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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.

Archive

Separation

Frisco Campground, North Carolina, U.S. Corrinne goes to Atlanta, the kids and I find out what a Nor'easter is like in the Outer Banks.

Ocracoke Beaches

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.

Cape Hatteras

Frisco Campground, North Carolina, U.S. From Oregon Inlet we worked our way south, down to Cape Hatteras where the weather finally turned warmer.

Whistle Down the Wind

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.

Back in the Woods

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.

More Adventures in Travco Brakes

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.

Slow and Low

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 Birds

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.

A Tale of Two Huntingtons

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 Sunshine

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.

On The Path

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.

Southern Summer

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 Holidays

Edisto Island, South Carolina, U.S. Warm weather and empty beaches makes for the best Christmases. We even got ourselves a new refrigerator.

Perfect From Now On

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.

Back to the Life

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.

Perfect Day

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.

Catching

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.

May Days

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.

Springsville

Hundred Acre Wood, South Carolina, U.S. Spring is the best time to be in the south, except for the pollen.

Golden Sunshine

Hundred Acre Wood, South Carolina, U.S. No birds? How about rocks? Golden rocks. Piles and piles of golden rocks. Just kidding.

Oak Grove

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.