Guest Column: What makes a mom? Nine little darling faces stare up at me, and my heart melts at the utter cuteness of them.  Four are yellow and five black, but all nine ducklings shared the same 28 days in an incubator and hatched within hours of each other. Little chirps escape their pistachio-shaped beaks as they speak to me.  They want to be held.  They need water, food, and maybe some fresh spinach too.  Their bedding needs changing.  Come on, Mom, how about letting us out of the cage for a while? Mom.  What exactly does that mean?  Obviously, I am not their real mother since I don’t have wings.  They don’t know who their mothers are, and I can only hazard a guess.  My role is only that of surrogate.  Does that make me a mom?  Read more Ocracoke’s Molasses Creek breaks into folk music’s Top 10 Molasses Creek, the contemporary folk band from Ocracoke, in March was ranked in the national top 10 in folk music across the United States. The group’s CD, “An Island Out of Time,” was the fifth most played album on the folk radio scene, and the band was the number 9 artist, based on 13,326 airplays from 150 different deejays across the United States.  Read more Island Living: The trouble with the term ‘environmentalist’ Beach access is an issue where the two sides don’t cross over, and columnist Joy Crist thinks it’s okay if she can’t convince any Facebooker, Tweeter, or forum poster that his or her way of thinking is wrong. But what she does  have a huge problem with is the rampant misuse of the term “environmentalist.”   Read more 2011: The photos of the year…..WITH SLIDE SHOW Island Free Press photographer Don Bowers shares some of his best and his favorite photographs from 2011.  The year, of course, was dominated by Hurricane Irene in late August. Read more Island Living: A Visitor’s Guide to life in the Real World But let’s face it -- a trip to the Real World can be a little strange and a little intimidating. It’s not like we islanders can’t function if we’re not close to home, it’s just that we get so used to our lifestyle, which is quite different from the rest of the world, that when we do finally take a long trip elsewhere, there are a few cultural differences that we might miss or might not be used to. The holidays are just around the corner, and for many of us this marks the first extended trip we’ll be taking off-island in months, as our friends and family are not very bright and decided to live elsewhere for some reason. So before you pack up the truck and head over the Bonner Bridge, you might want to read over these key differences between our island community and the rest of the country, also known as the “Real World.”   Read more Late summer and fall surfing on Hatteras….WITH SLIDE SHOW Island Free Press photographer Daniel Pullen didn’t get to surf or photograph surfing as much as he would have liked from late summer into the fall. Hurricane Irene got in the way and caused him to move his family north of the Bonner Bridge for weeks. But he did manage to get some pretty impressive shots of surfing and the ocean from mid-August until late November.   Read more Stand-up paddleboarding is an increasingly popular watersport on the islands….WITH SLIDE SHOW Stand-up paddleboards have become increasingly popular on the shores of Cape Hatteras over the last several years.  They are versatile, easy to learn, and good in a variety of wind and water conditions. As with many other watersports, Cape Hatteras is a perfect place for this growing sport because paddleboarding is fun on the flat waters of the Pamlico Sound but also in the surf on the ocean.   Read more Island Cooking: Lighter ingredients and preparations for spring In addition to Easter, a major ritual of spring is the diet.  As we strip away the heavy layers of woolen socks and knitted caps and everything in between, it becomes painfully and undeniably apparent that we are not yet ready for swimsuits. There are numerous diet books that attempt to alter our eating habits, but that usually only lasts a little while.  Most of us lose the weight -- or not -- then go back to the foods we have been craving.  Need I say more? Why not make a few substitutions of both ingredients and cooking methods?  Read more Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is open for climbing for 2012 season The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse opened for climbing for the 2012 season on Friday, April 20, and will remain open through Columbus Day on Oct. 8. Climbing hours are 9 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. daily in the spring and fall, and 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. May 25 through Labor Day. Read more Long-lost Titanic SOS is on view for the first time The alarming message sent from the R.M.S. Titanic 100 years ago on the night of April 14, 1912, was first received and recorded at the Hatteras Weather Bureau Station. The log page from that date will be on public display at the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum in Hatteras village for the very first time from April 14 until May 31.  Read more The new Jennette’s Pier in Nag’s Head offers summer programs for the whole family Jennette’s Pier has been a favorite of families and fishermen for decades. The pier was built in 1939 and was destroyed by Hurricane Isabel in 2003. It was rebuilt by the state of North Carolina and re-opened on May 21. The pier offers fishing, of course, but also a swimming beach with bathhouse, educational programs for the entire family, aquarium exhibits, refreshments, and a gift shop. This summer, the pier has a full program of fun and educational opportunities. There are fees for all of the programs.   Read More ‘The Lost Colony is the nation’s oldest outdoor symphonic drama about the nation’s oldest mystery Going to the see “The Lost Colony” production is a multi-dimensional experience, and as loyal local regulars can testify, every season is a little different, every show is a little different, every night is different from the one before. The nation’s longest-running outdoor symphonic drama, a story of human ambition, fortitude, and love told in a meld of song, dance, violence, and laughter, is made all the more compelling because it is rooted in true history that took place --- more or less ---right where the audience sits.  Read more  Shipwreck museum building almost finished, new artifacts coming After 12 years of spasmodic progress and fiscal near-death experiences, the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum in Hatteras village might actually be completed before summer.  That is, construction of the building, barring another setback, will finally be done. Exhibits will still take another four years or so to complete. The museum, which is free and open to the public, is also expecting some new shipwreck artifacts.  Read more Sea-level rise debate may move to Raleigh A bill that could be introduced when the N.C. General Assembly convenes Wednesday, May 16, would prevent state agencies and local governments from planning for the higher seas that many scientists expect later this century as the climate warms. Instead, the bill requires that any state forecast for future sea-level rise be based on the historical rise of the last century, and it prohibits state agencies and institutions and local governments from developing their own forecasts based on a different standard.   Read more Is ‘smart growth’ a U.N. conspiracy? A group in Currituck County that has expressed suspicions about the motives behind terms like “smart growth” and “green projects” said it is not giving up despite the county’s recent approval of a long-term planning document. “To me, it has definite ties to UN Agenda 21 because it allows public-private partnerships,” Jill Rolfes, one of the founders of Currituck County Citizens Against UN Agenda 21, said about the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) that the county Board of Commissioners passed unanimously last week. “Community good is put over the loss of a person’s private property.”   Read more Sea-Level Rise: The onrushing train For at least a decade, numerous North Carolina scientists have been warning with increasing stridency about the state’s vulnerability to impending sea-level rise, but policymakers have yet to take heed. Two reports released this month by a group of independent researchers, however, have only reinforced the dire predictions about the effects of a rising Atlantic on the state’s coast.  Read more The new stallion settles into his new home at the Ocracoke Pony Pen and meets a mate….WITH VIDEO The wild ponies of Ocracoke Island and Corolla have been an important part of Outer Banks heritage for centuries. Separated by two major inlets and a distance of more than 100 miles, the two herds have, until now, had no contact with each other. That changed in February when the National Park Service, which oversees the Ocracoke ponies, imported a young stallion from the Corolla herd to bring new blood to the Ocracoke ponies.   Read more Coastal Land Trust and partners plan project to stop erosion at Springer’s Point The North Carolina Coastal Land Trust will begin work this spring on a natural shoreline restoration project, known as a “Living Shoreline,” at its popular nature preserve on Ocracoke Island. “Springer’s Point is an ecological and cultural gem for locals and visitors alike,” said Lee Leidy, attorney and Northeast Region Director of the North Carolina Coastal Land Trust, which owns and manages the 122-acre nature preserve. “Unfortunately, the shoreline at the preserve no longer functions like a natural shore system, and areas that previously served as an important buffer to the maritime forest are now eroded.”   Read more Highway 12 has an uncertain future in an era of rising seas For residents of the Outer Banks, driving on the 65-miles of Highway 12 on Hatteras and Ocracoke islands is an economic necessity and a transportation challenge. Tourism brought $834 million into Dare County in 2010, and most islanders make their living from tourist-related business.  Two severe cuts in the road in and on the south edge of Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge on northern Hatteras inflicted by Hurricane Irene in August were the most recent illustration of the corridor’s vulnerability to beach erosion and storm damage, renewing questions about the futility of fixing such a vulnerable highway, especially in an era of a rapidly rising sea. Read more British Cemetery ceremony is smaller this year, but still solemn….WITH SLIDE SHOW An abbreviated ceremony at the British Cemetery on Ocracoke remembering the sinking of the British trawler HMT Bedfordshire off the coast during World War II went off smoothly today under clear, sunny skies. This 70th anniversary of the sinking on May 11, 1942, almost was canceled because Hatteras-Ocracoke ferry service has been suspended for much of the week, said Janey Jacoby, who organizes the Ocracoke portion of the events that memorialize British and Canadian sailors killed in the war who are buried on Hatteras and Ocracoke.   Read more New book details a horrific chapter in World War II history that unfolded off the North Carolina coast Two years before the 1944 Great Atlantic Hurricane devastated Ocracoke and Hatteras islands, a national tragedy had played out in the waters off the Outer Banks, and to this day, many Americans have little knowledge of the horrific slaughter that took place. Kevin Duffus, author of the recently released book, “War Zone: World War II off the North Carolina Coast,” said that many who have attended his lectures and book signings about the U-boat attacks off the U.S. coast are astounded at the extent of the death toll, and how people lost their lives in such hellish circumstances --- blown to pieces, tossed alive into flaming seas, shot to death in mid-escape, deserted by would-be rescue ships, consumed by layers of discharged oil.   Read more A eulogy for an old Hatteras village friend “With all the joys of life, it is inevitable that we will experience times of sadness as well.   And it was sadness that I felt this morning just after daybreak as I grabbed my camera and headed out the door to visit an old friend.  I knew it would be our last time together.” Hatteras villager Buddy Swain says farewell to his old friend, which had been the oldest house in the village.   Read More Remembering the Ash Wednesday Storm of 1962 Unimaginative meteorologists called it “The Great Atlantic Coast Storm of 1962.” The late Aycock Brown, though, was a more lyrical sort. As the longtime publicist for Dare County, Brown had a flair for turning a phrase. He was also a religious man. Brown looked at the calendar and noted that the great storm had hit on the first Wednesday of Lent.  Thus, he christened it with the name that has come down through history, The Ash Wednesday Storm. It arrived 50 years ago this week. For three days, it lashed almost 500 miles of the Eastern Seaboard, from the Outer Banks to Cape Cod, with unremitting winds that topped 70 miles an hour. It hurled 30-foot waves against sand dunes and beach towns, cutting new inlets, flooding roads and collapsing buildings. Nor’easters don’t generally kill, but when this one was done, 40 people were dead. The price tag for the damage was later estimated at $500 million in current dollars. The U.S. Geological Survey considers it to be one of the 10 worst storms in the United States in the 20th century. Though no one died in North Carolina, the northern Outer Banks were staggered by the blow.  Read More