Snow, Sleet, & Hail

A belated Happy Easter to all of our readers! Didn't write a journal entry yesterday. We all need a day off now and then.

This weekend was strange. At least the weather has been. Saturday started out cold and blustery -- somewhat unusual for mid-April, at least the cold was. Then a customer walked in and said she had seen snow earlier in the day. That was hard to believe, but not long after that I looked out the window and it was snowing....or sleeting....or hailing. I couldn't tell which. I walked outside to see. It was an odd, "clumpy" snow. It wasn't hail or sleet, but it wasn't normal snowflakes either. And it only lasted for a few minutes.

Later on we did have a bit of sleet, and at one point a little rain. In between it all the sun would come out and brighten the day. Like I said, it was strange.

A brief historical note: Yesterday was the 146th anniversary of the wreck of the brig "Black Squall." The Black Squall was loaded with sugar or circus animals, depending on which accounts you read. Maybe it was both. But the circus animals have provided Ocracokers with a wonderfully eccentric story that I must share with all of our readers. But that will have to wait for another day.

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter tells how to make a traditional wooden whistle from a myrtle branch. You can read the newsletter here.