A Theoretical Guide to Beach Bumming

Constant Flux
Certainly! One of these days I'll throw a dart at a map and just head off, with no planning and little time for expectations to accumulate, but until then, I'm finding I need at least 3 days to transition my mind into relaxation mode.

Thanks for the kind words! I imagine the idea I had in my mind was fairly accurate in the 1970s - 40 years of development makes quite a difference. Just having fun is certainly the right attitude. I can see it making a wonderful gathering spot for large groups and families, for sure.

Proper proof
Now everyone can see how well I did the beach thing. I still don't know for whom "Jumping for Joy" is a natural reaction to a place (not me, for sure, as the dozens of out-takes will attest). I have much more fun twirling around in the sand with my arms stretched outward, spinning like a top, and leaping out into the surf. Or, you know, turning my back towards the water with my head down, slightly frowning, and bracing for the wind, but both those scenarios make for terrible photos. Who brings an SLR to a beach anyhow? Too much sand and no place to put it. But none of that self-consciousness in this shot, no sir - mission accomplished, indeed!

A shame, indeed
In Ocracoke, at least, it's didn't seem like it was the seafood population that was threatened, but rather the labor force and chain of distribution needed to get it out of the water and to market. A large part is mis-managed expectations on behalf of the American consumer (most of the tourists to Ocracoke, anyhow, are American) - the notion that you can always eat what you want, when you want it, season or region be damned. Even at the seafood co-op, the manager told us about a couple who had, just the other day, complained loudly that they didn't open until 11am because she wanted fresh seafood to take to the beach earlier that day, and she had to explain that it took *time* for the fisherman to catch fresh seafood and bring it ashore; that was the earliest they regularly expected to have inventory. There are some state regulations in areas that have historically been over-fished or over-harvested. I don't know if it's exclusively a supplier driven problem though, but rather a consumption driven one. The good news there means that our better informed decisions can make smaller, but non-negligible, ripples while advocating for larger changes in the system. No easy short term solution, though. It's going to require a cultural shift in thought regarding where our food comes from, and thinking it back all the way to the environmental source, not just the supermarket.