Crab Pots and Turkey

We both went running again today, the same route and the same distance as Monday.  It occurred to me today that the route we usually take on the bicycle lane along Fort Macon Road is as perfect as it gets.  This time of year there is little traffic, and the lane is about 36" wide, the same as most high school tracks.  The only difference is that, from time to time, a car or truck will roar by at 45 mph (why is the speed limit so high on this road?) inches from your elbow.

For a handful of days each month, low tide makes it possible to run back to the condo on the beach, either from the Picnic Area as we did today, or all the way back from Fort Macon.  It is hard to describe how wonderful it can be to run along the ocean, the sand firm and smooth and with little camber on this wide south-facing beach.  A colony of gulls will often be wading in the surf, looking for breakfast, and they will run out of the way on those bright yellow twigs of legs, or as a last resort rise into the air on outspread winds, annoyed at having to use that much energy just to avoid a runner.  

After lunch, we drove to Friendly Market, a place we have come to patronize often while staying out here.  The store manager, Ray, recognized us when we arrived this year (as did Maria at Blue Ocean fish market).  Although their name probably derives from their location at the corner of Bridges Street and Friendly Road, we like to think it is because of the unfailingly friendly employees there.

We were there to pick up Thanksgiving Dinner, which Martha had the foresight to order quite some time ago while we were still in Highlands.  And what a feast it will prove to be!  Roasted turkey breast, gravy, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, yeast rolls, and pumpkin pie, all intended for two people, but it looks like there will be plenty of leftovers.  There was already a line of people waiting to pick up their dinners.

At the other end of the parking lot was the nursery, which this time of year features fall plants of every variety and flowers and bushes of rosemary and locally-made crab pot Christmas trees, made from crab trap wire.

Friendly Market's nursery area was also Christmas tree central, with row after row of fragrant Frasier fir trees lined up, probably originating not far from Highlands.

This will be out first Thanksgiving here in Atlantic Beach, but we have often spent the holiday away from home, sometimes running Turkey Trots, visiting my family when they lived in Florida, or going to those wonderful dinners hosted by Martha's Aunt Lizette years ago.  I told her on the phone the other day that, in retrospect, I didn't know how she managed to pull together such a feast, unfailingly delicious, and featuring a huge variety of side dishes, while often hosting some of the family who were staying there.  "I don't know how I did it, either!" she said.  "But I was younger then."

We have a lot to be thankful for this year, despite the loss that every year brings.  We talked about that some in the car on the way back to the condo, and we will talk about it again tomorrow as we sit down to dinner, return thanks, and count our many blessings.