Last night cool winds began to ripple through the village. After weeks of unseasonably warm days it was beginning to seem like Fall. I even put the heat on and settled down for the evening with my latest book.
Today I'll continue concentrating on catching up -- organizing my office, answering emails, writing notes, ordering a new lap top, working on the Village Craftsmen web site. During the busy tourist season, it seems, everything falls to the wayside, and it takes weeks (months even) to "tie up all the loose ends."
Several days ago I was asked, "Will you still be doing any walking tours [ghost and history tours] or is it getting to cold & slow???" Well, it's getting pretty cold and slow! We will be offering a tour on the Friday after Thanksgiving, but otherwise we'll be taking a break until next Spring.
In other news, the NC DOT has published a new website with information on the NC 12 bridge replacement project on Ocracoke Island. You can access their site directly (and keep up-to-date on the project) by going to www.ocracokebridges.com
Our latest Newsletter is an article about Blackbeard the pirate and new research that suggests he may have been born in eastern North Carolina. You can read it here.
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It's interesting to me that fall often times brings to mind books...
ReplyDeleteIt's my favorite time of year!
How did you come up with the contents of your tour for the ghost parts.
ReplyDeleteHow does one determine if a place is haunted or border s being haunted what is the meaning of haunted or do you find the stories of tragedy and sorrow to weave into the walk --if you were to Outline a format for me to fill in the blanks for researching such a thing in my town I would appreciate it
I have been collecting Ocracoke stories and tales for years, but only in more recent years have I begun documenting details. I might have heard that a woman turned over in her grave, but didn't know who it was, when it happened, or how others discovered that it had happened. So I'd visit with village elders and ask questions (and keep extensive written notes) until I had enough details to put the story together.
ReplyDeleteI never concern myself with determining if a place is haunted. As far as I can determine, all stories about ghosts and "haints" are anecdotal. I think we are wasting our time "investigating" these folk tales. They are almost certainly the result of vivid imaginations coupled with the dread of death, darkness, and many other "d" words (disease, danger, & despair come to mind). And the tales become embellished as the years go by. That’s what makes them so much fun. I think the stories are worth preserving for no other reason than that they are part of our cultural heritage. My tours are actually "ghost and history tours." I use the ghost stories to provide entertainment while sharing interesting and informative nuggets of local island history.
I have no outline. My main advice is to simply spend time (lots of time) visiting older folks and documenting their stories. Then I weave them together to provide what I hope is an engaging and entertaining tour.
Hope this helps