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The Oriental Bridge can offer a vantage point for sunsets over Greens Creek. Underneath, the light from the sunset can play on the concrete supports.

Thursday July 24, 2008

Thunderstorms between 4 and 5am this morning woke up humans and dogs, and dumped some rain too. It measured 1 1/4 inches of rain at the Oriental Weather Station. We have had almost 9 inches of rain so far this month – an average July is 6.75 inches. Today’s forecast is summer classic, high 89 and a chance of afternoon thunderstorms.

The full moon is past us for a few weeks, and you don’t need to be an astrologer to know that bodes well for this weekend’s Tarpon Tournament. A few years ago, the bright night light of a full moon was cited as the reason for few bites on the hook. This year, no such ‘explanation’. The Rotary Club, sponsors of the tourney, could still use observers to go out on boats and verify the landing of tarpon and the skate, which are more likely to be caught. More details on the Oriental Rotary web site.

Tonight there’s a performance at the Old Theater with New Actors. At 7pm, the students who’ve been attending the Children’s Theater Workshop these past two weeks, will be showing their skills. (Despite what the marquee read last week, when a wind took away a letter, the air conditioning will be on….)

Wednesday July 23, 2008

He’s friendly. He’s furry. He is a patriot. Meet Chunk, the July Pet Of The Month.

A chance of thunderstorms in the Oriental NC weather forecast , but the upper 90’s heat is over for a while.

This weekend is the Oriental Tarpon Tournament – you can still register for the pursuit of the elusive tarpon.

The antique cars that visited Oriental Tuesday caused lots of smiles. A photo essay of 1920’s cars in the village is coming Thursday.

Tuesday July 22, 2008

11:08am: If you’re curious to see the antique cars, we’re told that they’ll be at Brantley’s for lunch around 12:30. (The mix of ‘horseless carriages’ and big-horsepower pickups should be something to look for.) Once the visiting drivers have supped, they and their antique cars will drive over to Lou Mac Park where you can see them from about 1-3pm. After that, they’ll head back to New Bern.

7am: Sometime this afternoon Oriental will start looking like it’s the 1920’s. The Horseless Carriage Club Of America has 70 antique cars rolling through town… the time isn’t set. We’ll be listening for the signature chug of a Model T….

Sunday July 20, 2008

8:25p: Storm Cristobal has been mostly a non-event. We got an inch of rain today… the highest winds were 24 mph mid-morning. At this writing the air is still, and the most notable thing about the weather is that Monday & Tuesday will be HOT – highs in the upper 90’s.
7:15a: Cristobal has begun his visit, but the rains will be off-and-on as the counter clockwise motion of the storm sends it’s bands of rain overhead. You can see in the radar image that Cristobal is not a solid wall of water – how the storm moves over us will determine how much rain we get. The NOAA Public Advisory states 1-2 inches of rain at most NC coast locations, but isolated amounts of up to 5 inches are possible. Add to that forecast northeast winds at 35 mph later today (with higher gusts), and some flooding in Oriental is possible. Here are the links to follow:

• Weather Radar

• Tropical Storm Cristobal Tracking Chart

• Tropical Storm Cristobal Forecaster’s Discussion

• Tropical Storm Cristobal Public Advisory

• Pamlico Sound Marine Weather – good source for wind info

• Oriental NC Weather Forecast

• Oriental NC Weather Station

• Live Wind Gauge

• HarborCam

• RiverCam

Saturday July 19, 2008

The storm now has a name – hello to Tropical Storm Cristobal. The storm is expected to bring 2-4 inches of rain to the area starting tonight… you can track Cristobal’s progress on the animated radar above.

Friday July 18, 2008

11:25p: Tropical Depression 3 has formed – click here for the track. The Public Advisory states:

The Public Advisory calls for 2-4 inches of rain from the storm, winds about 30 mph.

6:55a: A tropical depression may form off the coast of Georgia this weekend. The National Hurricane Center says:

This appears it would be more of a rain than wind event. The computer models show it would likely go over the NC coast, but at this time winds are not expected to exceed 30mph. The Oriental NC forecast shows a 50% chance of rain for Sat & Sun.

Now that we have you mildly frightened, we do predict the world will not end.

enter the circle (ten),
tonight. bring your self, share poems,
(or just listen)

open verse or rhyming
iambic pentameter
reading at five. Click.

And a howdy haiku to you. Tonight’s the first Poetry Corner at the Circle Ten Gallery. Original works welcomed. Four writers are lined up, but there still may be room for more if you have some poetry you’d like to share. More in What’s Happening.

What do you think when you see a dog in a sweater?

Thursday July 17, 2008

If y’all see Bob Andrews today wish him a Happy Birthday – Bob is celebrating 75 years on the planet. While Bob is 75 today, in 1947 he was 14. And Bob was taking sailing lessons – click here to see young sailor Bob…

Summertime.. fish are jumpin’. All over the harbor most nights. The Oriental area has many menhaden, far more than usual. Why is that? We talked with a few local fishermen and charter captains. The story and photos are here.

Looking ahead to the weekend, the Farmers’ Market — now in its second year — will have more local food. Body Balance studios are hosting a kundalini yoga workshop, and Pamlico Community College has an open house. All the info in What’s Happening.