The time to shoot pictures at this OBX fishing pier is in the middle of summer. The click clack of balls on the pool table , ding ding ding from the pinball machines and a lot of flashing lights from all the video games let you know that you are alive and well in middle America. I’m not knocking it. I’m part of it . Some folks walk fast with a mission through the game room and out onto the pier to bait and cast. The reason the pier is here is for those guys after all. Yet none of it happens in winter. All 5 of our fishing piers close down before Christmas and open again in March. Our piers are summer social gathering places in recent years. Each pier with its own personality and demographic . Yet a nice winter day as this one feels just right. Winter let’s me get some work done, kills mosquitos, and the locals own the place once again. On a day like today the chrystal clarity of the light and the smell of a cold sea make me think winter is pretty special after all.