Clint & Barnacle
Quiet And Cold On The Island
Greetings from the island everyone. Hope all of you are doing well and had a wonderful Christmas with the family and friends. The weather and tides cooperated, so Barnacle and I were able to run in Christmas Eve for a family get-together at my sisters in Seadrift, and then back out to the island the next day. It was nice seeing everyone, I think it had been 10-12 days since I had been to the mainland.
Well winter is definitely in full swing already. Had ice on the island for only the second time in the nearly eight years that I’ve lived full time out here. That was a cold few mornings two weeks ago, especially the first morning being 30 degrees with a 28 mph wind, making for an 18 degree wind chill, and basically staying at that for the entire day. That’s too dang cold! The following morning was a bit colder actual temperature, but didn’t feel nearly as cold with little to no wind. But I did have to boil water and pour into the chickens’ containers as they were iced over. Once every four years is about as often as I care to deal with those cold conditions, but the way this winter is shaping up, it could be much sooner than that.
This is the very quiet and tranquil time of the year on the island. People coming out are few and far between during the winter months, not wanting to deal with the cold and windy conditions or the unpredictable very low tides.
It is this time of the year that would keep most people from having any desire to live alone on an island. It’s pretty much all about “you” time and only you during these harsh winter months. Quiet and alone solitude is the way of life on an unpopulated barrier island Dec-Feb, with often times only the seagulls and beautiful white pelicans for company. But of course I personally would not have it any other way. As I’ve said many times, there is a huge difference in being alone versus being lonely. I rarely get lonely out here, making it a point to stay busy and always having some type of little project going on and keeping my time occupied.
Speaking of new projects, I’ve decided to get a new batch of chickens in April, and this time I’m gonna start off with day old baby chicks, instead of buying them already six weeks old. I’ve been working on building their brooder, a 5’x 5’ enclosed area, about 20” high, to raise them in until they are old enough to move over to the chicken pen/coop location. I’ll have to provide them with heat for at least the first several weeks at night, using a small generator to power a red bulb heat lamp. This will be something new for me, but I’m looking forward to raising a flock of 30 chickens from the time they are baby chicks.
Of course I will need to get rid of the current 42 older chickens that I currently have, but they will still have 8-12 months of decent egg laying in them. Anyone that might be wanting free chickens, please contact me by email, ccbennetsen@yahoo.com. The only catch is that you will need to come to the island with a container and haul them back home, but you can take as many as you like. My only other alternative will be to dispatch them for crab and fish bait, not something that I look forward to doing. Contact me if you are interested.
Well that’s it from the island for now, everyone take care and have a great day.
