The Fourth of July Crowds.....

The tourists are here...bicyling on the wrong side of the road...crisscrossing the streets....and filling up the beach (well, a little anyway!)

We do have our own hide-away beach area...no umbrellas, no folks..but this morning as we went for our early Sunday morning beach walk...there were actually people on our beach. It was definitely unusual.

We tried a little swimming, but the ocean current was strong, and we were unable to get out past the first waves.

It is lovely walking early in the morning after a breakfast of fresh peaches and hot coffee...

We spent the afternoon at a memorial service at the Methodist Church for a woman who had lived here years ago. Her husband and family all flew in for this service...she was an intricate part of Ocracoke by the testimonies that were all given about her life. Sitting in church with Philip listening to the old hymns, feeling the breeze swirling down from the ceiling fans, listening to their stories was serendipitous.

Life is short, sweet, and sometimes very confusing.

I felt hot tears on my own face...for the family of the lovely woman whom I had never met...for the love story between her and her husband and for the fragility of life itself.

Carpe Diem.

Lou Ann Homan is a writer, teacher, and storyteller who lives in Northern Indiana, but spends her summers on Ocracoke Island. She is available for writing seminars, storytelling, and speaking engagements. She can be contacted at locketoftime@aol.com. You can read more at www.louannhoman.com