Final musing from the coast of Carolina…. The time has come to bid farewell. I am writing with a grateful heart tonight. Grateful for all the wonderful friends I have made in North Carolina. The sweetest people on the planet live here and I will never forget them. I am grateful for the uncommon grace and quiet intuition that I have found here in the secret and peaceful places that Tar Heels cherish. I have spent the last week in the impeccable fold of extraordinary people. They opened their home and their lives to me for no other reason than they count me as a friend and a fellow North Carolinian. They knew I needed respite before I start my new life back in Florida. I came to North Carolina for the opportunity to attend one of the greatest universities in the world and there is no question about the quality of the education I got or the professional opportunities afforded to me. But like most great things, there is always an underlying feeling that you can’t put your finger on, something that beckons from beyond the course work and the daily grind. Maybe it is the Carolina spirit or the profound kindness and overwhelming optimism of North Carolinians. Whatever it is, I got clobbered with it over the last four weeks. People from all over this great state went out of their way to let me know that they either appreciate me, love me, will miss me, or thank me for my service to the people here. In short, they make it real hard for anyone else, from anywhere, to compete in the arena of gratitude. I don’t think that they do this by design because people in North Carolina just seem to exude this spirit of human kindness. I am going to miss this terribly. As for the last week, I have learned every nook, cranny, creek, and submerged piling between the bridge at Wrightsville Beach south to Snow’s cut. The locals shared freely about the best places to tackle a flounder or catch bait. I met boat builders, fishermen, fisherwomen, yachtsmen, sailors, long liners, mechanics, captains, mates, developers, designers, and laborers. All of them tie this piece of the Carolina coast together in a peaceful symbiosis of community that works. It is the universal lure of Carolina and the reason I will keep coming back. I spent the yesterday offshore of Masonboro Inlet with a dear friend. Before I left I consulted a local captain about the whereabouts of a four hundred and fifty foot sunken liberty ship left on the bottom by the community to attract fish. He told me without reservation to take a compass heading of one hundred degrees once I passed the last buoy. A kind gesture from a young man who wanted nothing more than to put us on fish. I know this because he called that night to see how we did. The really interesting thing about all of this is that others called too. It is the spirit of Carolina.
Posted on: Sat, 10 Aug 2013 02:36:21 +0000
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