Friends of a Long Year is a weekly, private mailing list bringing stories to your inbox like the olden days. It's written in the spirit of Mary Austin. It was once called Place Without a Postcard, which neatly summarizes what I like to write about.
Ocracoke, North Carolina, U.S. – Ocracoke is different. Something in the way the ocean currents move offshore, or the collision of air from the land and sea, or the history, or the isolation, or the combination of it all makes Ocracoke the highlight of the Outer Banks.
Ocracoke, North Carolina, U.S. – The bus gets on a boat.
Frisco Campground, North Carolina, U.S. – From Oregon Inlet we worked our way south, down to Cape Hatteras where the weather finally turned warmer.
Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, U.S. – You know what you can do in places where the wind never stops? Fly.
Oregon Inlet, North Carolina, U.S. – The wind never seems to stop here in the outer banks, but it does occasionally slow down to the point that you can enjoy a day or two at the beach.
Oyster Point, North Carolina, U.S. – It was nice to get back out in the woods, away from the crowds, if only for a few days.
Myrtle Beach State Park, South Carolina, U.S. – In which we pass some time in Myrtle Beach to work on our brakes, get a ladder and roof rack built, learn Jui Jitsu, and yes, play a little putt-putt.
Huntington Beach State Park, South Carolina, U.S. – Our slower pace has one downside, you can't out run the weather when you're not, uh, running.
Huntington Beach State Park, South Carolina, U.S. – Watching birds in the marsh and climbing on one of the best climbing trees we've ever run across.
Huntington Beach State Park, South Carolina, U.S. – One man extends a railroad empire, the other builds a strange, whimsical, Moorish-inspired castle.
Hunting Island State Park, South Carolina, U.S. – After a couple of stormy days the sun came back out and we made it back out to the beach and went back to what's left of the tree boneyard.
Hunting Island State Park, South Carolina, U.S. – Our warm southern summer comes to an end.
Hunting Island State Park, South Carolina, U.S. – When you are on the right path. You'll feel it. Life will begin to feel like what it is, a gift, an adventure, a joy.
Edisto Island, South Carolina, U.S. – We've always made a trip to Charleston from Edisto, usually to do laundry, but this year we skipped that headed straight out to Battery Park for a picnic.
Edisto Island, South Carolina, U.S. – Warm weather and empty beaches makes for the best Christmases. We even got ourselves a new refrigerator.
Edisto Island, South Carolina, U.S. – And we're off again. Well, once we bleed the brakes in the rain and mud, because that's how new adventures in Travcos go.
Hundred Acre Wood, South Carolina, U.S. – I forgot. I forgot the Pleiades. I forgot how bright Venus could be on a clear, cold night.
Hundred Acre Wood, South Carolina, U.S. – We're not real complicated people. Give us some tamales, a working bus, nowhere particular to be, and we're happy.
Hundred Acre Wood, South Carolina, U.S. – My parents came for a visit and rented a house by a lake with a little dock the kids could fish from.
Hundred Acre Wood, South Carolina, U.S. – Things have been pretty quiet in the woods lately. We've watched the world wake up from winter, turn green, and fly away the way baby birds do after a few weeks. Not a bad life.
Hundred Acre Wood, South Carolina, U.S. – Spring is the best time to be in the south, except for the pollen.
Hundred Acre Wood, South Carolina, U.S. – No birds? How about rocks? Golden rocks. Piles and piles of golden rocks. Just kidding.
Hundred Acre Wood, South Carolina, U.S. – It's never silent among these trees, but it is almost always still and quiet. When you're out here it's hard to believe there is anywhere else in the world.
Hundred Acre Wood, South Carolina, U.S. – Warm winter days are best spent at the creek, laying back in the soft sand bed of a shoal, sun on your chest, watching the white tufts of cloud drift across the deep blue sky.