To be quite honest I have not thought much about our little bridge since its demise. I tend to do that–erase things that  weigh on my heart, I sort of shut down until I can cope with it. It’s been a year, or nearly one, since they hauled our history away and I guess that’s the way I see the departure of the swing bridge–our history-what makes us who we are (or were), being dismissed, forgotten–as if it was never really that important. That bridge MADE US SLOW DOWN.  It made us take time whether we liked it or not. Now it is more, more, faster, faster, bigger, better. To me those things are pretentious, and I only see how these things diminish us as human beings. I like to think that patience is still a virtue, that kindness is love, that honesty is the best policy, that we are our brothers keeper, and that lying is always wrong. But morality has become very muddy here on our island, especially with the local political climate. Shame, shame. Alas, I still love this little strip of sand.  Someone asked me the other day if I ever thought of leaving–“Oh yes,” I replied. “I think about it all the time.” And I was gone for around 20 years once, but I still think there are grains of sand on the beach that I walked on as a kid, teenager and adult. The history is in my heart and this is my home.

QUOTE;  “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation.” Henry David Thoreau

I finally realized what it is about Surf City and Topsail Beach that makes us so unique, so really cool–and that is that this little sand bar (everyone calls it an island) offers a plethora of eccentric  personalities. I mean, why in the world does anybody want to be like someone else? It’s the individual soul that soars, and boy does Topsail Island have its fair share of those. The most interesting of these souls is the free lancer, not the guy who came here to get rich, (and suck the life and beauty our of our little stretch of sand) but the person who loves the lifestyle-who has shifted down a couple of gears and doesn’t give a damn–except about true friendship and patience. It all kind of reminds me of Tortilla Flats, a novel by John Steinbeck–he’s the ordinary man’s penman–no frills, no veneer.

The above picture was taken in the early sixties or late 50s at the VFW. Any old fogies out there recognize anyone? Talk about eccentricity–whoa!

Not sure who the man on the left is, not sure about the fish either, but the tall blonde on the right is Slim Rackley. I remember him, man was he tall (especially to a little kid) and a nice guy too. He was the first cop we had on the island, starting in the 1950s. Back then a lot of ex Marines settled down on Topsail to raise their families, to have a simpler life after WWII and Korea–not expecting to get rich, just live life in a place not swarming with bad guys and sheister’s.  Oh well, all this progress–umm. But I digress, the island was a great baby sitter for children with giant sand dunes and parents watching out for each other’s kids. Slim’s children went to Topsail School and I think one was in my class–but that was a long time ago and I’m not sure. Ward Realty was part of the Superette shopping center–where the IGA shopping center is now and if you didn’t want to drive all the way to Wilmington or Jacksonville, or even Boom Town in Holly Ridge, it was the place to go. Ahh, the good old days…………….

QUOTE:  “There are new words now that excuse everybody. Give me the good old days of heroes and villains, the people you can bravo or hiss. There was a truth to them that all the sick credulity of today cannot touch.” Bette Davis

WRITING TIP: Heroes and Villains–shouldn’t  your characters be a little of both.

look familiar? these are those little bitty crabs that hang out in the marsh when its low tide. They are cute, aren’t they? They’re always to quick for me to pick up and examine, but I guess that’s a good thing. Anyway, they have a bit part in the new book ALL THESE LITTLE THINGS. (they are a bunch of little things, aren’t they?) I’m really getting into this book (something new is always exciting) and the new character Kae. A sneak peek–Kae learns a whole lot about life in this book-lots of eye opening passages in this one. Don’t you hate it when you learn something new about something you think you knew everything about? Geez, life is funny that way. And then there’s the murder!!!!! Well, that throws a wrench into everybody’s day.

Quote: “Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please.” Mark Twain

Writer’s tip: Class is still open for newbies. Monday night 5:45 –come learn and have fun doing it.

Life does go on –until it doesn’t anymore. In the meantime we all do our best-(or at least what we think we are capable of). Some people sleep well with their choices, others do not. ALL THESE LITTLE THINGS, the 6th book in the mystery series, is about those people and if you’ve been reading the Topsail Island Mystery series, you know of whom I write. I like to think that my books are not just murder stories but are about the ups and downs, the struggles, disappointments and joys we all have in our lives.

QUOTE: “Life is not linear; you have ups and downs. It’s how you deal with the troughs that defines you.” Michael Lee-Chin

Writer’s tip: Class starts Sept. 9, Y’all come now. Gonna be fun! CFCC Creative Writing–Carol Overstreet

This is sort of what the cover of the new book will look like. Still tweaking and will be doing so for quite a while. But I do have the title– ALL THESE LITTLE THINGS. Guess I do it bass ackwards, have to have a title before I can start a book. So, I’m off. Hopefully this one will be done by next spring. Excerpts will be posted periodically.  Still hawking for students for the writing class at CFCC. For more info on that go to the college website. Thanks and hope to C U there.

Often at the Topsail Beach market I’ll mention to folks that there is a picture from the 1930s on my blog but that it was posted years ago. It’s a real drag to have to scroll through all my stuff just to get to it, so I posted this lovely photo again. Look at our dunes covered in sea grasses, the squatty water oaks in the distance–beauty is a simple thing. It is not ornate. Yes, this was the best place to grow up.

QUOTE: “Yes: I am a dreamer. For a dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.”
– Oscar Wilde

WRITER TIP: Writing class begins September 9 at Surf City Cape Fear Community College. Please sign up – lots of fun, lots of learning.

If you’ve ever been in one of my writing classes you may have heard me talk about skiffs, sailboats and tankers. I liken them to people and thus to characters. All three, the skiff, sailboat and tanker traverse the water; each can handle different amounts of what the ocean has to offer. People experience a whole spectrum of emotions. If  they have experienced only a small amount of what is out there, never venturing into  deep water, then they are a skiff, but the oil tanker–ah, he does deep water all the time. Some people are skiffs some are sailboats and some are tankers. I don’t ever want to be a tanker. There are things I never want to know, things I don’t want to feel. So it’s a sailboat life for me. As for the characters in your life-ask yourself what they are. Which are you and why?

QUOTE: “We must free ourselves of the hope that the sea will ever rest. We must learn to sail in high winds.”  Aristotle Onassis

Geez, it’s been hot!  And I think this is one of the busiest summers I’ve ever seen. As much as I hate to admit it, the roundabouts, despite being too small, are helping with the flow of our busy summer traffic. Plus the the view from the bridge is fantastic.  So what is there to complain about? Not a darn thing. Just want to remind everybody to be careful of the undertow, wear plenty of sunscreen, be kind to the tourons,  (they just don’t know any better and they are visiting our home) And if any tourists are reading, please frequent our local businesses, we do appreciate you. Holland’s Shelter will be opening on the 29th of this month and they are the tastiest! when it comes to seafood.

QUOTE:  “I want to do things of significance, things that will inspire people to know how good life can be.” Judge Reinhold

WRITING TIP: The above is one of the reasons I write. It gives purpose, supplies joy and makes me feel whole-like God loves me. It’s a feeling I like to share. It certainly does not make me financially well off, but it brings wealth to my soul.

A friend and I were sitting on her deck, enjoying the day–you know, complaining about the traffic, the trash on the beach, the trash on the beach–hmm. Anyway, we were having a ball just chatting away when all of a sudden this little guy flew into one of the railings on her porch. “Oh my gosh!” we both exclaimed-and we wondered if the poor little bird was dead or dazed. Fortunately it was only dazed-we were glad and just as we were about to go to his aid Momma bird flew up to examine her baby. She made a fuss–chirping and hopping about. Beats me what she was saying to the little guy, but it must have been fantastic, because soon baby bird was off and within half a second so was momma.

Simple little things like this are so profound; they always humble me and remind me that there are other worlds beside mine.

QUOTE: “If you aren’t humble, whatever empathy you claim is false and probably results from some arrogance or the desire to control. But true empathy is rooted in humility and the understanding that there are many people with as much to contribute in life as you.” Anand Mahindra

WRITING TIP: The more I write, the more I learn–conversely, the more humble I become about my importance.