Well it was a great day here on the Outer Banks so good in fact that I wanted to ride down the beach with the jeep top down. After calling everyone I could think of I was able to get a daughter of one of my friends to go with me. we went down to Oregon Inlet, let the air out of the tires with a pressure gauge given to us by two young men 'take them down to 15lb's and you can go any where" they said as they waved to us and headed on their way. We went all the way down to the point where we saw about a dozen folk’s horse back riding then we turned around and found a spot to park so we could look for shells.

After we left the inlet we went a little further south to a nature preserve where we took in the view and met the snake pictured above.

Throughout the day we met some of the nicest folks. From the boys who gave us the pressure gauge and the folks we joked with while filling our tires at the Oregon Inlet fishing station to the volunteers at the preserve everyone just seemed to be in a great mood. Must be spring.

"6 degrees of Seperation" & "The Butterfly Effect"

A few days ago I was watching a Kevin Bacon movie and saw a commercial that featured the lawyer the movie "A Few Good Men" was based on. I smiled and thought "6 degrees of Kevin Bacon". You see a few years back my #1 son was a stage hand in the community theater production of “A Few Good Men”. The lawyer Mr. Don Marcari who the movie was based on was there to answer questions and that is how I met him. He answered a few of my questions. When you apply the 6 degrees of separation rule it could be said that because I met Mr. Marcari I am 2 degrees away from everyone he comes in contact with. I think it’s safe to assume he has met Mr. Tom Cruse so I am 2 degrees away from Tom Cruse and 3degrees away from everyone he comes in contact with. Its amazing to me how interconnected we humans are.

For the past few days I had been avoiding the news because I knew that the media would be capitalizing on the Virginia Tec tragedy and I just did not want to feed into it. While driving yesterday I did turn my radio on and was pleasantly surprised to find that NPR was tactfully interviewing people who knew the victims. They related stories of a wide variety of good people. One woman from Floyd Va told of a music student she knew. While I was listening to her I realized that I know a person who works at VA Tec. in the engineering department and my stomach sank. The person I know is fine but again look how intertwined we are. A woman from Floyd; were I’m going to be moving is on the radio and someone I know works at the school where this terrible thing had happened. It is a small world.

What this post is trying to convey is that we are all connected in some way to everyone else. If we accept this then maybe we can influence those around us. I have introduced “6 degrees of separation” now let me introduce “the butterfly effect”. Every action no matter how small has an effect on the whole. An example of this is that if a butterfly flaps its wings in Africa, this causes the air to move, this movement of air builds into a thunder storm, that storm goes off the coast of Africa into the Atlantic and forms into a hurricane ect. ect. If we perform one kindness to another, open the door for someone, give a stranger a quarter when there short, let someone pass us on the road, just a little kindness then maybe they will pass this kindness on. There is no guarantee that the receiver of the kindness will pass it on but the stranger who did not need your help but saw you help someone else might be inspired to pass on a kindness of his own and maybe by that kindness someone will be touched and rethink an action that could have lead to a horrendous act.

My prayers go out to ALL the students and staff of Virginia Tec.

This is why houses are built on pilings.
There is a canal back there somewhere.

going out?

Parking lot of the only bar on the Island
Its a real dive but if you have the right frame of mind and the right
company and don't expect too much like food it can be fun

The Outer Banks got something it needed yesterday, a steady all day rain. Today we have bright skies, brisk wind and sound side flooding. I live on a small island behind the Wright Brothers Memorial called Colington. There is only one road off and as you can see from the photos when the winds come hard and steady from the west it floods. Thanks to the wind the kids in Dare county have one more day of spring break.

It’s been a busy Easter/spring break here on the Outer Banks but some of us know how to enjoy the great out doors. This “herd” of deer were grazing around the landing strip behind the Wright Brother Memorial

beach at Kill Devil Hills NC

students at the Wright Brothers Monument KDH NC

Touch of spring

Things are picking up a bit here on the Outer Banks. It’s been a nice spring, not near enough rain but mild temperatures and sunny skies have made the great outdoors a pleasure.