View from the Deck
Getting ready for 2006

by Rick Kinnaird

Things are starting to heat up on the island.

Shelby and I visited Hatteras for our annual maintenance trip in late February. We enjoyed above average temperatures and noticed Hatteras was much warmer than up north. On television we saw pictures of people trudging through white stuff that appeared to fall from the sky and collect on the roads. I remember – vaguely – having to deal with something like that as a kid. But then it was fun and you didn’t mind being wet and cold and having your nose run (been there, done that, no thanks). Now my nose runs without that and, if I’m going to be wet, I prefer to be warm.

We were out on the upper deck of Sound Mind & Body painting one day and it got so hot we had to take off our sweatshirts and paint in our shirt sleeves. The next day, when we were going to paint the part of the house near the hot tub, the wind was whipping – not as bad as a few days before when it was coming out of the northwest and blew all the water away from the house so I could walk out into the sound and take a picture of the place from a different angle – but it was whipping nonetheless. (See above for photo.)

Then the temperature dropped and we needed to wear lightweight jackets. What a pain.

Many places were starting to open for the season. Interestingly, Diamond Shoals' sign said they would be open the weekend of Feb. 25th, so we headed to Buxton. When we arrived, we noticed the sign had been changed to say March 4th. I’ve been wanting to go there and ask about piping plover, the little bird that caused a favorite beach fishing spot to close last year. When this happened, several restaurants posted signs offering specials on piping plover and Diamond Shoals led the way with Piping Plover Pie, I believe. At any rate, I wanted to ask them how many plovers it takes to fill a pie. I also saw a bumper sticker in the Food Lion parking lot that said “Piping Plover tastes Like Chicken.” I would have thought it tasted more like bald eagle, but that’s just me.