Blog-NC
Sept 9
Tick, Tock,
Tick, Tock, Deer Ticks, yuck!
I have never
before seen a seer tick. Today I had my
fill. I pulled about a dozen off of me
today. My companions also had their
share but I ‘won’ for having and hopefully removing, the most. We took a boat ride to a barrier island in
hopes of seeing wild horses. We saw a
lot of horse poo and some of it looking fairly fresh but we saw no wild
horses. We looked everywhere – well, I
guess not everywhere (apparently not where the horses were) but we trampled
through high grass and over sand dunes, around drift wood and litter, walked on
shells and avoided waves – no wild horses.
Other people saw them so we know there were there. After two hours in the hot sun we boarded the
boat to ride back to the mainland. As a
reward for having spent so much time and not meeting our goal we did the only
things we knew would make up for the lost time – we ate ice cream. As we were sitting in the shade bemoaning the
fact that we had failed to find the horses when I looked up and out across the
water on a very nearby island were two horses.
So at the end of it all we got to see what we could not find in two
hours of searching.
Coming back
to the house hot and tired we cleaned ourselves up – found another tick, and
headed out to dinner, just a very short walk down the street. Did we have reservations? – well, no. but we were able to make them then and there
for about 45 minutes later. Back to the
house for a strawberry daiquiri – yumm!
While we were there we notices a woman walking down to the beach,
checking on something and then walking back.
A quick question later we found out that she was checking on a turtle
nest that is due to hatch at any time.
When we were walking the beach last evening we saw some people sitting
by a trench made out of black plastic.
The trenches guide the little ones down to the ocean when they hatch.
When the time is ripe volunteers keep watch at night for the first signs of the
eggs hatching. This event is taking
place on the beach right behind the house we are staying in. We went down and watched for awhile
tonight. I’m sleeping on the couch
tonight in hopes that they will come let us know if anything is happening
tonight. Apparently the blessed event
usually takes place at night.
We did
return to the restaurant for a delicious meal.
Once again – good food, good talk,
great friends. Can it get any
better? Once again our hearts are full
of gratitude..
Sept 10,2013
An Evening
on the Beach….
..was a very
eventful one. It followed a visit in the
morning to Beaufort, NC just down the road a bit. While in town we visit the Maritime
Museum. A small but informative
museum. It told of the area, fish, sea
life, residents, pirates and shipwrecks.
Apparently, Black Beard was a famous resident of the area.
For lunch we visited a little café. It had charm, well maybe, and the food was
about a 1 on a scale of one to ten.
After a wonderful dinner and cleanup we headed
for the beach with our beach chairs. We
just sat and watch the ocean for a while then we noticed a fisherman with a
pole bent with the weight of an apparent fish.
He struggled for a short time before he landed,,,,his shark. It was about 5 foot long and weighed -
couldn’t even venture a guess. (This is
of course the same water Jerry has been swimming in all week. And continues to swim in.) The shark was landed and flopped around on
the beach for a while. It wasn’t being treated
very kindly but it was impressive to see.
A few pictures later and when someone appeared with a very large knife
we walked back down to our chairs.
By this time
it was evident that something was going on with the turtle nest. There appeared an indentation in the
sand. This happens when the turtles
begin to come out of their shells and the sand above the eggs begins to fall down
around them. There were official turtle
people there, all volunteers and unofficial onlookers. This all began about 7:30. There was excitement in
the air – you could feel it. By about
9:20 things began to happen. The nest
began to ‘boil’, aka little black heads
began to show. One little guy was out
ahead of the rest. He was anxious to
answer the call of the wild. Head out of
the sand, body to follow. Number one was
off and running, away from the nest, down the prepared chutes and towards the
ocean. About a minute later he was in
the water headed for the deep blue sea.
The rest followed. Sometimes one
or two at a time, sometimes 8 to 20 at a time.
What a sight to behold! The
miracle of nature in action. And we were
there to witness it! What an opportunity. There is a lot that goes in to helping these
little guys get to the sea. No, they
can’t be touched. And since they are
attracted to light there are no flashlights or other lights used. Not even red lights. Near the nest is a fishing pier, a fishing
pier with lights. Fear was that the
lights would attract the little turtles and send them crashing into the
pilings. Thus, the chute with black
plastic on either side and a sand trench smooth and ready to guide them towards
their watery home. Once in awhile
someone or two would scoot under the plastic and head towards the light –
official person to the rescue in guiding them back to the trail. So with no lights and very little moonlight
it was very hard to see just what we were witnessing on occasion, when your
eyes adjusted, you could make out their little flippers walking them down to
where the flipper would give up the walking and start the swimming. Some of the turtle people were very concerned
about the survival of the turtles because of the lights from the pier. At one point a man walked up to one of the
turtle people and asked if he could help in anyway. The frustrated person said only if he could
turn out the lights from the pier.
Turned out that he could do that – he was the mayor. Shortly after that most of the lights on the
pier went out. But then there were the
lights from the street and the moon was fading.
These little one have to swim out some 20 miles before they are caught
up in the current that heads them out to the Gulf of Mexico. 20 miles!
God bless them!
Unofficial
count was between 91-98. On Friday even
the Turtle people will come back and dig up the nest. They will do an egg count among other things.
One
unbelievable, unexpected, marvelous part of this whole miracle is that we were
here to witness it. What a gift!!
One more
thing…..there is a nest about ¼ mile from here that is about to ‘boil’ at
anytime. What are the chances…………?
Sept 12
The evening
went from wonderful …
…to just
plain weird, Last evening we took a walk
to check on the status of the turtle nest about ½ mile up the beach. There was an indentation an indication that
something might be happening but some of the turtle people thought it might be
just a crab hole. No way to tell I
guess. But people were gathering and
camping out for the night, at least part of the night until they could
determine if the nest would ‘boil’ or not.
Sat out on
the back deck for a while. Watch the
moon and stars. Jerry and I saw a meteor. Cool.
All of us saw three of something that looked like flares out above the
ocean. About 20 minutes or so later we
watch a helicopter fly out over the water, make a couple of circles then fly
out a little further. It seemed to hover
for awhile then fly on off towards the shore line.
After a
little more star watching we headed up to bed.
It is now 4:23 a.m. I was awaken
an hour ago with noises that sounded like the house door opening. I listened for a while and heard it again,
and again. Thinking it might be Anna
needing something for the baby I got up only to find things in the house very
normal, a.k.a. everyone else was asleep.
I peeked out the windows there was a young woman walking up our back
steps. She carried a camping
lantern. One that was not giving off
much light. What to do???? I got her attention by asking if I could help
her. That could have been pretty
stupid! She said that she was looking
for someone and walked away. She walked
down the road to the next house and then walked back again. Not having windows on all four sides of the
house I lost track of her. The noises
have stopped. Everyone else is
asleep. I should be too but …
Sept 13
Events of
the day;
Breakfast
at 4 Corners Diner
A walk/run
on Hoop Hole Nature preserve-a little piece of jungle on the shore line. And about ¼ mile down the path Jerry started
complaining about the bugs. When I
looked over at him he was literally covered in flies, about 2 dozen of
them. Decided to nix the trail and he
took off running for the car. Somehow
the flies were more attracted to Jerry than to me. I was able to walk back to the car swinging
my hat all the way.
We did a
tour of Fort Macon just up the road from where we are staying. I have trouble doing fort tours or anything
connected with battles or war. I busy
myself with taking pictures of nonviolent things; doorways, steps, anything
will do.
After the
tour a nap was in order. Not having
slept much the night before due to the mystery lady that appeared at our house
(see previous blog).
The rest of
the evening was very enjoyable. We drove
up to New Bern for an evening of classical music. Four performers
Sept 14
Oh, My
Goodness…..
…again. Another Miracle by Moonlight. I think I mentioned that there was another
turtle nest down the beach about ½ mile.
Yesterday there was a small depression.
Not much happening. We figured
----oh wait, let me back up a little.
Friday evening at 7:00 all the Turtle People showed up at the old nest
near our house. They were going to
evacuate the nest. Check to see if there
was anything worth noting. Volunteers
began the dig. The first thing they
found was a live little turtle. He was
probably just trying to make his way to the top. Maybe he was caught under the other eggs up
to this time. Anyway, with everyone
excited beyond words, they checked the little guy out, determined that he could
make it to the ocean on his own and placed him on the sand. Wonderful thing was that the sun was still
out so pictures could be taken. Everyone
silently cheered him on. He made
it. Second order of business was to
remove the hatch eggs for a count. 127! plus
15 unhatched eggs. Some undeveloped,
some rotten. In the end the shells were
placed back in to the hole to let nature take its course.
Okay, fast
forward to 9:15 p.m. My cell phone rang-
it was Turtle Sherry who has had my # since Monday. She promised to call when anything
happened. Turns out the second nest was
moving right along and they thought it might be soon, sometime during the night
or in the next few days.
We hoofed it
down the beach. Low and behold, the nest
was beginning to’ boil’. Within about 15
minutes of our arrival the turtles made their appearance. The half moon was bright and the little
turtles knew just what to do. On to the
ocean! March On! Right, Left, Right, Left. Build up those flipper muscles. Your going to need the strength to make it
out to the Gulf Stream Current. Go! Go!
Go! The tide was out so the march was a
little long. But they all made it. What the mechanics of all of this is
unknown. Why mostly at night? How do they know in what directions to march
towards? Perhaps it is best just to let
the mystery be.
The silence,
the moonlight, the sense excitement, of awe and wonder –
The Miracle
by Moonlight!
