Stormy Weekend

We've had two beautiful days in a row this week, with sunny temps in the 60s, and now the weekend is going to be cold and rainy. When will springtime ever arrive?

The beach can be so pretty as storms roll in, so we took Mav down to have a look right after work. Ben scouted for birds (duh) and Mav played and played. We made it home in time without even getting a drop of rain on us!

The rest of the weekend will be spent indoors but we hope to finish up the Otis Hut so maybe the rainy weekend is good timing afterall. More info to come!

Springtime on Ocracoke

I just visited Ocracoke Island to lead a beachwalk and we had an absolutely gorgeous day! It was extremely cold and windy on the ferryride over to the island, but was quite grand on the beach. In transit we saw several seals, sunning themselves on the sandbar, and a huge raft of pelicans, possibly 1000's of them! On the island, we stopped by the lighthouse to grab a few snapshots and then enjoyed fresh seafood for lunch. The sky was brilliant blue and we even saw daffodils in bloom! And all in a day's work :)

We found handfuls of the illusive Scotch Bonnet, which was a real treat. Ocracoke is the northern most beach where they can be found and it happens to be our state shell! The group had a really fun time driving on the beach and checking out the sights and sounds of Ocracoke in the springtime.

Humpback Whale

Although the winter is a slow and boring time in Corolla, I've been seeing my fair share of seals and whales, which is never a bad thing! This giant animal is a juvenile humpback whale that washed up in Nags Head. He was so huge (over 30' for sure, but I haven't seen the final measurements yet) that he was caught in the surf and we had to call in a heavy equipment operator to move him onto the beach where we could conduct the necropsy.
We're still waiting on the results of everything from the lab, but it appears as though this whale was entangled in fishing gear. There were marks around its mouth and you can see the redness in the white stripe near the big pectoral fin- that is from the gear rubbing the skin raw as the whale was swimming with the ropes and whatever else caught in its mouth. No gear was present at the time that he washed ashore, so we don't know when or where this happened, but its still sad, nonetheless. These endangered whales can live up to 95 years! They are, regrettably, our most common whale to wash up on the beach in the Outer Banks.

Business Week- 11 years later

By some random act of printing, the same picture that was featured on the cover of the Manufacturer & Business Association magazine back in high school has resurfaced this month's February issue.

The article does a great job of explaining the program, it was so long ago now that I had forgotten some of the details. Anyhow, several member of the class are interviewed in the article, including Amanda, Seth, and Grady.

Take a look by clicking on the little rectangle at the top right and it will enlarge to a full page.

Business Week Article

Seal Rescue

There was a harbor seal on the beach in Kill Devil Hills last weekend, so Ben and I went to save it! We showed up and it was the cutest thing in the world (not as cute as Maverick, but almost!) It was doing its usual "banana" position, where his head and tail are off of the ground. This usually means that its healthy, but it was really weezing, so we sent it to rehab, just in case.

To get this baby seal to the Virginia Beach Aquarium required a handful of people to literally push it into a dog carrier. Seals have sharp teeth and nasty claws, so this is done with pieces of plywood with handles and you sort of just nudge it closer to the open door and then eventually they will go in. If they do not, you have to throw a towel over its head and jump on its back, but I was very glad we didn't have to do that! If a person (or dog) is bitten by a seal, they must go through the entire rabies series and the seal must be euthanized.

Once our seal got to VA Beach, he spent the night and then they transported him to the Baltimore Aquarium for further rehab. Unfortunately, we just got a call today that he died suddenly. Its very sad to hear but maybe we can all learn something from his necrospy so that we can save more seals in the future!

Sprouting Our Own Greens!

Not only did we replant the Aerogarden with mixed salad greens... but I've also started growing sprouts! These little guys are quite tasty on salads, sandwiches, and in stir fry, and SO EASY to grow. All you do it put the seeds in the tray, and rinse with water in the morning and at night. Here is a picture of my mung beans after just two days!

They will go nicely atop my fresh jalapeno and cheddar bread that I just baked. Only three weeks until Aerogarden is ready for harvest, too :)

Lack of Grocery Options

Everytime I go to the grocery store, I am amazed at how little they carry in the winter! According to census data, Corolla does have 400 year-round residents. Apparently everyone has their own Aerogarden because the produce is pretty much non-existent at the store. Take a look at the selection of fruit: three shelves of limes, lemons, oranges, apples, 2 packs of strawberries (I bought both), 2 boxes of blueberries (for an outrageous price!), 1 box of raspberries (that were moldy), 8 bags of grapes, and two boxes of clementines. Isn't it festive how they fill in the empty rows with croutons and empty boxes?

The next photo depicts the lack of veggies: only a handful of bagged lettuce and no spinach anywhere in the store. You are SOL if you want things like potatoes, garlic, onions, peppers, celery, carrots, you know, real luxury items! In case you can't see in the picture, those are cases of bottled water on the shelves where the produce used to be. Apparently we're expecting a hurricane in Corolla?

And just because he's so darned cute, I had Ben pose , so you all can see just how empty our little Food Lion is this time of year :(