Updates from The Edge

• Suzy Q: Our schedules and the weather (sort of) finally cooperated and we were able to take our boat out together for the very first time after 3 months of ownership. (My month in Iowa didn't help.) We went out on the ocean and it was great! I didn't get sick or anything. We caught a few blue fish and worked out some how-to's with the electronics. It was fun.
  
• Employment: I returned from Iowa and happily joined the ranks of the underemployed. I am working a part-time job as an office assistant in downtown Manteo.
• Another Big Dig: Not quite on the scale of the last archaeological dig at Fort Jefferson, Robin used a back hoe to help out with another archaeological dig at Fort Raleigh. Unfortunately and fortunately, I'm working at a part-time job and was not able to document this dig.
• Wedding day (not ours): Robin's son Josh is getting married at the end of August. We reworked our Alaska travel plans in order to attend.
• House guests: My sister and brother-in-law spent a quick 52 hours enjoying the sights of The Outer Banks. We all went to the Lost Colony show. Although they market fireworks as part of the show, they didn't do them when we went because of a rain delay. We checked them out another night but the "fireworks" were really just big sparklers. We're looking forward to some "real" fireworks in Manteo over the 4th.
  

Heat wave

Wow, the solstice just happened and summer is here! The heat index today is projected to be 105-110 degrees. Yikes. That's almost as hot as it was at Dry Tortugas. Hopefully, this will be short-lived.

Water temps are going up, the crowds are here and tourism season is in full-swing. A trip to the grocery store yesterday took 2 full hours: lots of traffic, lots of groups of tourists shopping and of course, one checker. Certainly not like Alaska!

We're looking forward to getting our boat out on the water soon and getting some fresh mahi mahi, mackerel and whatever else we can catch.

Quote of the day

"He'd break a rubber crowbar if I gave it to him."

Someone's reference to a breakage- and accident-prone co worker.

Good news and not-so-good news

The good news is my brother Lee is back from Iraq!

He returned just in time for the Memorial Day parade last week. I do mean "just in time" ... with 10 minutes to spare! Robin and I watched said parade and spoke at the same time: "That looks like Lee ... that IS Lee!" He returned about a week early and we are all very happy to have him back. This should be his last deployment but ya never know.

The not-so-good-news is that my mom's brain tumor and dementia continue to worsen. She's confined to a wheelchair now and can hardly move. On good days, she can speak coherently some of the time. I was fortunate enough to be able to spend the past month with her. We had some good times, some laughs, some nice car rides in the countryside and continued our ongoing research project: Conducting ice cream taste tests and reviews.

Barbie's birthday

My mom, a.k.a. Vacation Barbie, celebrates the big 8-0 this weekend! She recently moved from her home to the local assisted living place. Fortunately, her cat Molly was adopted by her previous home health care worker! I won't be able to attend the big bash but we're trying to get there in 2 weeks for a longer visit when my temporary job is done.

Wanchese Whistle

The other day after work, we were making dinner and all of a sudden, some sort of warning siren sounded. This went on for about 5 minutes or so, enough to make all the hounds in the 'hood bark. We weren't quite sure what it was but thought they were testing the warning system. Not many days later, the same siren sounded, this time lasting for about 20 minutes.

(This warning siren is reminiscent of my home town "whistle." The whistle dates back to factory days and blows at 7 a.m., noon, 1:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. Even on the weekends. Except for Sunday when they abstain from the 7 a.m. one. For "nostalgic" reasons, the town voters decided to keep the whistle blowing, although it still causes some rankor.)

The Wanchese whistle blowing continued and we finally found out why it blows. It is the warning system for the volunteer fire department. The length of time the whistle blows depends on the time of day, type of fire alarm and other factors no one could quite explain to us. We apparently have been lucky and not had a fire alarm in all these months we've been living there.

Suzy Q

Based on a suggestion from my sister, we decided to name our boat Suzy Q. This appropriately chosen name was the nickname my dad called me when I was a little girl. In a serendipitous coincidence, I learned this is the nickname/call sign that airplane pilots use when flying over and referring to the area around my hometown.