The Caesura
A growing readership spent a long week clicking on the site, searching for new news of Ocracoke Island, to no avail. This reporter found no justification, only excuses, from Co-Editors Sundae Horn and Jenny Scarborough, who founded the online paper in January, 2012.
"My sofa was excellent company last week. A breeze was blowing through the windows, and I spent a lot of time curled up under a blanket, binge-watching Netflix," confessed Scarborough. She recommends Wilfred, Sons of Anarchy, and True Blood for people needing a large dose of avoidance.
Newton's first law of motion states that a body at rest will remain at rest.
"I wasn't intentionally conducting a scientific experiment, but I did conclude that Newton was one smart man," said Scarborough, while rubbing sleep from her eyes.
"Have you been to the beach lately? It's been spectacular. That's probably why my eyes are so grainy," she added.
Horn was off island, visiting her oldest child, who has taken his first long flight out of the nest, and into the NC School of the Arts. She admits it triggered melancholy feelings. Recovery took days.
"Besides, I have two kids still at home, a high-maintenance husband, two other businesses, a cluttered and filthy old house, and a dog that needs surgery," Horn said. "Ignoring them all, I read two books in the past week. And, yeah, I watched some Netflix."
Horn recommends Doc Martin, seasons 1 – 4. Season 5 is a little slow, but still more compelling than her to-do list.
She also wonders how anyone can concentrate on anything with so few weeks left until Election Day. Sometimes she feels it's her own obsessive net-surfing, facebooking, and poll-watching that will determine the outcome of the presidential race. And Jon Stewart has been really funny lately, Horn added.
In a transparent attempt to pass the buck, Scarborough said, "We were really hoping someone would ask Madame Sophia for advice. I feel less guilty about not writing when I can at least post something by other people."
Longtime readers know that Madame Sophia's advice is some of the best stuff on Ocracoke Current. "Our readers are well adjusted, of course, but I'm constantly surprised that so few people take advantage of the wise counsel she offers," said Scarborough.
Still, both of the writers and co-editors --and let's be honest, here: Not a whole lot of "editing" or copy editing has been done--admit they are gratified that anyone is paying attention.
A persnickety doctoral candidate she knows sometimes complains about the lack of content, but other than that, she hadn't even begun to hope that so many people were habitually turning to Ocracoke Current for news, said Scarborough.
The co-founders confessed to having let each other down, too. They are reminded that the whole point of the enterprise is to make each other LOL every day, and to attract the attention of Nick Hornby and Anthony Lane. That the site turned out to be informative and useful is a fluke, really.
They forgave each other, and themselves, for their slacker ways and sat down to make long lists of all the things they want to write about. The pair then stretched out on the sofa and both fell into deep, coma-like sleep.
