Sunday, April 27, 2014

Sandals

Amy stopped by Saturday morning. "What are those sandals doing over there in the corner of your yard?" she asked.




















"Oh, Katie was walking by last night, on her way to Zillie's," I said. "She wanted to go barefooted, and asked if she could leave her sandals here. Of course, I said she could. So Katie plopped her footwear over the fence, and continued on her way."

After giving Amy the explanation, I thought...what a unique place this is. It is not every community where neighbors leave their shoes in your yard so they can enjoy walking barefooted to meet friends and enjoy a glass of wine.

Who knows, the sandals may still be in my yard the next time you walk down Lawton Lane, a subtle symbol of a great community.

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is the story of traveling to the island on Frazier Peele's ferry in 1951. You can read it here: http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news042114.htm.

13 comments:

  1. Anonymous9:15 AM

    most people would just carry their sandals......sounds like she has already had too much wine.

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  2. Anonymous9:52 AM

    I'd say on Ocracoke, people would leave the sandals. Then, if someone else walked along and needed to borrow them because of sore feet, they'd be welcome to borrow them and return them when they were finished. Anonymous 9:15 sounds like a snobby dingbatter that jumps to rude conclusions.

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  3. Anonymous10:49 AM

    Anon 9:52: What's a dingbatter?

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  4. I hope they are my size!

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  5. Anonymous5:30 PM

    I ran over a pair of panties on my bicycle on Howard St one time.

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  6. Anonymous5:38 PM

    Now, it might be typical on Ocracoke for folks to share things. I know Philip even loans out his truck fairly often. However, I do not believe sharing panties is a custom, yet. But hey, Ocracoke is filled with awful kind people. I guess anything is possible. That thought leaves me a bit qualmish though.

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  7. Anonymous5:55 PM

    good reply anon 5:38. see, good Ocracoke humor. I am sure that anon 5:15 was just kidding and that anon 9:52 was WAY too serious to a little kidding around...lighten up ocracoke, there soon will be a lot of people invading your island for a little fun and kidding around....the thought of finding panties on a path leaves me a little qualmish myself - and I'm a guy! haha have fun ocracoke. The Millers

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  8. Katie picked up her sandals this afternoon (Sunday).

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  9. Anonymous9:34 AM

    I would be most fearful of stepping on something and cutting my foot. As a child this happened to me while I was in the ocean, the laceration required stitches. Was it a sharp shell or a broken bottle, I do not know. Anyway, PH is there a pooper scooper law on OI? I do not think stepping in dog droppings is good luck. Is there a problem of folk failing to clean up after their pets? Are visiting pets posing problems? Also, I have heard that distemper is on the rise. According to a park Ranger in South Carolina this is the explanation for an increasing number of raccoon running about during the day. Hope this does not become an issue on OI.

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  10. Most people clean up after their pets. And Katie didn't step on any dog poop, broken glass or sharp shells...and she wasn't bitten by a rabid raccoon. So all is well.

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  11. Anonymous12:27 PM

    The question is, did Katie come back with her own panties on? If not, at least we know she did have the option of borrowing the pairs that are now conveniently being left for loan on Howard street. I guess on Ocracoke there really is no reason to "get your panties in a wad..."

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  12. Anonymous6:37 PM

    Philip....isn't it amazing how such a simple thing can turn into all of this? You didn't know your words could trigger such a reaction. Pure entertainment.

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  13. Anonymous8:33 AM

    I never considered that distemper could have been an issue on the island. Perhaps a rabid raccoon who was out looking for sandals stepped in some dog poop that a visiting dingbatter left unattended. The racoon then went looking for something to clean his feet, because obviously we can't expect him to wear sandals on Ocracoke. He then found the panties on a clothesline, managed to pull them down and clean his feet. Leaving them on Howard street as he fled for safety. The sad part is, this is only a theory. It could be that a piping plover left them on his way escaping the murderous ORV gangs that now plague the island beaches.

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