Here We Are

We've been trying to remember how long it has been since everyone was here at the beach together--"we all" meaning those old enough to remember.  Though it doesn't seem possible, Tim thinks perhaps it hasn't happened since he was in high school.  It's hard to remember because we've stayed in the same house and done the same things for so many years--so much so that we stopped taking many pictures for awhile because each year pretty much looked the same.  There have been changes, though. 11 years ago pre-nuptual Dan and Kelle surprised us on the Friday of our vacation week by showing up at the crack of dawn having driven nearly all night to get here for the weekend (and that's a 9-hour trip if you don't get lost and they did).  That means they spent almost as much time getting here as being here.  But it was worth it to all of us when the following year Dan proposed to Kelle while we were here at the beach. Over these last several years we've introduced Lucy, Lily, Maddie and, just this week, Baby Drew to the wind and waves and sun.  Paul's brother and sister-in-law introduced our family to the Outer Banks nearly 50 years ago; since then three generations of our family (in our various groupings) have been making these annual vacation trips.

It's all happened here-- vacation, reunion, sunburns, wave-tossing, laughter, wonder and love.  Paul and I came here for our honeymoon and became the first guests to enjoy Paul's brother and sister-in-law's first beach house.  In the years that have followed, we've introduced this place to nearly everyone dear to us.  Like us, some of them fell in love with the place and continue to make their own pilgrimages back, but some don't get it; "Where's the boardwalk? The golf courses? Why is the wind always blowing? What's so great about fighting the surf every time you want to take a dip in the ocean?  Why not go to NJ beaches when they are so much closer???" In times past having no TV or phones was a big problem for some.  Now we even have internet and still some of these people aren't happy.

I can only tell you why I return, I guess.  For one thing, I always get reduced here.  Our rhythm, once we've explored the house, looked in the fridge to see what the ice situation is (this year we have 2 ice makers!!!!), count pillows, chairs and place settings, is basically going to the beach for as long as the sun is up.  Over the week of vacation we all get sand in our shorts, our lunches, our hair and, all of us, in our sheets.  Can't help it.  But we have clean toes and exfoliated skin. When the sun goes down, we shower, eat dinner, play a game or two or watch a movie and then go to bed.  This year we have four kids with us--one them a baby--so our rhythm adjusts to their needs.  But it's a simple rhythm. We eat, sleep and sit on the beach or around the table.  I count it a good week if I don't have to get into the car from the time we arrive to the time we leave.  And since all our children have become adults, I enjoy their adult autonomy.  Though they are welcome to, they don't come to me with their needs and often ask me if there's anything I need.  Lovely.

In years past I wasn't always happy to come to this spare place every single year.  For one thing, it took so long to get here and for many years the trip was sweaty and eternal because the weather was always hot and because our cars didn't have air conditioning--didn't have a car with air conditioning until I wrecked our tan van in 1992.  I was pregnant for 4 of these un-ariconditioned trips, but who's counting?  And a nine-hour trip with babies means at least 8.5 hours of wailing.  When I was young my family vacationed to a variety of places--mountains, rivers and lakes as well as beaches--and we arrived at some of our sites in a matter of minutes.  But I married someone who loves to repeat what works and Hatteras Island, for the most part, has worked for us.

When we arrived here this past Sunday (after multiple rounds of "It Won't Be Very Long Until We're Gone"*) and all ran down to the beach together--all 12 of us--Paul and I, Kelle, Dan, Lucy, Lily, Maddie, Kara, Tim, Debbie, Drew Kyle--I realized once more why I return each year.  This amazingly rich 38-year journey and annual path beaten out to a now-sacred island has given us the gift of returning.  It's here that we return to one another.



It Won't Be Very Long Until We're Gone:  our Hatteras Theme Song
It won't be very long until we're gone
And I don't think that I can wait that long
We'll be going to the beach
And we'll be out of reach
When we hit the beach of Hatteras (sung as "Hatter-us")

Chorus
It won't be long (echo "it won't be long")
It won't be long (echo "it won't be long")
I don't know that I can wait that long!
We'll be going to Hatter-us,
So don't try to call us
When we hit the beach of Hatter-us

Sometimes we sing "We'll be going to Hatter-us in our brown and tan bus."  We stopped singing that verse the year I wrecked the van.  We also sometimes add the names of people who are going along--this year's addition:
"We'll be going to Hatter-us
Lucy, Lily, Maddie, Drew and us"

Singing the song has sometimes helped pass the time in the car; it's also helped to make Paul and I a little crazier: We're usually happy to sing the song through a dozen times.  Kids like to sing it many, many times beyond that.