FROM THE DESK

Concrete gate posts still mark the former entrance to the Wright Brothers National Memorial. Photo by Ryan Moser.

The threads that bind past, present and future

AFTER MORE THAN A YEAR OF HAVING TO MAKE INCALCULABLE ADJUSTMENTS WORLDWIDE, it can start to feel as though we’ve grown weary of talking about change. And that’s fair – going through a tremendous number of shifts in our day-to-day lives over a relatively short period can do that to the best of us.

But we’ve always spent a lot of time and energy talking about change here on the Outer Banks. It’s the nature of our environment, after all, as one of our colleagues recently pointed out – in contrast to many other beautifully scenic areas, the sands here are always shifting, and over the course of any given season even the shape of our coastline can vary dramatically.

And there are other examples, too. Our year-round population has a tendency to increase regularly, a number of businesses invariably change ownership or location at some point, and even long-beloved landmarks can wind up making way for new developments over time.

Some of these changes can be harder than others to reconcile, and it’s important to remember that nostalgia can be an incredibly powerful emotion – sometimes to a fault.

While we were working on this issue, we spent a good amount of time researching old photographs of the Outer Banks – some from close to a century ago, and others as recent as the past few decades. Aside from marveling over the differences we recognized in each frame, we were also struck by just how familiar the images were.

Nearly every photograph we went through – no matter how old – featured at least one orienting object. A building that had been repurposed, a vista that had maintained its draw in a slightly new fashion, or a landmark that had prospered by evolving in an unexpected way. In the end, we realized that those images weren’t just historical ephemera, but rather lifelines to our past – proof of the threads that bind us both to the places we’ve been, and the circumstances we have yet to encounter.

Because the truth is that being too fixated on tallying changes only narrows our world, making it that much harder to appreciate the moment as it is now – a present that has just as many conceivable upsides as down, complete with all of its beautiful imperfections, and its virtually endless capacity for future joy.

As always, we hope you enjoy this issue as we celebrate the coming season – and all the others still on the horizon!

Publisher Editor staff

PUBLISHERS Adam & Cathy Baldwin

EDITOR Amelia Boldaji

ART DIRECTOR Dave Rollins

GRAPHIC DESIGNERS Adam Baldwin Dylan Bush

WRITERS Cathy Baldwin Amelia Boldaji Lexi Holian Catherine Kozak Hannah Lee Leidy Amanda McDanel

PHOTOGRAPHERS Lori Douglas Cory Godwin Rachel Moser Ryan Moser Elizabeth Neal Outer Banks History Center

SALES MANAGER Helen Furr

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Faith Turek

The North Beach Sun is published quarterly by Access Media Group. All works contained herein are the property of the North Beach Sun. The views expressed in the articles contained herein do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, editor or Access Media Group. The published material, advertisements, editorials and all other content is published in good faith. Access Media Group and North Beach Sun cannot guarantee and accepts no liability for any loss or damage of any kind caused by errors, omissions or the accuracy of claims made by advertisers.

NORTH BEACH SUN 115 West Meadowlark St. Kill Devil Hills, NC 27948 252.449.4444 editor@northbeachsun.com

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