More Holiday Happenings!

It may be quiet on the island in terms of the number of visitors here, but there is certainly no shortage of activities! I had another weekend full of Christmas-related events, and loved every minute of it, as usual!

Things got started on Friday morning. Mary Ellen and I had planned a special activity for the first graders. They came to school dressed in pajamas (as did I), and we read the book The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg. Or, more accurately, William Hurt read it on tape, while I held up the book so the kids could see the pictures. John dressed in a suit and played the conductor. We gave the kids tickets, which they handed to him to punch as they returned from outside play time. Then they entered the classroom and took their seats on the "train" (we had lined the chairs up like seats on a train) to listen to the story. After the "reading", they drank hot chocolate and ate nougat candies (aka Milky Way bars), just like the kids in the book. We then played a game, and sent the kids home all sugared up for the afternoon! It was a really fun way to spend an hour.

On Friday evening, a group of people went caroling. We walked around the village (often in the middle of the street!), visiting community elders and shut-ins, and singing to them. We took requests, but most of them simply said they would like whatever we sang. It was a lovely evening, warm and clear, and I very much enjoyed walking under the stars and singing with my friends. Where else, I thought, can you do this and not worry about getting run over by a car?

On Saturday morning, my friend Nancy had a fabulous yard sale with items from the shop she has run for the past couple of years but will soon be closing. Yes, this was a Christmas-related event: I bought Christmas presents!

I went straight from Nancy's to my guitar lesson, and straight from there to a wonderful facial with Amy Borland-Hilton at Deep Blue Day Spa. It was a full day, and an excellent one!

On Sunday afternoon, John and I helped at the annual Children's Christmas Party at the Community Center. It was really well organized, and included several activities for the kids to do while they waited for Santa to arrive. John and I manned the "reindeer food" station, where we helped the kids make bags of food for the reindeer. In case you are wondering, reindeer food is oats with red and green sprinkles...you toss it on your lawn on Christmas Eve, and the sprinkles sparkle in the moonlight, so the reindeer can find your house and their snack! There were also stations to make hot chocolate packs (in cone shaped bags, with marshmallows on top), bead necklaces, and t-shirts. There were delicious snacks and drinks, too, of course...must keep the sugar quotient up during the Holidays! Finally, Santa arrived on the Ocracoke Fire Truck. The kids lined up to sit on his lap, and he very patiently listened to all of their requests and smiled for pictures with them. It was an excellent party, and much fun was had by all (yes, including me!)

Finally, on Sunday night, I watched the Ocracoke Assembly of God Christmas Pageant. I say I watched it, because John did not merely watch ~ he participated! He played a "wise guy", and he is quite the actor! I think he is a ham at heart, but just doesn't get to explore that part of his personality much. The show was great, and there were some seriously delicious treats available afterwards. Sundae was there with Caroline and Emmett, but Emmett wasn't feeling well and didn't want to stay for the treats (the line to get to them was long and moving slowly.) I volunteered to drive Caroline home after we ate treats, so she could stay and enjoy some goodies while Sundae took Emmett home. Caroline and I enjoyed the munchies, then walked to The Cove to get the car. I took Caroline home and stayed and visited with her family for a while, which led to a fun game of Yahtzee. I hadn't played in years, but caught on pretty quickly, although I didn't do very well overall! Sundae won both games we played, even rolling a Yahtzee on the second game! Even though I love Christmas, and had truly enjoyed all of the activities of the weekend, it was this quiet time with friends that I liked the most. This is one of my favorite things about the community of Ocracoke. Here, people really do drop in on their neighbors simply to catch up or pass on the latest news. Sometimes games or musical instruments are played. Every time, people enjoy one another's company.

Hope you will enjoy not only activities, but also the company of family or friends, during this busy season!