This past week has been a very sad, difficult week for my family.

Two of my uncles on Dad's side of the family have passed away within 5 days of each other.  

Uncle Windle Poore

Uncle Fred House

Uncle Windle had been in poor health for awhile and died last Wednesday at the age of 79.  Uncle Fred died following a car accident this past Monday at the age of 86.

But the real story is not about how they died, but how they lived.

POP HISTORY QUIZ:

Today marks the anniversary of one of the greatest feats of mankind, a feat which changed our world forever.  Nearly every one of you has benefited from this incredible achievement.  What happened 110 years ago today?

I knew you'd all get the correct answer!  I just KNEW it!!!  (Once a schoolteacher, always a schoolteacher...)

What else could it possibly be than the first airplane flight in the history of mankind, right on the coast of North Carolina's Outer Banks!

Known as "the Graveyard of the Atlantic," the waters off the coast of Hatteras Island are treacherous to navigate and over 1000 ships have been lost in these waters since the 1500s.  Crazy unpredictable currents, high winds, and dense fog (we experienced all three in the short time we were there!) make it a perilous area for sailors.

In fact, on the beach just outside our rental house we saw this shipwreck, known as the Flambeau Road shipwreck, from the 1800s.  Just the very top of it was visible while we were there, but from what I've read there are times when all 153 feet of it is completely uncovered and it looks like someone has just set it up on the beach.  Then just a few weeks later, the shifting sands of the ever-changing coastline have buried it again and there is no sign that it is even hiding below.

What better way to start a frigid Friday in Indiana than a trip to the beach?! 

Hatteras Island is part of North Carolina's Outer Banks National Seashore, 30 miles from the mainland and jutting straight out into the Atlantic Ocean.  We practically had the whole island to ourselves and definitely the beach...it was just us and the pelicans to enjoy the spectacular sunrises!

I'm BACK!!!

Arriving home very late last night after 18 hours in the car (nearly 4 of those involving waiting on or riding on a ferry, the only way to get on/off the island right now), I've got oodles of photos and stories to match that I need to wade through in the next couple of days.

Do you hear that glorious music???

It's the sound of the sea calling my name....

originally posted December 1, 2010

County Line Christmas Morning 1967

Yesterday as I pulled out the boxes and boxes and boxes of Christmas decorations to deck out our house for the holidays, I was reminded of a much simpler time.

Simpler for me, I guess, since I was just a little child and I didn't have any of the stresses and responsibilities that come with the Christmas season.  I never wondered if there would be enough money to go around...there was never any doubt that Santa would come through with surprises all around when we woke up very early on Christmas morning.

But I think my parents would agree that Christmas has gotten a whole lot more complicated since those days.

And as I get my own home prettied up for this special time of year, I couldn't help but think how times have changed.

The Saturday after Thanksgiving, Round 2 of family and too much good food...

My father-in-law Kenny hosted the Gray family for their own Thanksgiving get-together.  It was a nice bonus to visit with Kim's aunts, who we don't see often since my mother-in-law Peggy passed away nearly 7 years ago.

After the delicious meal, we all gathered around the TV as Kenny shared photos and stories from his September trip out west with Aunt Cindy and Uncle John.

Peggy's other sisters Leora and Bonnie were there as well, spunky gals still!  And Kim's sister Paula and her hubby Greg...

You won't find this girl out in the Black Friday madness.

1.  I hate to shop even under the best of circumstances.

2.  I hate crowds.

Enough said...

Kim and I did Black Friday once upon a time, back in 1998 in the infancy of what has become an annual crazy shopping frenzy.  We got up at (yikes!!!) 6 am. to be at Lowe's when the doors opened so we could buy a TV.  These days, most people I know are finished by 6 am.

Anyway, while my daughter and daughters-in-law joined the madness, Gramaw and Papaw and Kyler kept all four grandchildren overnight.