January wasn't exactly a stellar month for the critter count. Despite our best efforts, we mostly only managed to see birds, but lots of them, all month. Well, birds and squirrels! Lots of squirrels. They've discovered that a watchful dog no longer lives here. Cute and pesky, they returned in full force during the first month of the year. February is looking better for wildlife reports. Last night we saw a deer on Fork Point and a possum on Trent Road, and several times this month we've seen rabbits--or evidence of rabbits.
February 13, 2003.

The birds and squirrels are out and about in large numbers today. Over the past few weeks, we've noticed new birds around the property. Bluebirds are back in the yard, owls are heard often at night, the marsh wrens are everywhere, and we have a new visitor in the bushes that we haven't identified yet. He carries a red badge on the back of his neck, has a long bill, and is brown and black on his wings, white on his belly. He's big and makes the other birds a little nervous. Any day now, we expect a few early arriving hummingbirds. It's time to start putting out nectar. Ducks are increasing in number, although, understandably with duck season just past, they're a little skittish aruond us and often fly away before we can get close enough for photos. The creek and marsh are waking up after a bit of winter - mornings are full of birdsong.
February 20, 2003.

One of the funny things about the Oriental area is that, for the most part, nobody's from here. The rest of the county? You bet. Families can trace their ancestors back forever, and point out the towns and roads that bear their family name. In Oriental, though, it seems that half of us just got here last Tuesday. Being newcomers who hail from just about anywhere a boat of any size could be sailed for any length of time, many of the boaty folks we meet entertain us with tales of life hereabouts, each story being told from a unique viewpoint. So it was when we were told about the turtles. Apparently there comes a certain time of year when packs of young turtles feel the irresistible urge to cross busy streets. Old-timers, we're told, take the turtles in stride, so to speak, and barely adjust their steering wheels to miss them. The folks who got here last Tuesday stop along the roadside to rescue the turtles, creating quite another hazard altogether. We were prepared for turtles. No one told us about frogs. Yesterday's balmy spring-like air woke the frogs up, and during last night's storm as we drove into town for a special treat (pizza from Scoot's) two million suicidal frogs leapt in front of our van. Their underbellies fluorescent in our headlights for just a moment as they jumped, some frogs made it, some didn't, but we drove like old-timers and, besides, it was too late to swerve.
February 23, 2003.

Half of our domestic unit grew up in the big city, and the other half just migrated there. Big-city habits, whether you're city-born or country-raised, wheedle their way into your life little by little, day after day. Almost without knowing it you become accustomed to 24-hour stores, bank tellers at the grocery, sidewalks on every street, the absence of dirt roads, and, well, just getting everything done fast, fast, fast. Pamlico County reminds us that life, so short to begin with, doesn't have to also be fast. We were in Raleigh this weekend for the boat show and visited a magazine publisher's booth. We picked up a copy of the magazine and allowed as how we couldn't get it where we live. The publisher's rep suggested we just give him the name of the nearest convenience store and he'd call and ask them to carry the 'zine. We grinned and explained that we're 30 minutes from the nearest fast-food joint, our county has one stop light, we only have to remember four digits of phone numbers to reach anyone around here, and there's no store that's conveniently near us. The man looked wistful and seemed far away for a moment, and then he said, "I bet you have a good quality of life there, don't you." Why, yes we do. We certainly do.
February 25, 2003.