Off the Beaten Path

This is the Merritt, NC Post Office. A friend recently started working there. Isn't it cute? It's a tiny place with 30 P.O. boxes. The former postmistress tended the plants lovingly, both inside and out. I love the look of it. So very small town :)

She kept vining plants inside as well. Here's one. And she had air fresheners. (See it plugged in the corner?) Because it's a small space, the aroma really accosts you when you come in the door.

And to add some whimsy, the previous postmistress hung winter decorations from the ceiling. Tell me, is there another post office like this one in the whole country? It kind of reminds me of an elementary school classroom -- very creative.

Yes, we are well off the beaten path. We are so far out, at the very end of the road, I sometimes wonder that anyone finds us at all.
The cattails are perfect right now. We have lots of marshy land, especially in the ditches (which stay full in the rain) and near the river. Aren't they pretty?

Adam and I strolled around at the harbor last night and noticed a huge flock of seagulls, clustered over one little boat. It was these two fellows out shrimping. I tell you -- one side of the back of their boat was only above the waterline by two inches.

You can't see it well, but they're hauling a shrimp net underwater, and it's pulling the back of the boat down. And the gulls are staying as close as possible, probably hoping to share in the "by-catch," the other fish caught in the net besides shrimp, that the men don't want. Diesel fuel filled the air. It's really a rather bad way to fish and very damaging to the wildlife and the river, but it's legal. Unfortunately.

The sunset came, fiery red as if the western world were ablaze. Its reflection on the water was particularly vivid.