Thursday, September 21, 2017

Interesting Bits from the Beach

The nerd in me really appreciates the thought that went into this sand art we stumbled upon. 
A poetic tribute to the very cool and bold people who move to the Outer Banks to live there just because they like it and it makes them happy.  We met a lot of cool people working the local businesses and tours.

I need to endorse the Pilot Varsity fountain pens, because I put one through the wash at the house we were staying at and all the ink stayed in the cap and my clothes were fine.  After a bit of clean up the pen even still worked.  These pens are amazing. 
We went on an airplane tour where I did not take any pictures.  My old roommate who is terrified of airplanes got to sit up front and handle the controls and now he wants to take lessons!  The plane above is not one we flew, but one owned by the husband of the awesome lady who flew us.  I had seen this plane on Youtube before in this AWESOME video clip.  It was super cool to meet someone I had previously admired from Youtube.

The plane we did fly was a Cessna 172 which looks like the one I drew on the envelope of the "thank you for being awesome tour-guides" letter I sent after getting home. 
The beach is a strange plane to find coal...  Perhaps this was from a coal powered ship which sunk, or spilled from a freighter.  Its corners are rounded like most things coming from the sea.  Maybe it was just a reminder to work on and publish my coal poetry collection.  When I spotted it I thought it was volcanic basalt, but it was pretty light.  I took it back to the house and rinsed it off and was surprised to see that coal had followed me even to the beaches of east Carolina.


  1. I've been wanting to give those pens a try. Flying those small planes sure is fun. Your friend may have been bitten by the flying bug. Same thing happened to me in my senior year of high school. Took a ride got to take the stick, and on to Cessnas. Believe me typewriters are much more economical.

  2. Those pyramids are really cool! Your poem, too!

  3. I am wondering if that lump of coal might be solidified crude oil from a tanker? I agree with your assessment of the Varsity fountain pens. I have a number of more expensive pens, including the noble Parker 51 that saw me through high school (when we used slide rules) and college. Those "cheap" Varsity pens out-perform their more costly brethren. Neat sand sculpture. Did the Sphinx wash away I wonder?

    1. It is certainly coal, crude oil would solidify into something different if it solidified at all. I think it was either coal to power an old ship or maybe a piece that fell off a modern transport. We do export a lot of coal from the US, the ports in Norfolk have several huge piles now!