Sails and Sunsets

Until last night I had never attended a wedding on a sailboat or attended one barefooted..but for one evening the Emily Post rules of etiquette and the wedding planners were dashed.

Joy, a wonderful friend of Philip, and her fiance, Joseph, chose the island for their wedding. Over the course of the week, family members flew and drove and ferried over (it is a lot of work to get here!!)...til all were gathered on the dock last evening. We all spilled upon the Windfall leaving shoes behind...A cooler of champagne was carried onto the boat. The bride carried a bouquet of local flowers picked on the side of the road and off dusty paths. Captain Rob and his first mate, Frank, hoisted sails as the wind carried us out into Pamlico Sound. When deep out into the water, the ceremony took place...six little nieces from four to fifteen read poetry of Emily Dickinson and Elizabeth Barret Browning and from the Velveteen Rabbit...The sun set as a crystal scarlet globe as we toasted the couple and sailed the Sound. The girls sang...it was peaceful...it was romantic...

A reception of homemade cake and visiting and stories followed. I don't think I will ever think about the Velveteen Rabbit again finding love...without thinking of a scarlet setting sunset and sails.

Dinner Party...

Last night we hosted a dinner party...friends of Philip's..new friends of mine. I love dinner parties here...they are casual (yes, we had barefeet)...they don't take too long in planning (we got home from the beach at 5:30)...and if you foget something (we did!!)...they will bring it!!

Karen and Dave arrived late (which was a good..see above) carrying clams casino. Dave is a park ranger for Portsmouth Island..a non-inhabited island (he takes his boat to work each each, thereby missing the bike traffic here on the island at rush hour!!) Karen works at a local island resort..although has been a teacher and now also home schools her daughters.

Our place was festive with new candles in the wrought iron chandelier over the table, lots of red wine and fresh caught shrimp from Danny's Seafood establishement. Philip steamed the shrimp and served them in a large bowl in the center the table...along with cole slaw and sweet corn (not the best, but nobody cared!!) and brownie sundaes for dessert. Amy stopped by to say hello and had dinner also!!

We toasted friendship and dinners and quiet times spent with friends..the talk was of island politics and folks and children...of all ages and those yet to be born.

We left the dishes and masses of dripped candlewax til morning. It was a lovely evening...strong stories, strong folks...oh, and all those clam shells were tossed into my garden so that I will remember the evening.

Sizzling Summer

It is hot here on the island...July hot..firecracker hot..dogs snoozing under old cedar trees hot. We have all the accomodations thought...air conditioning, ice cream, cool showers, and not to forget the ocean for a sweet/salty dip on these mid summer afternoons.

Growing up in Northern Indiana didn't give us much beach front, but we did spend summers for several years on Lake Michigan as kids. We rented a large house right on the water. Mom would start gathering food supplies in January in a small pantry and by early summer we had pancake mix and syrup (and other sundries) to feed a small army...well, we were a small army of six children!!

By early July supplies and children were all packed into our car, I was always in the middle of the back seat to entertain the younger siblings...songs and stories..Dad would always give a quarter to the first one of us to see the water. I think he started the game a hundred miles short of shore to keep us all busy and looking.

Our summer days were long and lazy...just books to read, suntan oil to spread, and games to play long into the night. Actually, I think I have had enough writing, I'm off to the beach now to cool off from this sizzling summer!!

Ghostly meanderng in Haiku for Tuesday

mariner footsteps
gliding through clam filled pathways
just looking for home

sails of ivory
silent in Pamlico Sound
dressed in white linen

shadows of shipwrecks
distant voices pierce the night
bones under my feet

shiftlessly she walks
the old woman down the lane
missing her finger

home to back yard graves
wind whistling in live oaks
turn on the porch light