Our 30th anniversary. I am grateful that, in spite of myself, like Buttercup in The Prince's Bride, I found my true love in the end.

New friends
Over the week before and during the festival we became friends with the three members of the crew of the boat docked across from us, Doug, the boat's owner from New Bern and a couple, Don and Evelyne, from Washington (NC). They were a gregarious, high-spirited crew who enjoyed ribbing each other and it didn't take long to extend the ribbing to me. One morning they saw me doing my yoga routine under the shade trees by the visitor's center. On Tuesday, after they arrived back in Washington, they called to say they'd come up with a new name for me. In the spirit of Dances With Wolves, they dubbed me Stands On Head. We're looking forward to taking them up on an invitation to visit in the fall. In the meantime, I'm going to have to come up with a new exercise routine.

Fig preserves
Late Tuesday morning I went in search of fig preserves as a small thank you for Cathy and her family. A fig branch image created by Ann Ehringhaus and the artists at Bread and Butter Screenprinting was featured on the festival T-shirts and programs this year. A fig cake recipe compiled by Debbie Wells was printed on the back. Wells started The Back Porch Restaurant and authored The Back Porch Restaurant Cookbook, one of my anniversary gifts to Robert. My first inquiry after fig preserves resulted in discouraging news. The figs begin ripening in late July. Last year's preserves were mostly gone. Discouraged, I decided to give it one more try and asked at the island's excellent book store, Books to be Red. "You might try Della Gaskill out by the Assembly of God Church across from the lighthouse. She makes her own and she might have some left," the helpful young woman behind at the counter told me. She marked the place for me on a walking map. I hoisted my daypack and set off on School Road, crossed Irvin Garrish Highway and headed up Lighthouse Road, hugging the shady side of the street and regretting that I'd forgotten to apply sunscreen. I found Mrs. Gaskill's Woccocon Nursery and Gifts tucked behind her house, but the door was locked. I was just about to leave when a woman put her head out the window of a pickup truck that had been about to pull out of the driveway. With a distinctly Ocracoke inflection a voice said, "She's just gone in the house. You wait right there and I'll go get her for you." A friendly woman named Christine emerged from her truck and went to the door and told Mrs. Gaskill she had a customer. It turned out Mrs. Gaskill had some fig preserves left, but didn't take credit cards. As is usually the case, I didn't have enough cash or my checkbook. Determined to have the preserves, I was about to set off for the docks to get some cash from Robert, a round-trip of about 3 miles. Did I mention that it was HOT?

Island hospitality
But Christine said she would give me a ride. I ask where she was headed and she said not to worry, she would take me to the boat and bring me back. After protesting without serious conviction, I gratefully accepted her kindness. Her family has been on Ocracoke for generations and I loved hearing her talk. Carl Goerch talks about Ocracoke speech in his 1956 book. "The outstanding difference between speech at Ocracoke and points farther upstate lies in the pronunciation of the letter 'I,'" he says. "It is changed by the natives to 'OI,'" so that words like high and tide become hoigh toide. I think it's interesting that the mountain dialect I grew up speaking is quite different, yet both regions were settled early by mostly English-speaking colonists and then remained relatively isolated for decades. Were the settlers from different regions of the British Isles? Were they influenced by the languages of other immigrants? I'm sure a linguist could tell me.
During the drive we talked about shopping trips off the island and Christine's family. After she dropped me back at Woccocon Nursery, I bought my preserves and headed to the coffee shop for a smoothie. Christine's kindness gave me a whole new appreciation of island hospitality.

Ocracoke figs
Curious about the significance of figs to Ocracoke, I did some internet research and found a 2009 Our State article titled "Ocracoke's Famous Figs." It wasn't available online, but packrat that I am, I still have my November 2009 copy of the magazine (not on the boat, I looked this up at home). The story, by Molly Harrison, says the island's sandy soil and salty conditions are perfect for figs, which are native to the Mediterranean and that local residents have been growing them since at least the 1700s. There are about 10 varieties on the island. They have great names like brown turkey, old sugar, blue, yellow and lemon. In the Our State story, Harrison says Della Gaskill's sugar fig preserves are made with whole figs that are more delicate than the blue fig and that they "melt in your mouth even before you chew, and the caramel-hued syrup has a lemony zing." Yum! Next trip, I'll be going back to visit Woccocon Nursery.

Dinner at the Jolly Roger
We had dinner at Jolly Roger with Frank and Ethlyn. The Jolly Roger has outside tables overlooking Silver Lake so we could bring Madison. As a bonus, Mandolin Orange was performing on the porch. We had an enjoyable visit with the Frank and Ethlyn, who've been coming to Ocracoke for about 20 years and know many local people. The young woman who sent me to find Della Gaskill's fig preserves sat down at the table next to us and she and Frank greeted each other. Frank's so well-known at the book store that they know what he likes to read and have books picked out for him when he comes. She was soon joined by local teacher Charles Temple (nephew of Capt. Rob Temple), who recently won $100,000 on the game show Jeopardy. We recognized him because his success made him an island celebrity and he was introduced during the festival. He was even part of a Jeopardy skit during one break between the music. When Ethlyn realized who he was she told him she owed him a hug. It turns out that a member of St. James Episcopal, our home church in Hendersonville, played a role in Temple's Jeopardy success. When he was a youngster, she lived next door to him in Atlanta and got him interested in watching the game show. Before Ethlyn and Frank left for Ocracoke, she'd told Ethlyn if she saw Temple to give him a hug for her.
After dinner we strolled across the street for ice cream, then said good-bye to Frank and Ethlyn and headed back to the boat. As we neared the docks, we saw a family of otters playing in the area where the NOAA vessel is usually docked. Robert said eastern otters usually prefer fresh water, but this family seemed happy in briny Silver Lake.