And now, Ladies and Gentlemen, back from the warm, into the snow. . .

 

Unexpected Easter Eggs

We came back from our vacation to the Outer Banks, in North Carolina, last week. There was the usual scramble to catch up on all things house and volunteer (still scrambling), and then it was Easter just 2 days ago. 

We usually go out for Easter dinner. . .a holdover from when we had kids, dogs, house repair, the whole catastrophe, and I wasn't up to cooking another holiday feast. But I didn't think to make any reservations, and John and I were a little overindulged during the trip. So he made dinner, I made dessert, and on a whim, decided to dye a few eggs for the nostalgia of it. Are these beautiful or what? I had some PAAS Easter Egg dye from years ago, and thought I'd use that sucker up. The eggs I dyed happened to be brown. I Could Not Believe how beautiful these cheesy dyes presented on the brown eggs. I almost didn't want to use them. But we did. Egg salad and Creamed Eggs on toast. Some humble food for our tired-of-fancy-food bodies.

Daffodils in March

The trip South delivered the desired soil and blooms as we slowly made our way to the Outer Banks. Daffodils were in full bloom in Lansdale, PA. as Jasper photo-bombed this picture. 

We also visited Assateague Island, where the ponies are much more abundant (and unafraid) than they were when I visited there as a kid. It was actually a little disturbing. Islands are limited ecosystems, and apparently they have to herd them back across the causeway when they wander over to the mainland. Is this a sustainable system? 

I have a very fond memory of vacationing on Chincoteague Island as a child. My father knew I was a serious Misty of Chincoteague fan (a book by Marguerite Henry), and asked around to see if we might be able to see the pony in person. It was a sort of "no big deal" thing, but as I look back on it, it was extraordinarily sweet. We followed very Local directions (turn right at the big white barn kind of stuff), found a very unimposing house and barn, and a young man who either worked or lived there took us out to the stable where Misty lived. 

Ponies on Assateague

 I was thrilled (evidence in the photo), Dad, a serious amateur photographer, snapped a few images, and we went back to fishing. I can't imagine something like that happening today on so many levels. It's a very sweet memory, and I appreciate the fact that my Dad recorded it.

Misty, Me, and a Boy

 

 

 

But back to the trip. Unlike my Dad, I am terrible at taking photos when I'm on a trip. I chalk it up to being too much in the moment to record it, but it could be that I'm just lazy. Or not interested in playing that role? Don't know.

But! We made our way down to the Outer Banks, settled in to our VRBO, and waiting for our friends to come. They also have a dog, so hiking was the thing. Yay! I was really fascinated by the Maritime forests on the island. The eco system is so not Maine. The Bald Cypress are particularly cool trees, and of course I took not ONE picture of them. So I've stolen one from Captain Mitch's Airboat Tours. We learned about these trees in horticulture classes because of the unique mechanism they use to tolerate living in the water. The "knees" they form allow them to absorb oxygen for their physiological processes. Most trees die quickly when submerged.

Bald Cypress from www.captainmitchs.com

 We wandered around the swampy land, seeing tons of turtles, eagles, lots of birds, and very tall Loblolly pines. We also, of course, walked along the beach, which was just a couple of blocks from our residence. The first day, we saw dolphins in the not-to-far distance, and ranks and files of pelicans were common.

Finally, we came home to not only Easter, but the aftermath of a terrible spring storm. We had snow piled up on our front door entrance (4-5 feet tall), and our local trails, once again, suffered badly with downed trees. 

Down Trees in Waterville Maine

So that's the plan for the next few weeks: clean up the trails. 

Caveat: We have a strong northeaster coming in tomorrow night that is predicted to dump 12-18" of snow on us. What a climate-changing world. But as Paul Simon said "Gee it's great to be back home. . ."