Valentine's Day

We are finally experiencing some of that nice mid- to late-February weather that we have enjoyed here in past years.  The days are longer and the temperatures are warming up just a little more everyday, although that north wind still howls some days.  It will seem warm and toasty out on our south-facing deck, and sometimes I can even sit out there shirtless after a run, but going down the stairs on the other side of the building to the car parked below seems like another season entirely as that wind bites sharply.

It was a nice day on Friday, so we decided to drive to the Bath House area for a picnic and then take a hike to Fort Macon, around four miles in all.  I am steadily recovering from my fall of two weeks ago – Thursday I completed four miles, and Saturday six – and this easy four-mile hike seemed like a good way to continue to loosen up and heal those bruised muscles.  We hiked on that part of the Elliot Coues Nature trail that winds around and over the sand dunes on the ocean side, a trail that returns to the same parking lot on the sound side through a maritime forest overlooking salt marshes.  This trail is my favorite, though, climbing up gentle hills on mulch that is stable enough that you can run on it (and we two runners as well as many hikers with dogs), and offering views over the ocean to the south.  An additional benefit is that every year, Christmas trees (see post of January 12) are deposited at Fort Macon and conveyed onto these sand dunes to help stabilize them.  The lovely fragrance of Frazier Fir trees is all along the trail.

The trail drops down under cedar trees from time to time, and it was almost chilly in the shade.  We saw this unusual sight on the side of the trail – someone had written “STUMP” with an indelible marker where a cedar had been neatly trimmed.  We puzzled over it for awhile - there are always mysteries encountered even on the most ordinary of hikes, if one is attentive - and then speculated that it might have been the remnants of a scavenger hunt that the employees at Friendly Market went on earlier in the week; every year, they close for a day-long “team-building” exercise, which they all thoroughly enjoy.

The trail climbs to its highest point close to the Fort, where there are the ruins of a WWII bunker just below; big chunks of concrete are all that remain to be seen.

From this overlook you have a 360-degree panoramic view of the coast – south toward the condo and Atlantic Beach, then around to the sound-side and the harbor and Coast Guard Station, and finally back around from the Fort to the south again.  It was clear enough to see Shackleford Banks and Cape Lookout with its iconic diamond-pattern lighthouse.  I took this video from there:

We continued on to the Fort, and then went out onto the beach and followed it back to the Bath House.  It was low tide and there were many other hikers and shell-gatherers out, enjoying the day as we were.  We stopped at the rock jetty and took these photos. 

We had nearly returned to the condo when sharp-eyed Martha pointed out to the ocean, and we saw a group of dolphins leaping into the air.  My photos of dolphins never turn out very good, but you can see three of them here, swimming in tandem, in an oceanic synchronized swimming event.

And so the days continue, sunrises greeting us and glorious sunsets bidding farewell.  There is always a light show in the west, except on rainy days, even if only a faint purple-red glow between the houses in the adjoining subdivision, and it often lasts for a very long time.  I know this is a common sight for beach-dwellers, but we live in a mountain valley where we never see the actual sunrise or sunset from our house.

As I write this, it is Valentine’s Day, an American romantic holiday that we gladly and unquestioningly celebrate each year.  There are roses and cards, and we say once again how much we love each other – there should be more holidays like this!  And tonight we are looking forward to a special dinner at Amos Mosquito’s, a restaurant that only takes reservations on two days every year, New Year’s Eve and Valentine’s Day, and which Martha had the foresight to arrange long ago.  Omicron is on the decline, and we will be in the roomy “back porch” room overlooking the salt marshes, and also the first seating of the evening.  So we have decided not to worry about it, and to simply enjoy a celebratory meal, which if my arithmetic is correct will be our 45^th Valentine’s Day together.  How fortunate I was to find (as said in the card I gave her) this Partner, this Love, this Friend.