#8 Visit Aunt Pat on Ocracoke Island

 #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!