Summer Afternoons In November

As we pulled into the garden store in Cedar Point, I was not surprised to see their large electronic thermometer reading 77 degrees Fahrenheit this afternoon, November 16. I had started working in the yard earlier in the afternoon and quickly figured out that I had to shed my blue jeans for some shorts. 

We are over half way through November, and we have yet to see a frost. I still have high hopes that the handful of green tomatoes growing between our house and dock will ripen. I have already gotten three ripe tomatoes off the plants so I am tickled at the possibility of perhaps getting a December tomato once again. While the news has been full of Ida and all her damage, 

Here on the Crystal Coast life during and after the storm has been fine. Even with Ida, it is hard to complain about this fall's weather.

We recently made a trip to the mountains, but we arrived home in time for most of Ida's rain. Before it was all over with, we managed to pick up another half inch of rain for a storm total of twelve inches.

What was surprising is how little that much rain impacted us even though we are in a lunar period of high tides. Emerald Isle did get some flooding along Coast Guard Road. Out our way along the White Oak River, the shoulder of one road washed away. The road was down to one lane for twenty-four hours.

Other than that, we got a lot of rain, and it quickly made its way to holding areas and eventually to the river, sound, and ocean. We did not have dangerous winds or exceptionally high surf.

I did see a number of surfers out enjoying themselves near Bogue Inlet Pier, but I got the feeling that they would have enjoyed some larger and more frequent waves.

The one complaint that everyone had was that our blue skies were hidden for days. I think we are all blue addicts here along the coast. Three or four days of dark weather are unusual so when we have to endure it, we start watching the skies and looking for any hint of blue.

Fortunately Sunday came along, and we got a nice dose of blue skies and really warm temperatures. Our oldest daughter made the 6.5 hour trip from the Washington, DC area to visit us. She got here just in time for a perfect beach walk and a nice Sunday afternoon boat ride to Swansboro.

I got some great shore bird pictures of the Willets doing their one leg resting stance. The beach was absolutely perfect for walking. My unscientific assessment of the beach has led me to guess that my favorite beach on Emerald Isle might actually have picked up some sand from this storm.

A nice long fall season, is just one of the many reasons that we moved to Carteret County. From the looks of the weather for the next few days, there is still plenty of time to come down for a visit or if you are looking for a Thanksgiving with a different twist, the Crystal Coast is a great spot to do enjoy the holidays at the beach. The Emerald Isle Christmas Parade is even scheduled the Friday after Thanksgiving.