Photo taken near Corolla in North Carolina last year.
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"I hope you will have a wonderful year, that you'll dream dangerously and outrageously, that you'll make something that didn't exist before you made it, that you will be loved and that you will be liked and that you will have people to love and to like in return. And, most importantly (because I think there should be more kindness and more wisdom in the world right now), that you will, when you need to be, be wise, and that you will always be kind."
Gregg's sister recently sent this rather spectacular shot of the moon on a beach. I always enjoy seeing her photos and am grateful she doesn't mind me sharing here. I have several more of her photos I would like to show you eventually.
It is now 6.50 p.m. and I am back at the house.I got up today for the sunrise. Gregg almost had to see it on his own as he left before me, with me mumbling some poor excuse about being too tired. I mumble things incoherently when I am almost all-the-way asleep. However, after he left I could not bear the thought of him seeing that sunrise on his own. I heard the door close and I had immediate regret, so I kicked my lazy butt out of bed and dressed faster than I usually do, literally throwing clothes on, raced down to the beach without any thought of twisted ankles - I have a history - had momentary panic when I couldn't see him, but looked and looked and there he was.
I snuck up behind him and gave him a big hug, experiencing a few seconds of thought that I might be hugging a complete stranger. I have been known to rush up to someone - rarely thank the powers - pat them on the back, chatting away for what seems like an eternity, thinking it was Gregg - that happened not so long ago - only to be greeted by a strange face in complete shock at being accosted by, whomever he thought I was. I don't blush too often but when I blush I am my own sunrise, and it was a wee bit dark that morning. I needn't have worried. Gregg saw me coming as he had a big smile on his face and he wasn't surprised. He knows me better than I know myself at times. A few minutes later here comes the sun. Surreal!
"Sunrise offered a very beautiful spectacle; the water was quite unruffled, but the motion communicated by the tides was so great that, although there was not a breath of air stirring, the sea heaved slowly with a grand and majestic motion."
~George Grey~
These are all Gregg's sunrise photos. I have some of my own which I will share at a later date.
It was a lovely time at the beach in that very special light. There were a few other sun worshippers.
As it got lighter we could see a familiar figure approaching. It was Gregg's sister.
We had a nice time chatting for a while....
and watched as these two cute dogs trotted by.
They were certainly enjoying their walk.
Gregg and his sister took a walk further up the beach and I meandered back to the house, taking lots of photos along the way,
finding a few shells,
I thought this was some kind of seaweed and was very surprised to find that it was an egg casing for a skate. I would like to spend more time at the beach to improve my knowledge of such things.
I came across the following here and here which gives more information.
I came across the remains of a horseshoe crab earlier. I look forward to the day when I can see a live one.
I see traces of those ghost crabs again...
and occasionally see them scurrying down into burrows as I walk along the path back to the house.
The dunes are high and you can't see the ocean when you reach the bottom level. It is very private and incredibly pretty.
There is a row of sea oats on the top of the dunes, and I believe this pink flower, quite tiny, is a perennial sand bean. These and the other fauna keep me well occupied. I am not sure what the spiky plant is.
I believe these are pokeweed berries. There is an interesting article at this link.
We have a private entrance and there is no one else to disturb my thoughts, and no one awake in the house yet. Once I had finished searching for wildflowers and ghost crabs, I found a comfortable chair andsat outside for a while enjoying the peacefulness of it all, looking up at the dunes and the pretty glow that still filled the sky.It was a perfect time of the day to do this. I stayed there for a half hour or so, before going in and getting ready for another day of sight-seeing.
Corolla, North Carolina Trip Fourth Day - Part 1- Beach and Birds Monday, September 4th, 2017
We started our day off with another great walk on the beach. Absolutely love looking out on the ocean. Such a treat to be here to do this. I miss living near but am content being given the gift of this week to enjoy.
A very nice lady walking by noticed that we were trying to take a selfie after I took this shot, and offered to take our photo.
We return the favor with others at every opportunity on this vacation. Her kindness was appreciated.
I started to notice these fascinating tracks in the sand, and discovered what was making them, an Atlantic Ghost Crab. They were everywhere and this one scurried into the hole a second later. They live in the sand in burrows above the high water mark. According to the website they have to return to the water every now and again to moisten their gills, or when their larvae is released into the sea. They are otherwise terrestrial.
There were a few other people enjoying the beach.
It is always a sweet sight to see parents enjoying time with their children.
This little girl was having a great ride thanks to daddy.
There were a few fishermen along the shoreline.
We enjoy the seagulls who sometimes gave us curious looks, but most of the time paid us no mind.
Gregg spotted his sister and her sister-in-law making their way to the steps up to the house rental.
And here's another one of the house.
Back to the seagulls, this one was doing its calisthenics. Wish I was that limber. Time to continue our walk.
We didn't get very far as there were a few Sanderlings on the beach, another favorite.
I think this little one is a juvenile.
I saw at least two pairs, one seemed to be begging its parent for food but parent was trying to ignore the persistent demands, on a mission to feed itself.
The little one was being taught to fend for itself.
We are heading to the lighthouse next but that will be in my next post.
We started the day off by having a lovely walk along the beach. The weather couldn't have been more perfect for a Labor Day Weekend. Hurricane Irma was on everyone's mind and the weather channel was on for a lot of the time when we were all back at the house.
Even for a holiday weekend there weren't a lot of people on this particular beach. Most of the crowds have gone home now that school has started. It was like this all week.
A selfie taken with the sun behind us, and outstretched arms holding camera showing in the reflection of the sunglasses. I wish I could say this was my artsy shot but not really.
The photo below shows the top of the house that Gregg's sister and her husband rented for the week. It was very pretty inside. I will share some of the nicknack photos I took in a future post.
I was told the grasses growing on the top of the dunes were called Sea Oats.
The night before our brother-in-law's brother and his wife asked us if we would like to go with them on a tour to see the wild mustangs which are famous in this area. We happily accepted their invitation.
The next day we drove to the tour company where we hopped onto a multi-seated hummer, which drives along the beach as well as on a few sandy, non-paved residential roads, anywhere the horses tend to go.
You could not drive in the reserve without a four-wheel drive and those big, wide tires.
To get to our seats which were at the back, and after climbing up a step ladder to actually get on the hummer, on our side we had to climb over three rows of seats, which included that of the driver. Thankfully they had been laid flat. I wish someone had been filming us, or maybe not. It would have fitted well into a comedy routine.
We drove towards the reserve and eventually found ourselves on the beach with other Labor Day beach goers, all parked in the middle of the wide sand.
Four-legged beach goers too.
We were hoping to see some horses on the beach but they were probably hiding from all the tourists.
We eventually found a few of them in the residential areas.
Through DNA testing these beautiful animals have been proven to be the descendents of the Spanish mustangs brought to the New World by explorers and colonists, as long ago as the early 1500s. There were also many shipwrecks along this coast and it is thought that when those ships hit the rocks, many horses were able to swim to shore. You can read about one shipwreck in an article here, which I found very interesting.
Several horses were happily munching grasses in people's gardens. The driver told us that they also like to rest in the shade of car ports...
and constant companions seemed to be the cattle egrets.
I will have another post in the near future. I took a load of photos, too many to share today.
We had a fun time driving back along the beach again. In this short video you will see a hummer nearer the waves. This was from the same company and identical to the vehicle we were riding in. If the video doesn't show, you can see it on YouTube here.
At the end of our ride and just before we exited the reserve, we saw this lovely sight.
Pelican Grand Central
I can highly recommend Wild Horse Adventure Tours. Our guide was a wealth of knowledge not only about the horses but about the area also. I am having trouble remembering his name but Gregg thinks it was Charlie. He only did the tours part-time and he was a grandpa. Charlie was great but if you look on Yelp you will see that there are many positive reviews about the tour guides. They have a Facebook page which you can see here. There are very nice aerial views at the top of their page. It gives you a great feel of what you will experience if you are in the area.
In the evening we went to the celebration I mentioned in my first post, and this little cutie was one of the guests. More on that next time.
