The Unexpected

Monday morning, the storm clouds had been mostly swept away, but the wind continued to blow all day, and on Tuesday it was still blowing a 30-mile-per-hour gale straight out of the west.  I took this time-lapse video from our balcony showing how swiftly the few clouds in the sky were moving.

 
I am seeing some progress in my running and I did not want to miss a day, so I bundled up in tights and vest and headed straight into the wind.  I felt like a small craft myself as I steered a westerly course, away from Fort Macon, and down a long residential street behind oceanfront homes that provide partial shelter.  After only a mile, I turned and retraced my route, the wind now at my back.

Yesterday, the wind had finally subsided enough that we could take a walk on the beach to the Oceanana Pier and back.  The ocean was calm and the tide was out, and on the way Martha spotted this speckled crab just washed in, but much larger than usual, perhaps ten inches wide.  Martha thought she saw its mouth move, and I tried to push it back into the surf, but it did not revive.  I was glad I didn’t try to pick it up because I learned later, “This crab has a very aggressive temperament (similar to the Blue crab) and vicious pincers.”

We had turned at the pier and were almost back to the condo when Martha spotted this starfish.  We gently turned it over and found that it was a Royal Starfish (Astropecten articulatus) – I love that Latin name.  They are rather rare – we have only collected them once or twice, and I wrote about it last year.

It is the unexpected that I like the most,
Like the Royal Starfish we found,
Phoenician purple, like a Christmas cookie
Squeezed from a piping bag . . .

Yes, it is the unexpected that I like the most, and that we invariably find on our walks along the beach.  Unexpected but much less picturesque were a half-dozen tires washed up.  We had noticed them when we were here a year or two ago and wondered about them.  Surely someone had not hauled them out on the ocean and dumped them?  My best theory is that they were dislodged by the fierce storm from the fishing docks where they are lined up to cushion approaching boats when they tie up.

The beach changes from day to day, and there is always something new to notice.  It is the same with the sunrise and sunset, never the same, always glorious.  Every day is a day like no other.  This morning the wind died down almost completely and temperatures were predicted to rise into the 50s by noon.  It was already 39 when I awoke a few minutes before sunset, and not wanting to miss it I hurried out to the dunetop deck for my morning Tai Chi.  I had not gone far when I realized it was covered in ice; like a highway bridge, the elevated walkway can freeze before other surfaces and remain that way long after the air temperature warms up.

I made my way gingerly out to the deck, took a picture, and then came back to do my Tai Chi under the building.  I noticed that the lawn was white with frost except where the sun had already shone.

The moon, full on Monday, was still in the western sky, high over the roofs of the neighboring houses.

Temperatures warmed up as predicted, and we were both able to complete a good run – five miles for Martha and four for me.  I did more “Bath House Intervals” this morning, a week after those two I completed last week (see post of January 12).  I was hoping to do better than 1:09 and 1:08, and I was happy to exceed my expectations:  a perfect set of negative splits in 1:10, 1:07, 1:05, and 1:03.  Those last two were about the same time as the ones I completed last year.

When I returned to the condo, I went out onto the walkway again and sat for awhile, enjoying the bright, warm sun.  What a change in only three hours time!  On the horizon I could see a ship coming into Beaufort Inlet, not the usual freighter but what looked like a military vessel, although not the Coast Guard cutter.  I heard footsteps behind me and a man walking a cute little dog was coming out to stretch his legs, and we spoke to each other.  With Covid still raging, we have not been socializing at all other than with folks at Blue Ocean, Friendly Market, and the Carteret County Library (which I visited last week), so it was nice to have a conversation with someone, albeit a socially-distanced outdoor one.  “Looks like a New York Class, with a 50 hull,” he said as we were watching the ship.  “You sound like a mariner!” I said.

(That's not my photo, by the way - I was too slow to retrieve my phone and take its photo because it was moving so fast into the Inlet.)

During the course of our conversation, I learned that he was retired Navy who had served in Vietnam, and that the ship we were watching had steel in its hull from the Twin Towers.  He had done a lot of other interesting things during and after his career, knew Highlands well, and had been born in Old Fort.  “Old Fort,” I said.  “I know it well.  My daughter went to Presbyterian Summer Camp there at Camp Grier.”  He looked surprised.  “I was a Counselor there,” he said.  “No way!” I said.  “Did you know Bart Shaw?”  I don’t know how I pulled the name of the Camp Director out of my memory.  “Oh yes,” he said, and we talked about amiable, chubby, white-bearded Bart.

He asked me how long I was going to be here, and I told him mid-March.  “We like to avoid the winter weather in Highlands,” I said.  “Except it looks like it is following us here!”  He had learned as I had about the storm that was on its way – any good mariner keeps abreast of the weather reports! – a second winter storm coming not only to Highlands (where there are still snowy roads) but to Atlantic Beach as well.

The Winter Storm Watch is in effect from Thursday night until Saturday morning:  Heavy freezing rain and sleet possible.  Total sleet accumulations of up to one inch and ice accumulations of up to a quarter inch possible.   Power outages and tree damage are likely due to the ice.  Travel could be nearly impossible. 

Our neighbor sent us a picture of our house yesterday afternoon, and Martha used a program she has on her phone to turn it into a watercolor.  It looks like that snow will be around for awhile, and more on the way. 

So we don’t know quite what to expect.  This is the seventh winter we have spent out here, and we have only experienced a dusting of snow, icy walkways from time to time, and howling gale-force winds.  We can only hope that a power grid accustomed to taking on hurricanes can withstand ice.