Snowing at the Beach

Over the MLK holiday weekend — one of the few holidays which the Quaker college observes — we went to the Outer Banks with our friends, B, K + G. K’s sister has a beach house in Kill Devil Hills, just up from Nags Head.

The beach was just across the street, so we braved the cold a few times to go collect shells. I think you can see in the pictures why we didn’t last very long. The wind off the ocean was pretty fierce, and on Saturday, as we were walking back to the house, it started to snow.

In general, we didn’t mind being home-bound. We had books, games, the Wii, plenty to eat and drink, a few movies, nothing to do and some really great views. The only problem was the refrigerator. We got in on Friday night. As we were unloading the car and opening up the house, we noticed some brown sludge on the floor surrounding the refrigerator. When we opened it, we very quickly realized the problem. It was dark and scary in there, and we quickly closed it. Curiosity got the best of us and we opened the freezer, for just a split second. Perhaps you have seen those very odd commercials for a flooring company where the couple smells the milk and falls over. Yeah, that. The smell was explosive, singed the inside of our nostrils and sent us all flying. Apparently, what happened was the last people to leave the house at Thanksgiving hit the wrong breaker by accident.

So, we spent the next hour or so feeling sorry for ourselves and steeling our nerves to attack the cleaning. We made a lot of plans – a lot more than we needed. Strategizing helped to postpone the inevitable. It took us about two hours to get it cleaned out. My job was to carry the trash bags full of rotten food down one flight of stairs to the second floor, then across the balcony to the side of the house where I would drop them into the open trash cans below. There were quite a few bags, and I was very glad I didn’t miss, as it was about 20 degrees.

The refrigerator is not reparable — the seals surrounding the freezer were ruined, and the liquid death had oozed into the elements at the back. We tried to buy a new one and have it delivered that day, but they couldn’t. So, we had coolers, and the natural freezer out on the balcony. We were fine. We just didn’t cook as much as we had planned. I don’t yet have a picture of the freezer, but K said she has one. When I get it, I’ll add it here.

On Sunday, we drove over to the North Carolina Aquarium, then down to Hatteras. It is a fascinating landscape, incredibly tenuous. I'd love to spend some more time there when the weather is a bit more accommodating.

There are more photos at my flickr site.