Summer here on Fripp is different from anywhere....& the people & the weather are wonderful.... it's terrific. It is so great to have nice bright sunny days that begin before 7 AM & don’t end until almost 9 PM! I’m a morning person & try to get an entire days work in before noon (unless I playing tennis) & then I have the rest of the day…. to do more work! or swim! or walk the beach. When Fall arrives, I’ll be able to play tennis at 5 PM but it’s just too hot after 11 AM these days. This is a special August for us because we had 2 of our daughters & their families here (from PA & DC) – one at the beginning of the month & one mid-month. With that happening, we also got to see our daughter (& family) in the Beaufort area a bit more. The PA daughter stayed at 1 of our rental homes but we had dinners here & cooking almost every night for 7...can be tiring! ...especially if you are trying to impress them & have them return soon because everything was just perfect. There was one scary time -when Chuck (my husband), my son-in- law & a family friend went out fishing with a neighbor on the day of the big 8/7 violent thunderstorm. What a total surprise that storm was! One minute everything was sunny & bright & the next there were heavy dark skies to the south & much wind. Before you knew it, the storm blew in & it became strong enough to down trees in Beaufort. The boat was due back at 4:30 & when 5PM came I called the marina who found out that they were not back. I then called Sea Rescue & I was totally relieved when talking to Paul Fields. What a great guy… I explained that I wasn’t worried yet, but that since it was still light out, I thought I should report them & he took it from there. Unfortunately, I didn’t know what type boat or its length or its name or where they were headed! Paul was very reassuring & calm. He said he would call me back every 15 minutes & would be trying the radio & getting everything under control. We happened to be lucky - our weary group tied up just after 5:30 & all was fine (except they were very happy to be back in one piece). Count this as a public announcement that Fripp should be very grateful that Paul Fields is on “Sea Rescue.” Also, there should be a mandatory requirement that all boats leaving our marina should report in to Lewis –at the marina -with some type of information filed every time they leave -even though they may change their destination occasionally - & they should check back in when they arrive back. Then the marina would be aware if there was someone ‘missing’ (not yet returned).
Mid-month we were visited by another one of our daughters - from Georgetown, DC. She, her husband, & their son Petey Joe (almost 2 yrs old) were down for a rather rainy week… Although the rain was daily, it was off & on & so we did get in beaching, tennis, fishing & pool swimming. Petey liked the frog slide the best - & couldn’t stop going up & down, laughing, & asserting his independence. Tropical Storm Fay was doing its slow spin thru FL that week & they left here before we got any of the winds on Fri. Kate (from FIPOA) had been ‘keeping us up-to-date on Fay. (We were a little concerned at one time that the storm might come straight up the coast & we’d have to evacuate – ugh! I recall the horrid evacuation in ’99 – when 2½ million people were evacuating & it took almost 12 hours to get 100 miles inland!) According to my rain-meter on my deck, we did get over 5” but it seemed like more because it wasn’t a slow & steady rain – just a daily dousing of short durations. Winds of 45-55 mph brought down some branches & lots of fronds. On Hunting Island they needed to close Cabin Rd because the high tide at 1PM wasn’t 6.9’ - but more like 8 feet or more... In NC there were farmers praying for Fay to alleviate their drought problems & of course here we were praying for it to disappear! The Asheville news tells us that the apple growers are concerned (as they were last year) that the fruit will be smaller. Therefore, their economy could be badly hurt. Last year with a spring freeze they had only $12.8M – down from $22.8M in 2006. If the apples are smaller this year, the income will only be about 60%. Up there, they are facing ‘exceptional’ (the worst category) drought, but 16 counties have extreme drought and 12 central & western counties are in severe drought. Thirty-four counties across central NC were in the moderate category. In GA, the farmers were looking for help from their lingering drought which had left about 1/3rd of the cotton & peanut crops bare this summer. Both states got some of Fay in varying amounts. We (on Fripp) are doing fine with all the rain this month, (over 9”) but it still hurts me to see several nearby homes with water sprinklers on daily (& in their backyards!). A simple rain detector device prevents needless watering. (With all this rainfall, Jones Exterminating has told us that the Palmetto bugs (roaches) coming inside have increased….just be sure & have treatments!).
That leaves only 1 daughter left – also from DC- who’ll visit after the Oct final NASA mission. However, she sent me an email regarding the Hubble Space Telescope (her project), that stated, “After more than 18 yrs of outstanding science, the Hubble Space Telescope will start its 100,000th orbit on 11/Aug/2008.” She solved a crucial gyro problem & is proud of her many contributions to the mission.
Design by IMC, Articles by HomesOnFrippIsland.com © Copyright 2006
Top of Page
|
