All along Highway 12 through the villages on Hatteras Island, wildflowers grow.  Blanket flowers, beautiful red blooms rimmed with bright yellow edges, are happy little flowers, seemingly out of place among the sand dunes.  But, it's these little happy flowers that welcome the visitors to the island, a jolly "hello" among an otherwise neutral colored beach.  They point their faces towards the morning sunlight, waving in the wind as the cars pass them by.  They edge the pathways over the dunes, prompting little boys to pick them for their mother's wilting quickly, but still bringing smiles to everyone who sees them.  Being wild is beautiful, in it's own messy way.