Atlantic Beach, Cape Lookout, Swarm of flying ants

Last Wednesday, Steve and I took off for a mini-vacation. We headed to our favorite part of the North Carolina coast, Atlantic Beach. There we caught a beautiful sunset.

                                                                 

When our son was a youngster, we would visit the beaches of North and South Carolina every summer, fulfilling a tradition that some part of the summer had to be spent at the beach. It's been many years since we went to the Carolina beaches as a family.

We sat and watched the sun go down while watching a young Hispanic family of boys chase each other, playing hide and seek. Reminiscing. What a restful evening it was.

                            

The next morning, after breakfast, despite that I wasn't feeling up to full speed, we took a ferry ride from Harker's Island to Cape Lookout National Seashore to visit the lighthouse there. So glad we went there. Myfuture vacations are already being planned!

                                            

You better believe I'm happy that summer time is here. Yes, Steve, please take a picture to show that I do smile, and I can enjoy time away from the classroom! This is Steve's week off, so before I get started on VBS, I'm going to enjoy this time away from any commitments.

                                        

Now, while at the lighthouse, we met this young man, Dean Pearce. Turns out he is the Keeper's Quarters Caretaker here at Cape Lookout. He and his wife, Marsha, are volunteers to take care of the Keeper's Quarters for a six week hiatus. Well, I didn't know volunteers did this, so I asked some questions.

He said anyone can register with the National Parks Service to be a volunteer Keeper's Quarters Caretaker, or caretaker at the Portsmouth Village. But there is that 5-6 week commitment. And a 3 year waiting list, he said. (for more information about the volunteer in the parks service at Cape Lookout, here is a website with more information.) 

While he greets the public from the porch of the house, answering questions, and assisting other Park personnel, his wife mans the Visitor Center just a short walk away from the house. (thatbuilding was air conditioned!) I suppose they may take turns doing their jobs, but I don't really know, I forgot to ask that question.

I'm thinking Dean enjoys the porch talk,and doesn't mind the heat of the day. He was repairing a fishing pole when we strode up to the porch. We talked for the better part of 30 minutes, and though he and his wife had only been there for the first week of their commitment, I think they are going to have a rewarding experience. So if you are planning on visiting Cape Lookout during the next five weeks, say hi to Dean and Marsha, Lighthouse Keepers, for me!

                

Dean asked if we wanted our picture taken together after I took one of him... of course, thank you~!! Here are some lighthouse facts regarding Cape Lookout:

It was completed in 1859. Originally a red brick color, it was painted a diamond black/white pattern in 1873 to distinguish it from two other light towers at Cape Hatteras and Bodie Island, which were built in 1872 ( they were also painted different patterns for the same reason).

It stands 169 feet above sea level (163 feet above ground level). Walls are 9 feet thick at the base, 1ft 7in at the top. Base diameter is 28ft 7 in. and top diameter is 13 ft 3 in. There are 201 steps (which we were not allowed to walk up, but there are times during the year when it is open to the public), ten windows, and 2 doors.

The light is produced by two rotating beacons, each a 1000 watt bulb producing 800,000 candlepower! The light can be seen 20 miles out to see, and flashes one flash ever 15 seconds. IfI were aboat or ship's captain, I think I'd be so grateful for lighthouse beacons... no wonder we use the lighthouse as a symbol for guidance through the night and through storms.

BTW, all the Lookout Lighthouse facts in the previous three paragraphs were paraphrased from a brochure I picked up at the Cape Lookout National Seashore Visitors' Center, and printed by the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. I'm reading it right this very minute. Just so's you don't think I'm all THAT smart.  : - >

Oh, and here are some directions to how to get there if you are visiting anywhere near the area (click on the link above).

                    

The most curious thing we observed (well, it was a curiosity to me!) was when we walked along the Atlantic beach that evening. I didn't notice it right away, but as we searched for shiny smooth pebbles washed up on shore in the receding tide, I couldn't disregard the water mark left behind. It was filled with thousands of black shiny insects. With wings. They looked like flying ants.

             

So Steve and I pondered on how they got there. Thousands of swarming black flying ants, washed ashore at Atlantic Beach on June 21, 2007. I wondered if they had all been out mating (hence the wings) and got caught up in a storm, blown out to sea, fell into the water from exhaustion, drowned, then washed ashore.

                                           

Here is a closeup. Are there any bug enthusiasts or people who observe weather patterns and their effects on insect populations who can explain this phenomenon? I don't know how common it is, but I'm guessing it is. I remember one coastal visit where we were attacked by a swarm of mosquitos that had blown in from somewhere, and they remained inthe area for two days.... it was miserable.

                                                       

What is this? I thought it was a rock at first, until I touched it. It was about the size of a baking potato. I went to pick it up, and dropped it immediately because my brain got the wrong signal... I saw a rock, I thought a rock, but I felt something very soft. I could dent it easily. It seemed the texture and density of clay on the inside. Curious, I sniffed it. No odor. It was black through and through.

So I called my scientific husband to come and look at it and give me his perception of the rock. He saw that I had already opened it up. I told him it felt like clay, looked like clay. "I didn't know we could get clay from the sea," I said.

Steve does not take long to come up with answers. Considering all the information I had given him he replied, "Well, it's probably something from somebody's bilge."

I could tell from the look in his eye and that mischievous grin that he was joking, but still... I ran to wash my hands, just in case it was. Like I said, there was no odor. But has anyone seen these things, and do you know what they are? There were a pile of them nearby laying in a depression created by the tidewaters.

 

Before I end this entry, here is one parting shot of Cape Lookout, and the Keeper's Quarters in the foreground. I guarantee you that in 3-5 years, I will be living in that house for a six week vacation. And you can come visit me there!

                                              

 

 

I had to come back and reduce the size of some of the pictures. Using the new picture tools have taken me some time to figure them out. While some shots are more effective in the large size, others seemed more appropriate in the medium size. I liked it when we could adjust the size after we inserted them, you know, adjust it to the page. You could see how it looked right there, make it smaller if you needed to. But now that control is gone. Darn.

 

Tags: Cape Lookout, Lightouse Keeper's Quarters, Atlantic Beach, Swarm offlying ants washed ashore on Atlantic Beach

Tags: Cape Lookout National Seashore, National Park Service, www.nps.gov/