So Long 2023

We ended this year with TAR having emergency surgery due to cecal volvulus. Look it up, we were fortunate that our little town has the personnel and facilities to diagnose this and operate on it in the middle of the night...........very fortunate indeed.

So happy new year, and enjoy this year's video of the year

I would not have been surprised to hear some Vic Flick guitar music in there, along with the parachute having a Union Jack.

 Jimmy Buffett

My favorite picture of him. 

Not a lot more to say other than rest in peace. I was lucky to see him several times through the years including PB Scott's, Walnut Creek and even Carter Finley stadium where I caught a pick, only to have a drunken old hag pestering me with: "he threw it to me." I finally gave it to her with my best wishes. 

I met Jimmy when I was checking out of a Charlotte hotel the morning after we got married. I told him I'd seen him at PB Scott's, he said he'd played at Carowinds the night before, biggest crowd he had ever seen.

Good guy, and probably our generation's Mark Twain. I still enjoy his poetry and music. Good going. 

 Uncle Leo !!!

https://www.reddit.com/r/seinfeld/comments/q25bil/uncle_leo_was_watching_the_outlaw_josie_wales_and/
The Outlaw Josie Wales

..........and also the Monkees!

And the award for best obituary goes to..........................

July 4, 2023

.........Richard Evans. Richard and his lovely wife Carolyn sat across from us in church for the last twenty years, his weekly newsletter entertained us through many a sermon, and that is all I am going to say about that. I saw her last Sunday at church and told her this could be his best writing ever. Enjoy:

Richard Evans, 85, of Morehead City, died Friday, June 23, 2023.

First: I’m dead. If you are one of my creditors, you will have to discuss your loss with the executor of my will, whose name I will not divulge.

I was born in Washington, D.C. on December 18, 1937. Using that, you should be able to figure out how old I was when I died. For my own part, I don’t care to know when or how I died. I hope my exit was too fast for calculation. But can you believe my bad timing - being born one week before Christmas?! My mother was Eleanor Harding Evans, my father was Arthur Louis Evans; both of Washington, D.C. I lost my little sister, Lynne Evans Willis, to cancer when she was 40 years old. I had more than a few words to say to God about that. But Lynne left me my nephew, Daniel Willis and his wonderful family and my niece, Karen Willis Hartley, and her wonderful family. They’re both Mormons so God only knows how many little great-nephews and nieces there are by now. Lynne’s husband, W. Stanley Willis, Jr. of Davidson, M.D. survives, and he is a blessing.

Four days before Christmas in 1985, Jason Louis Evans, my youngest son, died in a hunting accident on Bogue Sound. He was seventeen. I had a lot more to say to both God and Jesus about that!

I joined the U.S. Army Ready-Reserve while still in high school and eventually served as a part-time soldier for eight years (including six months active duty for training). I was too young for Korea and was not called up for Vietnam. I was a patriot. I’d have gone willingly and done my best.

I met my future wife and the love of my life in the drama department at the Maryland State Teachers College (now Towson University). I pursued her until she caught me. Carolyn Ingalls Lyle and I were married August 5, 1961, two weeks before I began my first teaching job in Gaithersburg, M.D. Thirteen years later I yielded to the temptation to make some money and quit teaching to become a maintenance and painting contractor.

In 1975, the carpetbagging Evans brood arrived in Carteret County, NC. I didn’t have a job or even a job prospect, so I painted houses for a year, built a new house and opened a new business, Poor Richard’s Paint Store.

Carolyn and I had a fine old time with local amateur theatrical groups. For many years I edited a weekly letter of humor and inspiration I called, Toward the Light. I also wrote two published novels.

My daughter, Laura Lynne Harper, is married to a retired Army NCO, William Harper, and lives in Colorado. Her son, Derry Evan Giddings, Jr., is also career Army and is married to the former Katharine Hughes of Charleston, S.C. They live wherever the Army desires and are the parents of my three great-grandchildren, Derry Evan Giddings, III, Katharine Sophia Giddings (Kate), and Caleb Lee Giddings. My son, Arthur Lyle Evans, is a retired detective from the Morehead City Police Department and has two children: Haleigh Evans Alexander and Alexander Jason Evans, both living in Greensboro N.C. Haleigh is married to David Alexander and are the parents of my fourth great-grandchild, Clara Liberty Alexander.

I was a Christian - one of those “frozen chosen” Presbyterians. I am with Jesus now - wherever and whatever we are. I hope it’s a place with lots of humor and irony. I’ll like that.

I suppose there will be some sort of memorial service to “celebrate my life.” There might be a good turnout too - if it doesn’t rain. If you want to give a small memorial, just pick a good cause. My ghost will be grateful.

Okay, that’s my obituary. Can I go now?

That should make you smile. Also, in the words of Paul McCartney, "it was twenty years ago today!"

..........that we up and moved to Morehead City.

Let freedom ring!

Big Rock 2023: First and Last ???

Who knows? But it was a pleasure and an honor to go, Dave and I fished on the Island Girl Tuesday 6/13. The seas were heavy and the closest thing we had to a fish on the line was one rod turned while pulling by a grass line that featured a wooden pallet. It did not release. Lots of boats in the area, at times we were among 12-15 boats, that is reassuring in case something goes wrong. We fished in the Big Rock area and were mainly on the eastern side. Nonetheless a good time and another check mark.

For the most part the sun was out, but quite honestly during the late morning I was napping in the salon! Thanks to my brother and Best!

Coincidences?

I don't know, you have to decide for yourself. From today's obits:

......Born on November 22, 1925, in Fort Worth, Texas, Terry was the daughter of the late Hans Oswald and Ann Della von Carlowitz.......

Thoughts?

Lovely lady by the way, she earned an MBA from Wharton in 1948, quite a remarkable feat for a woman during that time.

If You Want To Race......

.....Daytona is the place. I had a girlfriend a century ago who used to say that when I raced in rallyes at night on the back roads of eastern NC. She thought all racing should be on race tracks.

TAR and I went to Daytona last weekend and were thoroughly entertained, and plan to go back and get the same seats!

Here is the one of the pre-race flyovers:

They did several and it was by far the best NASCAR flyover I have ever seen. HOWEVER, still a distant second to the INDY 500 flyover part two that we saw several years ago:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTc_m4E_IJQ

You will have to copy and paste, sorry that was an amateur post. But it was close to where we were sitting, very exciting! AND well worth your efforts. 

And with this shot from our seats I noticed the windscreens were catching the sunlight and winking at my perspective,I was a little slow in capturing it, but I still liked it:

PK that is it, later gator 

In Case You Wondered............

If you watch the Netflix series Outer Banks, you might have wondered how to take a ferry from the Outer Banks to Chapel Hell, as mentioned in this fact-filled series. I have seen the exact same number of episodes of that show as I have The Kardashians. Evidently fact-checking is not used in the production. 

Apparently you hop on at Jennette's pier and before you know it you are in Chapel Hell. I am not sure how they do it, but I guess they go into Pamlico Sound, up the Neuse River until you get to the dam at Falls Lake. After that who knows?

And now you know.........................the rest of the story. 

Our Cousin Harry

Harry Olson Meadows, 90, of Marshall, NC, went home to be with the Lord on Thursday, September 1, 2022. Harry was born September 17, 1931 in Buncombe County to his late parents, Ed Levi and Emmagene Teague Meadows. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his siblings, Marie Meadows Wells, Ada Meadows, John Troy Meadows and Glennia Lyday, and nephew, David Lyday. Harry farmed his whole life and was a loving and thoughtful neighbor in his community.

He is survived by his brother-in-law, Ronnie Lyday, sister-in-law, Betty Meadows, nephew, John L. Meadows, niece, Mary Magnum (Reid), and too many special friends to list.

A graveside service will be held at 3:00 PM on Sunday, September 4, 2022 at Union Baptist Church Cemetery with Reverend Bryan Shetley officiating.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to the Greens of Weaverville or the charity of your choice.

Condolences can be made to the family online at www.MadisonFH.com.

The last time I saw Harry was in the summer of 2020. We was right at 89 and repairing a barbed wire fence.

I didn't ask, so I don't know if he lived in this house or in the trailer. NCSU estimated the house was built in the 1840's

Rest in peace.