although Ocracokers have a long history as renegades and independent thinkers they value their democratic right to vote.

Because he had no horse, and his friends wouldn't take him, one of my ancestors (with unpopular political views) walked from Hatteras Inlet to the village to cast his ballot in the 1800s. I'm sure you won't be saddled with a similar burden, so be sure to go to the polls today and let your vote be counted.

To see new items we've added to our on-line catalog, please click here: "What's New at Village Craftsmen".

You can read our latest newsletter here. It's the story of two old maps (1590 & 1795) and place names on the Outer Banks.
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International Week

Almost twenty years ago my daughter, Amy, spent a year as a high school exchange student in Berlin. She had a wonderful experience, and a wonderful host family -- Lisa & Wolfgang, and their three children, Matthias, Tatyanna, & Claudia.

Claudia is here for a visit this week. We all gathered at my home last night for dinner. Amy & David brought shrimp (was it delicious!!).....and homemade apple pie. We also had mashed potatoes, green beans, peas, and homemade bread. It was a mouth-watering island meal, and Claudia savored it as did we. (Claudia spent a year as an exchange student in Virginia, and understands American cuisine. She also speaks English fluently.)

Amy & I have taught Lachlan a bit of German, but Claudia is taking our instructions up a level. Lachlan can already count to five "auf Deutsch," and readily says "Tschuss," "Ich liebe dich," and several other phrases. I'm looking forward to hearing what he can say by the end of the week.

To see new items we've added to our on-line catalog, please click here: "What's New at Village Craftsmen".

You can read our latest newsletter here. It's the story of two old maps (1590 & 1795) and place names on the Outer Banks.
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Geocaching

Former island resident, Warner Passanisi, recently posted this message:

"Hi Pip [Warner calls me Pip] and Friends,

I wonder if any of you have got involved in the new craze that is sweeping the nation, the world, and yes, even Howard Street - geocaching. Well I just found a few caches on the island, with one just down the road from the Village Craftsmen ([to find info on this one] just do a search on geocaching.com for GCQ39V.) Pip, this would seem to be right up your alley - literally. I can see you on your walking tour, GPSs at the ready!

Anyway, I would suggest small shells and other natural finds on the island to be the perfect caches. So to all those who search, and to all who bury new caches I leave you with ... RESPECT THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT, and private property, and on Ocracoke, abide by the National Seashore laws.

Happy hunting,

Warner Passanisi"

Katie and John from the Cove B & B (on Loop Road) first introduced me to geocaching. A number of folks have wandered by searching for the small cache Katie & John have hidden on Howard Street. I haven't "gotten into it" but those who do seem to enjoy the challenge. And the Howard Street search includes a brief recounting of the funny story I tell about the island's first automobile accident. Enjoy!

To see new items we've added to our on-line catalog, please click here: "What's New at Village Craftsmen".

You can read our latest newsletter here. It's the story of two old maps (1590 & 1795) and place names on the Outer Banks.

Community Store Update

A number of readers have asked about the Community Store, and wondered when it will reopen. Rob & Sundae have encountered some unexpected problems. They have posted the following message on the Post Office bulletin board. I thought our readers would be interested in being kept up to date.

"So why hasn't the Community Store opened yet?

We share your disappointment that the Community Store is closed, and we're sorry for the inconvenience. We've run into some problems in getting the store up and running, and to dispel rumors we'd like everyone to have the same information:

• Nash-Finch, the grocery wholesaler that delivers to the Variety Store and used to deliver to the Community Store, has told us that they WILL NOT deliver to the Community Store again. It isn't "profitable" for them.
  
• We really hoped we could order from SuperValu/Richfood (they supply Conner's in Buxton and Village Grocery in Avon), but they WILL NOT bring a truck to Ocracoke.
• We've considered lots of other options including buying a truck and getting the groceries ourselves, but none of those ideas are workable.
  

Unfortunately,without a grocery delivery the Community Store can't be a grocery store.We'd like to thank all the people who've helped with the cleaning and fixing up, and all the people who've told us how excited they are about the store re-opening. We've done so much to get ready that we hate to give up on our plans and we hope that something will work out.

We'll keep you posted.

Sundae and Rob
October 31, 2006"

To see new items we've added to our on-line catalog, please click here: "What's New at Village Craftsmen".

You can read our newsletter here. It is a story of Maps, Outer Banks place names, and geology.
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Old Maps

Yesterday I uploaded our latest Ocracoke Newsletter. This month I discuss some of the names of Outer Banks islands and the geology that helped form them. I have reproduced two old maps, one made in 1590, the other made in 1795. It was fun doing the sleuthing.

You can read our newsletter here.

To see new items we've added to our on-line catalog, please click here: "What's New at Village Craftsmen".

Life-Savers

Several days ago we had this comment on our journal:

"Your ongoing references to long-lost ships (18XX) made me wonder whether cutting-edge navigational equipment has rendered sailing off the Outer Banks mere child's play. Are the days of foundering ships and foraging for washed up cargo a thing of the past?"

First, a few words about why I so frequently comment on Ocracoke shipwrecks. It has been many a year since a sailing vessel fetched up on Ocracoke's beach. However, from as early as 1585 through the first part of the twentieth century numerous schooners and other ships, along with their captains, crews, passengers, & cargo, have been cast upon our beaches. Many people lie buried in unmarked graves near where they died.

From 1883, when the first US Life Saving Station was established at Hatteras Inlet, to the present day, untold numbers of native islanders and others assigned to patrol our beaches have risked their lives to save unfortunate mariners. In the most severe weather, with gale force winds raging, tides rising to their thighs, and temperatures frigid and numbing, men of the Life Saving Service trudged miles along our coast, pulling heavily laden "beach carts" loaded down with life saving equipment.

Once they reached a stranded vessel they would frequently work for hours rigging the apparatus, firing lines to the hapless crew, and then hauling them to safety. At other times they would row through raging surf in fragile boats and pluck sailors from precarious perches on sinking ships. Sometimes they would risk their lives to plunge directly into the sea and carry wreck victims to shore one by one. As the regulations stated, surfmen were required to go out and attempt the rescue. Nothing said they had to come back.

But mostly they did. And usually all lives were saved, even if the ships were a total loss. Not infrequently, shipwreck reports note with understatement that the beach cart and apparatus were left at the scene, as the life savers were "worn out."

I believe we do well to remember the many brave and courageous Outer Bankers who put their lives at risk to save untold numbers of people they had never met.

Today, of course, accurate charts, radar, sonar, and GPS complement more traditional means of navigation (dead reckoning, spyglasses, sextants, and lighthouses) to help insure safer passage along North Carolina's treacherous Outer Banks. I wouldn't say that sailing off shore is mere child's play, but it is definitely much safer than in days gone by.

To see new items we've added to our on-line catalog, please click here: "What's New at Village Craftsmen".

You can read our latest newsletter here. It's the story of the Community Store and other general stores on the island.
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Ocracoke Business for Sale

It is Wednesday (well, actually, I am writing this on Tuesday evening -- I will be off island on Wednesday for another dental appointment). So I don't have any up-to-date news. However, an island friend told me that he and his wife have their Ocracoke business for sale. I know that many of our off-island readers fantasize about moving to the island and managing a small business. So, for their benefit, I am including a link to the business for sale: http://www.ocracokerestoration.com/

If you are interested, please contact Tom or Carol directly. Their email address is posted on their web site.

To see new items we've added to our on-line catalog, please click here: "What's New at Village Craftsmen".

You can read our latest newsletter here. It's the story of the Community Store and other general stores on the island.
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