You never know what to expect on Ocracoke. Yesterday I was invited out, with a handful of friends, for an early evening dinner. It was a simple and informal affair, typical of Ocracoke -- sloppy joes, potato salad, coleslaw, and deviled eggs. We took our dessert, bowls of ice cream, into the living room, and sat around chatting, telling stories & sharing jokes. Before long four of the men began singing and harmonizing. The dulcet tones of "Sweet Adeline," "Let Me Call You Sweetheart," "My Wild Irish Rose," and other Barbershop Quartet songs filled the house. Later, we all joined in on a number of Broadway Musical tunes.

You never know what to expect on Ocracoke!

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is Captain Rob's essay, "Schooner Windfall Sails into the Final Sunset." You can read it here:http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news052110.htm.

I've taken my boat out clamming a couple of times lately (I intended to take my camera to shoot a few photos, but I keep forgetting -- maybe next time). Clamming is such a tranquil, even meditative, endeavor. There's no rush or hurry. Just gently pushing the clam rake under a clear blue sky, the top of the lighthouse peeking above the tree tops in the distance. It's not unusual to see a crab scurrying away, a few jumping mullet, or even a skate. In an hour or so we'd have enough clams for supper.

Back home we open the clams, and arrange them on a cookie sheet. A dollop of white wine and a slice of bacon on each one, then a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese...and they're ready to broil until the bacon is crisp.

Complement the clams with wheat thins (or another type of cracker) and a glass of wine, sit on the pizer with friends, and chat about life as the sun sets the western sky ablaze and sinks below the horizon.

Life is good!

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is Captain Rob's essay, "Schooner Windfall Sails into the Final Sunset." You can read it here:http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news052110.htm.

Thursday was not what I expected the day to be like. Because of a medical emergency I started the day driving to the Nags Head Hospital. My daughter needed out-patient surgery. The procedure was routine, and she recovered quickly. David was there also, but he returned to Ocracoke in the afternoon so he could play with Molasses Creek for their Thursday evening performance. Amy and I stayed "up the beach" for a few hours just to make sure everything was OK, before driving back to Ocracoke.

We returned to the island yesterday evening, tired but well. Amy is recovering nicely. The inconvenience of not having a hospital nearby is a small price to pay for living in this very special place.

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is Captain Rob's essay, "Schooner Windfall Sails into the Final Sunset." You can read it here:http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news052110.htm.

That's right...I missed the women's arm wrestling tournament last night...for the second year in a row. Tuesday nights are our Ghost & History Walks, and we had two full groups already signed up. They were wonderful folks, and we had a great time. (It always helps to have participants who are visibly creeped out by the stories!) I thought I would bike down to S'McNally's for the arm wrestling after the walk, but I had already missed more than an hour and a half of the event...and I was tired. So I just went home to relax. Maybe one of our readers was there and can give us a report.

That's right...the 2nd Annual Ocracoke Women's Arm Wrestling Tournament is tonight at 8:00 at S'McNally's outdoor restaurant on Silver Lake Harbor! Registration is at 7:30. Prizes will be awarded for first place, runner up, and best costume. Cost is $5.00 to wrestle...and $6.00 to watch! All proceeds benefit our new community radio station, WOVV (90.1 on your radio dial). I missed last year's tournament, but understand it was the event of the year.

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is Captain Rob's essay, "Schooner Windfall Sails into the Final Sunset." You can read it here:http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news052110.htm.

The school gymnasium was filled last night (SRO) as the Ocracoke community gathered to witness our school principal and county superintendent award diplomas to Samantha, Jordan, DJ, and Aaron. Unlike in so many larger schools, Ocracoke commencement exercises are very personal. Both principal George Ortman and speaker Marcy Brenner knew each of the seniors well. In their remarks they often addressed the new graduates by name, and shared stories and insights to encourage them as they venture forth.

One theme in Marcy's address was the value of community. The sense of community was underscored clearly by the enthusiastic turnout of so many residents of the island to celebrate with the graduates, to congratulate them, and to wish them well.

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is Captain Rob's essay, "Schooner Windfall Sails into the Final Sunset." You can read it here:http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news052110.htm.

I am a tad embarrassed to admit that I've never read anything by John Dos Passos (1896-1970), American writer and artist. He was a contemporary and one-time friend of Ernest Hemingway. Jean-Paul Sartre called Dos Passos "the greatest writer of our time."

On page 222 of Virginian Carr's biography, Dos Passos, A Life, she writes about the author's 1926 trek up the Outer Banks, including his stop at Ocracoke. After attending a square dance at the old Pamlico Inn, he and his companions set out walking up the beach in the moonlight. They passed a herd of wild ponies and "the silhouettes of hulls and masts of shipwrecks casting grotesque shadows upon the fine white sands. The sojourners counted some forty vessels in one area alone."

You can read the relevant excerpt from Carr's book here.

I'll look for one of Dos Passos' books. Maybe you'll want to read one also.

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Last night I stepped outside after midnight and looked up into the sky. I am regularly awed by the panoply of stars visible from Ocracoke on a clear night. The big dipper, of course, is always prominent...and the milky way seems to be a swath painted on the heavens by a celestial brush. Last night the immensity of time and space struck me once again as truly incomprehensible. Then my eye turned to my tiny cottage, a safe and comfortable refuge from the big, imponderable questions.

One day we will find answers to some of those questions, but surely more questions will arise. In the meanwhile the night sky at Ocracoke provides a ready dose of awe and mystery.

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is Captain Rob's essay, "Schooner Windfall Sails into the Final Sunset." You can read it here:http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news052110.htm.

I believe Ocracoke School is still the smallest public school in North Carolina. The last I heard there were 135 students in grades pre-K through 12th grade. Here are a few interesting facts about this very special school:

-- None of the students arrive at school by bus. They walk, ride bikes, drive, or are brought to school by family or friends. The school does have an activity bus (for off-island trips), but not a standard school bus.
-- The school does not have a cafeteria. Students may go home for lunch, or bring a bag lunch to eat at school.
-- The only school sport is basketball (there aren't enough students in any age group to complete a team in most other sports).
-- The first graduating class was in 1938. Alumni can purchase t-shirts that list every person who has ever graduated from Ocracoke School.
-- This year four seniors will be receiving their diplomas this Sunday, June 13, at 7 pm: Aaron Caswell, Jordan Jones, Samantha VanDerMyde, and DJ Lukefahr.

Congratulation to Aaron, Jordan, Samantha, and DJ! We wish you the best as you move forward.

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is Captain Rob's essay, "Schooner Windfall Sails into the Final Sunset." You can read it here:http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news052110.htm.

If you've tried to call Village Craftsmen (or leave a voice message) the last few days you may have been unable to connect with us. On Sunday power was out for several hours all over the island. Since Monday our phones have not been working. Finally, yesterday morning, a technician came by and determined that the "brain" for our sophisticated phone system was fried. It will probably be a couple of weeks before we can get a new system installed (remember, this is Ocracoke!).

As a temporary measure Wilton rewired our phone lines to accept standard one-line telephones. So I scrounged around my workshop, and asked friends for a few standard telephones. This is what we've ended up with:


We're still having trouble with our voice mail. If you call us after hours, on weekends, or when Jude is away from her desk, you may not be prompted to leave a voice message. We're sorry for the inconvenience, but just keep trying to call (best times are Mon - Fri, 10 am - 6 pm) -- or send us an email (info@villagecraftsmen.com).

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is Captain Rob's essay, "Schooner Windfall Sails into the Final Sunset." You can read it here:http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news052110.htm.

Theo Coulombe, who visits Ocracoke often, stopped by yesterday with a few photos he took of the OcraFolk Festival this past weekend. These give only the tiniest glimpse into the variety of talent displayed at the Festival.

The first photo is of a spontaneous sextet entertaining the crowd with a peppy gospel number Sunday morning. The second photo gives a sense of the size of the enthusiastic crowd gathered around the Live Oak Stage (and in the fork of the tree). And the last picture I included because I like the perspective.

Click on any photo to view a larger image.







Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is Captain Rob's essay, "Schooner Windfall Sails into the Final Sunset." You can read it here:http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news052110.htm.

Amy, David, and I had a great time last night sharing stories and music at the Deepwater Theater. It was the first night of our new program, "You Ain't Heard Nothin' Yet, Strange Stories & Quirky Tales of Ocracoke Island." Participants in Donald Davis' Storytelling Workshop attended...and they were a terrific audience. The setting was informal, so it felt more like a conversation than a performance.

David played his fiddle as folks settled into their chairs. Amy got everyone's attention right away by telling about growing up on the island and attending the smallest public school in North Carolina.

In my first story I painted a mental picture of traveling to and from Ocracoke years ago on the mailboat Aleta, and a little later, on Frazier Peele's first (and very primitive) ferry across Hatteras Inlet. Amy and I shared fascinating stories of shipwrecks, cemeteries, the ghost of Old Diver, Blackbeard's skull, and the time circus animals roamed the island. David entertained the audience by playing one of Ocracoke's best loved local tunes, Paddy's Holler.

We will be doing our show this summer on Monday evenings at 8 o'clock. It is about an hour and a quarter long, and the cost is $10 for adults, and $5 for children (6-12). We hope to see you there sometime.

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is Captain Rob's essay, "Schooner Windfall Sails into the Final Sunset." You can read it here:http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news052110.htm.

So much going on during the OcraFolk Festival -- music, auction, square dance, more music, crafts, & more great music. As in years past, my house on Lawton Lane was the Green Room, the place for musicians to gather between sets to rest, relax, chat, store their instruments, and grab a bite to eat. The weather was so perfect -- sunny but breezy -- that we didn't even turn on the A/C. Just opened all the windows and let the fresh air waft through the house.

Last night many of the musicians gathered at my house again for a very informal jam session. In many ways, for me, it's the best part of the Festival. The music just seems to penetrate the walls of this old house, seeping between the cracks and into the beams that were salvaged from long-ago shipwrecks. The photograph of my grandparents (Aliph & Homer...she played the concertina, he played the fiddle) looked down on the folks with a pleased expression during the old-time music...and, it seemed, with sterner visage during the few more raucous numbers.

I'll have a few photos and more information about the Festival in a day or so, so check back often.

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In other news, the Memorial Day weekend Fireman's Ball was a huge success. The silent and live auctions brought in $ 22,174. The total amount raised during the even was approximately $60,000.00!! Many thanks to all who contributed time, energy, and money for another successful fund raiser.

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is Captain Rob's essay, "Schooner Windfall Sails into the Final Sunset." You can read it here:http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news052110.htm.

If you are on the island be sure to come out to the school gym tonight at 6 pm for the Festival kickoff pot-luck dinner. Just bring yourself and a simple dish, drink, or dessert. The Festival will provide several tasty main courses provided by some of Ocracoke's best restaurants.

At 7:30 the live auction begins. Get a number and start bidding on dozens of outstanding items. After the auction sit back and enjoy the "blazing footwork" of the Green Grass Cloggers.

On Saturday, starting at 9 am & continuing throughout the day, enjoy music and storytelling at the Live Oak Stage, the Howard Street Stage, Deepwater Theater, the School Gym, and the Community Center. Artists and craftspersons will be displaying and selling their wares on Howard Street and the School Road.

The Festival continues Sunday at the Live Oak Stage with a Gospel Sing and more music from 9:30 am until 3:45 pm.

For more information click here: http://www.ocrafolkfestival.org/

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is Captain Rob's essay, "Schooner Windfall Sails into the Final Sunset." You can read it here:http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news052110.htm.

Several days ago Earl O'Neal told me he had several photos of my dad taken twenty to forty years ago. One, he said, showed my dad pretending he was standing in storm water up to his neck. Well, I now have the photo. The water is only just up above his knees...but he is acting silly, making believe the tide is much deeper than it actually is.



Earl also sent this photo of a clam my dad claimed he had raked up in Pamlico Sound.



(Click on any photo to view a larger image.)

Hardly a week goes by that Amy doesn't remind me that my dad will live on as long as Lachlan maintains his impish spirit!

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is Captain Rob's essay, "Schooner Windfall Sails into the Final Sunset." You can read it here:http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news052110.htm.

In the midst of the hubbub of activities (barbecues, cook-outs, family outings, etc.) on this long weekend, it is well to take time to remember the many men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military. Perhaps the day will come when justice and peace will reign supreme in the world, and warfare is no more. We can always hope.


Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is Captain Rob's essay, "Schooner Windfall Sails into the Final Sunset." You can read it here:http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news052110.htm.

One o'clock in the afternoon yesterday we launched my traditional Ocracoke skiff. Here is a photo gallery of the event. You can click on any photo to view a larger image.

Backing her down the ramp:



Off the trailer:



Ready to board:



Shoving off (Philip, Al, Lachlan, Tom, & David):


Away we go:

Underway:

And best of all -- she didn't sink! At the dock, early Sunday morning:

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is Captain Rob's essay, "Schooner Windfall Sails into the Final Sunset." You can read it here:http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news052110.htm.

She's one of the last wooden skiffs on Ocracoke island. My dad built her about 35 years ago, and she's been out of the water for at least six years. For more than a month I've been working to get her seaworthy again. I've gathered up anchors, life jackets, battery, whistle, and other necessary equipment. I've purchased a new boat hook, steering cables, fuel lines, paint, and assorted small parts. I've repaired the bilge pump, the trailer, and the 48 hp Evinrude outboard (mostly I just needed to replace the spark plugs, and clean the carburetors and fuel pump). The biggest challenge has been to get the juniper planks to swell up and close the seams.

She's a pretty boat...a traditional coastal North Carolina skiff, with a bit of flair at the bow to give her style. This is what she looks like today:



(Click on the photo to view a larger image.)

I'm hoping to launch her sometime today or tomorrow. I'll let you know if the seams have closed up enough to keep her afloat!

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is Captain Rob's essay, "Schooner Windfall Sails into the Final Sunset." You can read it here:http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news052110.htm.

Yesterday evening I was invited to an open house hosted by new Ocracoke Island property owners, Trisha and Gary. As it turned out the sixth grader who shared the joke with me three days ago was at the gathering with her parents. Her name is Caroline Temple. She was pleased that I had posted our encounter on the Journal. Caroline's brother Emmet overheard our conversation and offered another version of the joke:

Rene Descartes enters a bar. The bartender beckons him to the bar and asks, "Would you like a beer, sir?"

"Of course," replies Descartes, "I drink, therefore I am."


Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is Captain Rob's essay, "Schooner Windfall Sails into the Final Sunset." You can read it here:http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news052110.htm.