The coastland times with which is combined the pilot and herald of Belhaven and Swan Quarter. [volume] (Manteo, N.C.) 1959-1973, 1962-02-16
Fridays
Child
By LAWRENCE MADDRY

or sincerity of purpose will avail
a man, regardless Of his intentions.
The fates can conjure such a
person will, on certain days, be
convinced that he was either born
under the sign Of the ass or singled
| out at birth as feckless freak; it's
| like being in a class with Irish
potatoes which grow to look like
tennis rackets and appear in news
paper cartoons under believe 1t
| or Not" or something equally aw-
lful.
Last Friday was one Of those
days. 1t all began with pair of wet
shorts, which is as poor a beginning
| for a day as this frustrated mind
can summon. In order to be ready
| for the Warren Bridge Dedication
| I threw all my laundry, including
| the worlds largest collection of un-
matched socks, into the laundromat
| on Thursday night and used
enough nickels to bring the batch
| to a state of dryness somewhat
similar to the freshly-dredged sand.
The result, on Friday morning was
catastrophe. The SILVER skivies pro-
duced the sensation of being hip
deep in an artic ice flow. have pre-
served the monsters in my land
lady's deep freeze as a constant
reminder to others of the suffering
and torment which humans can en-
dure when time and circumstances
throw them into the face of danger.
After controlling my initial shiv-
ers to a state somewhere between
epilepsy and "The Twist" / put on
my Sunday best and joined Aycock
Brown and Mr.. A. w. Drinkwater
for drive toward East Lake where
we were to board one of the last
ferries across the Alligator before
the governor made the final trip to
dedicate the bridge. l am such a
stranger to these parts that they
might Just have we'll have been
dedicating the Hoover Dam for all
/ knew about the structure. Never
theless, / tried to appear fairly
knowledgeab.e by putting on my
best "very businesslike" expression
and neither of them seemed to
notice as / kept flaring the ciga-
rette lighter across my waistline
for warmth, in the back seat. The
slight emission of steam seemed
to arouse Mr.. Drinkwater's curio-
sity on one occasion, but fortunate
ly / had the presene of mind to at
tribute the cloud to bad weather
conditions; it was very murky. Ay-
cock and Mr.. Drinkwater talked at
length about the "old days. and
progress in Dare County and the
world in general which / continued
my secret warming operation. My
only attempt at conversation; / felt
compelled to say something, occur
red when / asked Mr.. D about the
individual who started the first
ferry to East Lake. He answered
with something which sounded to
me like "atom bomb" In a frenzied
effort to say something which
would mark me as an up and COM
ing young man, l Immediately went
into a lengthy discourse about the
horrors of nucleur warfare, which
was met with an expression of in
credu. Gus establishment from Mr..
Drinkwater who glanced over at
Aycock for the purpose of an ex-
PLANTATION as to why my presence
had been considered necessary. 1t
is tribute to the gentleman's toll
erance that he spoke to me after
that moment. As my conversation
proved to be something less than
the crashing entertainment that |
had hoped, / remember remaining
silent until we left the ferry at
Sandy Point to wait for the COVER
nor. MIR. Drinkwater had, as every
body knows, except me, said atom
Baum" The State Highway Com
missioner spoke for fifteen minu-
ties about Mr.. Baum's achievements
later in the day while writhed
through the agonies of hell, remem-
bering my earlier conversation.
The governor arrived soon after
we reached Sandy Point, and al
though Pm not much of hero
worshiper, and despite many of his
more dubious policies, couldn't
help finding feeling of security
in knowing that underneath it all
we had head of state who was not
only "Sanfordized", but dry as
well. And you can believe / had a
wealth Of admiration for those two
qualities before the day ended!
The governor came over to the.
car to speak to Mr.. Drinkwater and
/ must have taken a dozen shots or
more along with the other reporters
and photographers who had gather
ed for the occasion from through
out the state. Every shot l took of
the ribboncutting ceremonies and
last ferry crossing, which I expect