Go teams!

I love Olympics opening ceremonies. I watch them faithfully every couple of years, and always find that I learn about the unique culture, history, and people of the host country. My favorite opening ceremony remains the one from the 1994 Winter Games in Lillehammer Norway, which was hauntingly beautiful.

So of course I watched - and enjoyed - tonight's ceremony from Beijing. I marveled at the precision of thousands of people all doing the exact same thing at the same time, starting with the 2008 drummers. I was absolutely amazed by the movable type printing part of the performance, and my mouth literally dropped open when they revealed it had all been done by people, not hydraulics. That was the biggest wow moment for me, in an evening of remarkable displays.

I even stayed awake through most of the Parade of Nations. I zonked out and headed to bed before the torch lighting, though. That 12 hour time difference finally got to me!

I'll be up late for the next several nights, watching and cheering on all the teams. Mostly the Americans, of course, but I'll be cheering for everyone else as well! Just not against the Americans. :) Just kidding - I actually love to cheer for the "home" team, and anyone who is considered an "underdog" too. And I'm just impressed with the incredible athleticism of anyone who makes it to the Olympics. So go teams!

Extra Ocracokers

When I picked up our mail today, the box was stuffed almost to bursting. It was mostly my own fault, because I hadn't been to the Post Office in several days. But the fullness was also related to the fact that there were about 7 copies of this week's Ocracoker in there (usually, one copy is placed in each box).

I thought it was really odd that there were so many in our box, but then I realized it was intentional. Celeste put all those extra Ocracokers in there because we were in that edition of the paper. I thought it was awfully kind of her to make sure we had extra copies, because of course I'll be sending them to various and sundry family members who love Connor.

Hot water

I've come down with my standard early-to-mid-August summer cold, and this one is a doozy. I have spent the last 24 hours self medicating with multiple forms of hot water.

I started with a good old fashioned salt water gargle, usually good for killing off any germs in the throat. I followed that by a long, very hot shower, which helped somewhat with the body aches. I drank multiple cups of hot tea with honey (usually I add honey AND lemon, but we didn't have any lemons or lemon juice, and I'm in no shape to go out in public to get some at the store). Finally, I subsisted on multiple kinds of chicken soup (chicken noodle and chicken and rice). I won't start feeling better until I have some matzah ball soup, though (which is probably more mental than physical, but hey if it works...)

A couple of my friends have been sick recently, so I guess I may have picked up this lovely illness from one of them. But I've also been told "it's going around", so heaven knows where or from whom I caught it. This kind of sharing is one of the not so wonderful aspects of living in a small town!

Shopping

I have shopped at one of my favorite stores (Books to be Red) on the island multiple times recently, and two of those times were particularly unique-to-Ocracoke.

First, I went into the shop to get a Peter Rabbit book for Connor. This had been a long time coming, and started a couple of weeks before when I saw Leslie at Bingo and asked if she had any Peter Rabbit books. She said that she did not, but she would order one right away. I told her that the reason I wanted the book was because Connor has a cute Peter Rabbit outfit that I wanted to put him in and take a photo, and that I was worried he was going to outgrow the outfit. True to her word, Leslie ordered the book. When it didn't come in quickly, she ordered a couple of different Peter Rabbit books, in case they were less likely to be back ordered. She really worked hard to make sure we would get one before Connor outgrew the Peter Rabbit clothes! She even ordered a really cute gift set one which came with a plush Peter Rabbit. When the books finally arrived in the shop, Leslie called me to let me know.

I went in a couple of days later, and realized shortly after I arrived that I didn't have any money with me. Whoops. No problem, though. The store staff let me take my books home so I could take the photos, and I came back in later in the day with a credit card. That probably wouldn't happen too many other places, and was definitely appreciated, as Connor barely fit into the outfit that afternoon!

My next visit to the store and unique-to-Ocracoke (for lack of a better way to describe it) experience involved much less advance planning. I went in to buy a birthday present for Lachlan, on the day of his party. I noticed that there were other people I know in the shop doing exactly the same thing, so apparently I'm not the only procrastinator around here! If you ever need a gift for a kid, by the way, Books to be Red is a great shop to get one. As I went to pay for Lachlan's present (yes, I remembered money this time), I asked Leslie if anyone else had already bought him the same thing. She confirmed that no one had. Now isn't that a nice extra benefit of living in a small town?

In case you're wondering how the Connor with Peter Rabbit books pictures turned out, here's one for your viewing pleasure. Isn't he cute?

Party!

We went to Lachlan's birthday party today. Although it was very hot and muggy, it was still a lot of fun. There's something life-affirming about watching kids play, especially when they are throwing water balloons!


There were plenty of balloons, filled and ready for the battle.


Lachlan enjoyed unwrapping his gifts.


My favorite shot of the birthday boy - wet curls and big blue eyes.

Ladies night

The Women of Ocracoke show tonight was well attended and, from all accounts, very much enjoyed. It was an evening of celebration of multiple arts: mostly song, but also storytelling (Lou Ann told the tale of the pirate Anne Bonny), written word (DeAnna read a piece she wrote), and painting. Here are a few photos.


Kitty painted a piece on stage during the show. Here's the prepared canvas before she started. Many of us liked it just like this!


Hershey Kisses had been left for the audience on their chairs. Mariah enjoyed hers!


Katie and Amanda got the show started with a lovely rendition of Morning Has Broken.


Lou Ann told a story of sunrise.


Jamie sang a funny-because-it-was-so-accurate song called "In a Town This Size".


Sundae and Marcy performed my favorite song of the evening, "Apples in June".


Kitty's final painting.


All the ladies gathered on stage for a group shot after the show.

Melancholy

I have been a bit melancholy the last few days. Just feeling quiet and don't have much to say. The weather has been hot, the air stagnant, which makes me want to just stay inside. In my current mood, that's probably the best place for me anyway!