Sunday, December 05, 2004

Sunsets, Ducks, & Dolphins

I was gone most of the day yesterday. Rode across to Cedar Island (walked onto the ferry) to meet Lou Ann, who has come for a week-long visit. On the way back home we sat on the upper deck and ate cheese & crackers and drank a glass of red wine. The sunset over Pamlico Sound was magnificent. The view was crisp & clear so we held our breath as the last speck of the sun's orb disappeared behind the horizon, and looked for the legendary green flash. No luck this time, but the final remnants of the day spread across the western sky in spectacular fashion.

This afternoon we walked to the ocean beach. A huge floating "island" of cormorants was just beginning to take off for its flight to their nighttime roost in the sound. We watched for an hour as dozens, then hundreds, and finally thousands of birds took to the sky and headed west. We estimated at least a hundred thousand cormorants. As the last rays of the sun painted the sky and water a multitude of colors a large pod of dolphins appeared close off shore.

Life is good.


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