Song Birds, Night Sounds

New Bern, NC
35 05.91 N 077 01.95 W

I've mentioned before that Libby misses her garden.   Obviously, there must be some things about shore bound life that we miss.   For me it is the sound of song birds and other night sounds.   I'm reminded of that by being in New Bern and Zebulon where we are treated to those wonderful sounds temporarily.

You see, most of the time we are too far from shore to hear the song birds.   Instead, we hear the sea birds, the lapping of the waves, and sometimes the sound of dolphins venting.  

My favorite song bird sound is that of the mourning dove.  At night, the crickets establish the "normal" background that marks night.   Indeed, a night doesn't sound normal at all without the crickets.  In the 1970s, we had a visit from a man from Finland.  He never heard a cricket before.  He almost tore his apartment to bits to locate the source of that strange sound at night.  It kept him from sleeping.  For him, crickets were entirely unnatural.

Most of all, I and Libby miss the sound of our peepers.   Peepers are tiny little frogs that make big sounds.  A colony of peepers lived near the pond at our house in West Charlton.   The arrival of spring was marked in our minds by the sound of the first peeper to thaw out and make his sound.  Then, throughout March, April and May, the number and volume of peepers increase to a crescendo.   Finally, by the end of June the sounds stop.  You see, they peep in search of love. "Peep peep.  I'm over here."  When they find it, they are satiated and peep no more.   Wonderful.

Too Much Temperature

New Bern, NC
35 05.91 N 077 01.95 W

Today it was very hot.   We went to the beach.  Out there it was nice, but the water was too cold to swim.  Along the way we also found a couple of those luscious southern pine trees.  Libby and I harvested about 15 pounds of pine needles.  That should be enough to keep her busy for the summer.   The needles were perhaps 10" long; not as long as those in Carolina Beach, but plenty good nonetheless.

The rest of this week it will be in the 90s every day.  Ushch.  But listening to the Albany NY NPR station on Monday, I heard that they had a hard freeze warning up there.  So this is the in between time of year.  Too hot here, too cold up there.

Actually, today would have been a lovely day to sail from Frying Pan Shoals to Beaufort.  There was a steady 12 knot SE breeze, and the bright sunlight made the sea look green insted of gray.   Out there, the ocean moderates the temperatures so that even hot days are comfortable. This is the kind of weather I expected when Sten-Orjan came here.  Oh well, C'est la vie.

Marching In Step

New Bern, NC
35 05.91 N 077 01.95 W

The small pleasures of staying here in New Bern mount up.   Today I discovered that the free morning coffee served at the Hilton Hotel (the marina is part of the hotel)  is now Starbucks coffee.  

Also this morning we were treated to the music of a fife and drum corps practice.  Their music was so good and so stirring, that I found it impossible to walk normally.  My brain forced me to march in step.  I think the fife and drum corps is associated with Tryon Palace which is very close to us.  Believe me, they are very very good.

Today, we are going to take the advice of our daughter in law, Cathy, and use the car to explore things in the surrounding countryside.

More on Khan

New Bern, NC
35 05.91 N 077 01.95 W

The more I learn about Khan Academy, the more excited I get. It is a great concept, and it could help to turn around our sick educational system. That's a big bold statement. To see why, watch the video below. This video is not a sample Khan lecture, but an explanation of the whole concept and how it works.

To watch the video, click here.

beware

Of course I've heard about the problem with ticks in Southern woods.   I thought however that it would be extreme to never take the dog for a walk in the woods.  Dave & Cathy have a great puppy.  His name is CJ and he's lots of fun.   I took him out for a 30 minute walk in the woods yesterday behind Dave's house.

Well, when we returned I started feeling things.  Within 15 minutes I found three ticks on my body.  I shed all my clothes, took a shower, then started the laundry. Then Dave had to get the ticks off the doc.  Geez, I had no idea they were that prevalent.

Picture of the year!!! Go here to have a look, and to read the explanation.

Dave loaned us his car for the week.  We have wheels!!!   On the way back to New Bern today we took advantage of that to do some things that boaters almost never have a chance to do.  First, we visited the Nahunta Pork Center.  Wow.  If you are a pork eater, this is the place to go.  The prices are great as is the quality and the variety is amazing.  Consider every part of the pig's anatomy you can imagine, they have it.  Then, double down on that to include parts and recipes that you never imagined.   We bought several things including some salt pork that we're going to throw into baked beans just like in the old days.

Then, we stopped at a roadside stand to buy some local strawberries.  Our friend Carol from Traumeri said that North Carolina strawberries are the best, so we had to give them a try.