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Ian Tregillis

Writer. Scientist. Thoroughly Disappointing Flesh Muppet.

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It’s a Blue-Gray Heaven by the Sea

Posted on May 6, 2012January 8, 2025 by eidolon

I’m on the outer banks of North Carolina right now, sharing a house with some of the coolest people in writerdom.  I am staring at the Atlantic Ocean as I type this.  I am content.

Last night I fell asleep to the sound of the ocean.  After a day spent traveling, the insomnia still had me up at 5am local time (3am for my seriously broken body clock).  So then I got to watch the sun rise over the ocean.

I’m tired as hell, but the coffee is great, and the company even better.  I’m one lucky guy.

I flew into Norfolk, VA yesterday afternoon, where the terrific and gentlemanly Daryl Gregory (en route from PA) swung by the airport to let me hitch a ride to our immense rented beach house.   He took it all in stride, too, when I kept jabbering so much that we missed what the GPS told us to do.

Other than some general confusion about how to operate the showers in this puzzle house (thank you, Jenn Reese, for walking us through it) everything so far has been fantastic.  I expect that to continue.

Here’s the view from my bedroom:

Walkway to the beach an turbulent Atlantic

More turbulent ocean, with immense beach houses.

Here on the Outer Banks, even the birdhouses are fancy:

These birdhouses are on the market for a steal, but the neighbors are questionable.

It’s quite nice to be back at sea level, and close to such a large body of water.  I had forgotten what humidity feels like.  It’s also a pleasant surprise to be able to drink a cup of coffee before it goes cold.

3 thoughts on “It’s a Blue-Gray Heaven by the Sea”

  1. Scott Denning says:
    May 9, 2012 at 7:52 pm

    It’s wonderful when your skin hydrates and relaxes and becomes subtly but notably more sensitive.

    However, upon the return to New Mexico the crackling sound as it dries out again can be quite disconcerting.

  2. bkdunn says:
    May 12, 2012 at 10:48 am

    I kind of don’t understand why tourists go to Outer Banks. Sensory deprivation? Probably makes it a good place to write. Hopefully you visited Kitty Hawk.

  3. Ian says:
    May 13, 2012 at 11:27 pm

    Scott, I did indeed discover that after a couple of days my skin no longer had the texture of a Reptiloid. Not that I’ve ever actually seen a Reptiloid. I just, you know, assume they’d have dry skin.

    BK! I can attest that it was a very good place to write. I drove (well, rode) past Kitty Hawk at least twice and somehow never managed to get inside the actual park. I’m sort of bummed about that.

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