We lived in Carteret County, North Carolina, for over sixteen years.
My Northern Virginia son believed that we lived somewhere beyond the edge of civilization. It is true that our former home is surrounded on the north and east sides by the 160,000 acres of long leaf pines and swamps contained in the Croatan National Forest.
On the southern side there is the Atlantic Ocean with 76 miles of shoreline but only 20 miles of it developed in low density housing which precludes huge year round crowds. Then there was the two-miles wide White Oak River flanking us to the west with the 156,000 acres of Camp Lejeune and the Marines holding down that flank.
You drive on two lane roads through a lot of farmland and forest to get to our former house. Often the first question out of a first time visitor's mouth was, "Just how did you find this place?" The answer of course is that Carteret County is organized around waterways not roads. You find a place by exploring the waterways not following roads.
While it was not like living in a noisy metro area with continual blaring sirens and the near constant hum of traffic, it certainly was not a quiet rural place to live like our home in a small subdivision in yet-to-be-developed Davie County, North Carolina.
First off the Camp Lejeune Marines are not quiet neighbors. I have no disagreement that the jets, helicopters, mortars, and even bunker busters add up to the sound of freedom, but individually and collectively they are still very noisy and often made our windows rattle.
Then there is the minor thing about living in a vacation destination. Apparently going on vacation means you can ignore all rules including noise regulations. The problem is compounded by a fair number of people who come for beach vacations and either never leave or come back to put down roots. They become permanent residents without ever losing their vacation attitude of being beyond the noise rules.
This the-rules-don't-mean-me attitude often means that even during dry times, fireworks can happen at any time just like mortars or bombing practice which is announced irregularly with just enough warning to confuse everyone. Where we lived there was even a guy who thought firing off a small but exceedingly noisy canon was a good thing to do randomly just before bedtime for the neighborhood kids.
Even the White Oak River which was almost deserted when we first moved to the area in 2006 eventually got its share of boats and jet skis. The only safe place on a holiday in the summer was sitting on the barely covered oyster rocks in the middle of the river.
However none of the means that Carteret County was anything but a true natural paradise with added noise. Residents, including those with feathers and fur adjusted to the noise whether from bombing runs, impromptu fireworks, noisy jet skis or random homemade canons.
Still our move in 2021 has proved that there are quieter places than the edge of the earth natural paradise of Carteret County.
Downtown Mocksville was quieter than quiet on New Year's Day. In our subdivision instead of fireworks starting two or three days before New Year's and peaking on New Year's Eve with a gradual leveling off the first week of January, we have heard none. We have not even heard a single Christmas drone much less a Marine fighter jet or Osprey. There hasn't even been a single late night, low-flying helicopter.
Aside from one noisy jacked-up white truck that drives up and down a nearby local road, we have settled into a very peaceful spot. It is no surprise that I don't miss the noisy canon or its owner at all.
After a year like 2021, quiet is good and would be even better if about half a dozen crazy politicians would lose their voices.
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