Old fashioned evenings

I have recently enjoyed several evenings which felt like they could have happened many years ago. First, I went to a "Flat Cat Cafe" which is a performance by local young (i.e. high school and below) musicians. Typically, they do an electrical, amplified concert, but this particular Flat Cat was an acoustic one. There were several excellent performances, on a variety of instruments including fiddle, piano, and guitar, and a couple of funny songs and dances. It was a showcase of talent, and a preview of the excellent shows to come, as these kids continue to grow their talents.

The next old-fashioned evening was one which most people would have found annoying. During the Nor'Easter storm we had at the beginning of this week, the power went out at about 6:15 PM. It was pitch dark by then, of course! I actually happened to be in a room without windows when the power went off - talk about dark! After finding my way out of there, I fumbled around a bit to find a flashlight. The power stayed off for several hours, so I used my book light to read a book aloud to John (we do that every now and then). The power came back on after a while, but I enjoyed sitting and reading in the dark until it did. I also went out and drove around for a while, and I LOVED seeing Ocracoke without electric lights. Each home had a warm glow in a single window, from the candles or oil lamps the family had lit. I imagined the entire family gathered in that one room, perhaps chatting, reading, competing at a board game, or maybe playing some acoustic musical instruments. That may sound idyllic to you, but I would bet that all four of those things were done somewhere in the village while folks were waiting for the power to be restored.

The third and final "old Ocracoke" evening was this past Friday (11/24). That was the night of the Ocrafolk Festival fundraising concert, which is traditionally held on the Friday after Thanksgiving. There were homemade baked goods available for sale, a raffle for prizes including fig cakes baked that day (using fig preserves made on the island with local figs, of course!), and two and a half hours of wonderful performances by musicians from the island (Coyote, Molasses Creek, Captain Rob and Sundae (and their daughter Caroline), Martin Garrish, and Katie Mitchell among others), as well as some from other parts of North Carolina (John Golden and Catesby Jones). There were also heartwarming and hilarious performances by Jef the Mime and storyteller Donald Davis. It was a wonderful evening of entertainment, and at one point Catesby Jones put my thoughts into words, when he said "if we didn't have the electric lights and this "make it louder" machine, this evening could be happening many - even 100 - years ago. That's the magic of Ocracoke."

I wish I could say that I maintained that sense of a slower paced, simpler life for the next several days, but I have to admit I got wrapped up in Christmas decorating. Specifically, in dealing with the lights on our tree, a decidedly modern challenge! But I'm hoping that, now that the tree is finally up (lit and decorated!), I'll find some quiet time to enjoy that Ocracoke magic again. And here's hoping that you, too, will experience that kind of magic wherever you are. Read a book, play a game with your kids, take a walk, light a candle...make time for life's simpler pleasures during this hectic holiday season. Blessings to you and yours!

To know more -
Ocrafolk Festival: http://www.ocrafolkfestival.org