Breakfast Confidential I don't eat breakfast. Well, that's not true. I eat a piece of cake, a brownie, or other dessert first thing every morning. Then a banana. Then coffee coffee coffee until noon. Every morning except the weekends, when my husband cooks bacon. Then, I eat just as much bacon as I possibly can. … Continue reading Breakfast Confidential
Mullet Love Affair Part 2 Last week, I wrote about the history of mullet fishing on Bogue Banks: the kind with tractors and wooden boats sitting pretty on the beach, like in my sister-in-law Summer Flowers' photograph above. This week: the present and future of that tradition. I spoke with Chris Lewis, a tractor driver … Continue reading Mullet Love Affair Part 2
Mullet Love Affair Part 1 This weekend is the Swansboro Mullet Festival, where you can get jumping mullet fried whole, their little bones soft like canned sardines (which I I love). It's also the start of mullet fishing season along Bogue Banks, and unfortunately, it could be the end of it as well. This Thursday, … Continue reading Mullet Love Affair Part 1
Trailer Park Date I've seen paradise, and it's a trailer park. I remember, years ago, driving through a mobile home community around Varnamtown, NC, and suspecting I'd stumbled into heaven. It bordered the Intracoastal Waterway near the NC/SC line - I could hear the ocean's waves; sailboats drifted by with the seasons. The land was … Continue reading Trailer Park Date
When I Paint My Masterpiece This summer, I watched a masterpiece take shape. A team of carvers created a nine foot tall sand castle in front of the NC Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores, with an octopus, a shark, a school of three dimensional fish, and dry waves crashing around its base. Every day, I … Continue reading When I Paint My Masterpiece
Enmarshed Enmarshed is the best kind of word - the made-up kind. It's also a stolen word, filched from my friend Autumn Ware's blog, which only adds to its appeal. What does enmarshed mean? Intertwined, connected, with many pieces making up a whole (Jessi's Dictionary). A net is enmarshed. In fact, "marsh" is a local … Continue reading Enmarshed
Hurricane Tattoos Last Thursday, the pine trees were dancing like inflatable tube men, the power was out, Hurricane Idalia was here, and I was in my element. I suspect that hurricanes and I are made of the same substance, and despite their danger, I love them. Which is why I got this hurricane tattoo on … Continue reading Hurricane Tattoos
Sensible Poetry In Leo Lionni's children's tale, Frederick, mice store provisions for winter - all except one mouse, Frederick, who doesn't work but instead gathers sun rays, colors, and words. How shameful, Frederick. You're like the grasshopper that dances and plays while the ants work. Reader, don't be like Frederick or the grasshopper. Be practical. … Continue reading Sensible Poetry
Down in the Valley "Down in the valley, valley so low, hang your head over, hear the wind blow." Dang it. What book is that? It's set in the Appalachian mountains and repeats the "Down in the Valley" lyrics multiple times. Please tell me; it's driving me nuts. I should be able to look it … Continue reading Down in the Valley
An Abundance of Curiosities When you're down by the sea, and an eel bites your knee, that's a moray... I got excited this week, reading about eel life cycles in An Abundance of Curiosities: The Natural History of North Carolina's Coastal Plain. So excited, I had to stop and draw a diagram: Larvae --> glass … Continue reading An Abundance of Curiosities
Jessi Waugh Writer 