#8 Visit Aunt Pat on
Ocracoke Island
My Aunt Pat is one of the coolest people I know. Now, I may be biased, but once you get to
know her I think you will agree. Aunt
Pat is a Naturalist; she has spent most of her life dedicated to studying
animals in their natural habitats and preserving their freedom to live safely
and flourish in those habitats. She is a writer by trade and has written
several books about her adventures across America. Her house is on Ocracoke
Island in the Outer Banks, but she spends a great deal of her year travelling
in her truck with her animals and her guitar to the likes of the Adirondack
Mountains in New York, a cowboy ranch in New Mexico, the Grand Canyon in
Arizona, or wherever the wind takes her. Aunt Pat is a person of great
adventure, but also of quiet depth and reflection who expresses herself
creatively in writing books, songs, and painting. She is always full of surprises and we never
know where she is going next or when she will be blowing through town for a
visit.
Growing up, I knew that when Aunt Pat came into town, she
would be bringing with her some animal companion – often wounded – that she had
rescued along the way of her travels.
She would tell us stories from teaching the children of the Havusupai
Indian Reservation inside the Grand Canyon and from scouring the beaches of
Ocracoke looking for sea turtles and other marine creatures in need of
rehabilitation.
The last time I visited Aunt Pat on Ocracoke was during
Spring Break in high school; I was much over-due for a visit. So during our vacation to Nags Head, we
boarded the ferry for a quick day trip to the Island. We met her newest rescue – a sweet dog who
was terrified of my nieces and nephews. After
lunch, we celebrated her birthday with cake from the mainland. We took a walk around
the quaint town and got to meet a few of her friends. We ended the all too quick day with a walk on
the secluded and pristine beach for which Ocracoke is famous.
Although our visit was short, we felt so blessed to experience a small taste of life on the island which Aunt Pat calls home. I felt especially thankful that we got to spend the day with her on her birthday. Hopefully we will get to return to Ocracoke to see her again soon!
The kids enjoyed Ocracoke too!
