We now have a new reason to consider Raleigh, NC in our “future cities to live in” list.  And for those keeping track… that’s 3 reasons!  Our BFF’s (i.e. Boston Family Forever), Jess and Gordon Ryan have relocated there for a few years.

Until the day I can bring myself to return to our Brookline “coupling” spots (yes, Publick House, I mean you) our rendez-vous at the Mellow Mushroom will have to suffice.

Lisa, Dori & Jess outside of the Durham Mellow Mushroom

Raleigh-Durham Friends united!!

For longer than I can remember, my family has made an annual trek to the Outer Banks of North Carolina during the month of August.  When I was a kid, we rented a smaller house in Avon, NC that is now fondly referred to as “The Cameron House” in reference to the last name of the home owners.  I still picture that house as my ultimate vacation retreat with a vast number of bedrooms for adults (there were 3) and a perfect sized bedroom just big enough for my sister and I to bunk and admire our tanned faces in the mirror above the dresser that was lined with seashells.   When either my mother, grandmother or aunt ran a load of laundry in that house, it shook.  Houses in the Outer Banks sit on high stilts, and while this protects them from the risks of flooding, it makes them more sensitive to wind, thunder and a number of human activities taking place inside.  According to my grandmother, this includes the violent fever-shakes of an 8 year old with a bad case of strep throat.  :)  And… what I can I say?  I was plagued by strep throat for years; my sister lucked out (?) by only having bad ear infections.  In the years that we spent visiting the “Cameron House” I experienced my first “water spout” (later the subject of a very dramatic 8th grade english paper),  built any number of sandcastles and “motes” with my sister and grandfather, witnessed my first sunset,  and fell utterly and completely in love with life on the beach.  When I think about my childhood, there are few memories as crystalized in my mind as the summer weeks spent in that house, surrounded by my family.  

Because I’m telling you about this in the form of a memory, you have probably guessed that eventually our family outgrew the house.  And we did; my aunt and uncle welcomed my beautiful cousin Jeanette into the world, Sarah and I became adolescents and my dad’s snoring… proved to be more than anyone could take.  :)  As we grew physically we diminished as well; losing both my grandmother and aunt quickly within 2 years.  At 13 the pain of loss from these deaths was enormous and I can only begin to imagine the immense black hole that was felt by the adults in my family.  And so… much like the settlers in Roanoke… we moved away from the Cameron “village.”

Over the next (unknown number of years) and until very recently, my family continued to vacation in  Avon, NC which is on the outskirts of the more commonly known Cape Hatteras, NC.  If you’ve ever seen a picture of a this lighthouse; you’re looking at the biggest landmark for Cape Hatteras, NC. 

Cape Hatteras Light

more…