Challenges to meet

I can't seem to find much time to write here.  Every day is filled with something new to do and challenges to meet. So here's what we have been doing to live life on life's terms.

I spent a day at the local medical university and found out that I am okay. My CT scan indicated "no intracranial pathology".  Good words...but if only they knew! Seriously, it's good to know that I can do Cross Fit without worrying. Got checked with blood work and a general physical too.

I am concerned because my wife went in for her mammogram and has to have a biopsy on Tuesday. The docs are 98% sure that this is just a benign thing, but both of us will be much happier once it is over. Please keep her in your thoughts.

We had a glorious afternoon on the small john boat yesterday, traveling to meet up with friends in a nearby creek for lunch.  The day was warm and fun which is what we needed to keep our spirits upbeat.

I have talked with my first sponsor many times since his diagnosis of Stage 4 lung cancer. He has taken his first chemo treatment and isn't feeling so good.  I am hoping his spirits will uplift some.  He admits that he is doing the self-pity behavior now.  I know that whether he decides to continue with the chemo or decides to go into palliative care is his to make. I have read Kathleen's blog Sittin' on a Porch since she started it. I admire her fighting spirit that wants to live life to the fullest since her diagnosis of Stage 4 lung cancer.

Speaking of fighting spirit, I met a fellow the other day who has pancreatic cancer and is now in his fourth experimental treatment.  He has traveled from Tucson to Georgetown University Hospital to participate. This treatment isn't working so he is next going to try another one in Detroit. He wants to live another day so he keeps trying to fight the disease that he knows is going to kill him sooner rather than later.

I don't know what I would do in either case. But I believe that I would want to fight to live. Every day matters in some way or the other.  And if a person can have one more precious day that's good. I think though that quality of life is a big factor. Watching both of my wife's parents waste away in their last few months of life was terrible. I know that my sponsor will make the decision that feels right for him.  We all have challenges to meet and how we work through them is deeply personal and individualistic.

I have been hoping to get around to commenting on more blogs. You all write a lot!  I don't have it in me at the moment.  Too much gardening to do, people to think about, waters to roam--indoors is not my favorite place to be as spring comes to the Lowcountry. Soon enough, it will be too hot to enjoy being outside during the day.

So I'll leave you with some photos from the past week.

Last rays of the sun as night is coming on

Spectacular sunset 

My good girl on the boat

Landscaping almost done

We have spent several evenings out here relaxing

Content in boredom

We have been enjoying the wildlife camera (Bird Cam Pro) that I gave to my wife for Christmas.  I have to say that the wireless connection wasn't easy so I spent about a full day trying to get that set up to no avail.  But if we simply download the individual photos by pulling the SD card, it's easy for even the technologically challenged.

We have gotten some good photos of birds at the feeders and the little masked bandits that come up in the wee hours to eat seeds.  I'm hoping that we will get to see some other animals like opossum and maybe wild turkeys because there are hundreds of the latter on the property.  It has been fun to look at the antics of the squirrels and raccoons.  It's the wilds out here on the island so all kinds of critters could wander by.  I doubt if we will see the bobcats or coyote unless we put out some kind of meat for them.

It has been rainy and cold for the past few days.  Today is the first day without rain, but it's still raw outside.  We have been burning logs in the fireplace insert which has helped a lot with keeping the house warm.  Other than going out for meetings, neither of us has left the property.  We walk down to get the mail and we go out to turn the dogs into their paddocks.  All of us seem lazy and lethargic, not wanting to stay outside for long. The cats stay near the hearth and the dogs are enjoying their new dog beds.  

We did have some friends over for dinner one night. They are an entertaining couple who work as estate managers in Europe and the Middle East. They live the real Downton Abbey and have stories that are fascinating about the woes of the princes and gentry whose estates they manage.  When they are done with a job, they retreat to their home in Greece or come to their home in Cambridge, MA.  It was nice to spend time with them, talking about society, mannerisms, lack of manners, and life in a small village in Greece.  

I did pick the last of the peppers from the garden so that we could make pepper jelly. The jelly jars are filled now with the green or red savory jelly. The collard greens from the garden were delicious on New Year's Day. I can't complain about the temperature down here.  I'm grateful that we don't have snow or below freezing temperatures all day like what the Northeast and Midwest are experiencing. 

I am supposed to go on the boat on Wednesday for a couple of days.  I don't mind the cold out there because the propane stove keeps the inside of the cabin warm.  It's getting to the anchorage that is chilly. And once at the anchorage, I can hibernate as much as I want, except for rowing the dog to shore for her walks and bathroom time. 

Nothing dramatic is going on.  I have no urgent items that I have to write about. I am utterly content in my rather boring life at the moment.

Weddings and boats

I just got back in from several days on the boat.  It was a great time, as usual. The dolphins were particularly active--jumping out of the water and putting on a show.  The days were warm, but we slept under a light cover at night. Fall is definitely coming to the Lowcountry.  

I didn't do much on my iPad while I was out, so I have a lot of catching up to do on blogs.  Before I left on the boat, I was processing photos taken from my first volunteer activity for Hospice--a wedding shoot.  That has kept me busy for hours. 

The mother of the groom is in Hospice, and the wedding was held at her home.  It was a country wedding with kids and dogs milling around.  A pig had been roasting for 2 days so the reception had BBQ and all the fixings.  The mother of the groom made the bouquets.  I have to say that it was a happy time.  Nothing fancy at all, but there was a lot of caring and loving people enjoying the wedding.  

I shot a lot of photos and am going to finish them up this weekend so I can get them to the family.  I have to say that it was a lot of fun.  I was busy every moment after I arrived and continued shooting photos until dark.  No kidding what has been said about wedding photography--carry two cameras and shoot every detail; follow the bride; and get it right because there aren't any retakes. 

Hospice likes the idea of my doing photography for memory books to give to the family.  The staff have two more photographic requests for me to do.  Who knows, maybe the idea of photographing the remaining days and hours before life's end is going to be helpful. 

Last night, I went to a meeting to chair after getting off the boat.  I washed the salt off, went to the meeting, and got home around 9:30 PM.  I was tired and my legs ached too.  Lots of exercise on the beach and swimming over the last three days.  I generally get dehydrated on the boat so that may be the cause of the aching legs.  

This morning I am going to process some photos, go to a meeting and then do some cleaning on the boat in the early afternoon. After that, I'm coming home to stay for the rest of the weekend.  If I could, though, I would be out there on the water still.  It is the place of ultimate peace.

Moon struck

I just got back to land after three days out on the boat. It was restful and rejuvenating. I slept, read, walked on the beach and took photos. These are the activities of a person who is grateful for no emergency phone calls or drama. The most exciting thing that happened was a thunderstorm that I watched from afar.

We have scheduled Pop's memorial mass for the week after July 4th. I thought about him a lot on the boat. He was sick with complications of liver disease for almost two years. He bled from varices in the esophagus. He was in a coma several times from edema and ammonia building up in his brain. He had a damaged heart from an infarction years ago. A part of his aorta had been replaced due to an aneurism. Yet, he lived to be 92. Amazing really. 

And now Mr. Mandela is near death after a life of fighting for freedom and rights and the betterment of all. Old bodies wear out no matter how much will to live one has. I wish for a kind transition for the old warrior and statesman. Others will continue the fight for equality on all fronts. We still have a ways to go but progress continues to be made in the face of fear and bigotry.

I am tired now. It's very hot and humid back on land. Tonight more storms are forecast. And the moon that shone so brightly last week is now waning. It's blood pull no longer disrupting my sleep. I was moon struck for a while. Now I feel peaceful. Time for me to take a nap for an hour and then finish up with cleaning the boat. 

Photos from the week:

What I have been doing

I've had a busy time lately.  I spent the weekend on a trip down to the ACE Basin.  I asked a fellow that I know to ride along, thinking that he would give me a hand at the wheel so that I wouldn't be at the helm for 8 hours. I found out that he really doesn't know much about boats.  And that's really okay, because I had made the ASSumption that because he belonged to a boating organization, he might know something.

He is an affable fellow so we had good discussions on a lot of things. He lost his wife six years ago and is still sad about that.  He said that his life pretty much went off track after she died.  Not the drinking kind of off track but just not really there, if you know what I mean.  We talked politics because he shares the same leftist liberal views that I do.  I can tell you that if he weren't, we would have had a lot less to talk about because I don't discuss politics with most people.  We talked about his being Jewish and his going back to synagogue.  And we talked about what kind of boat he would like to get. He spent a lot of time on the iPhone too.

We passed the time and eventually met up with some fellow boaters and sailors at a marina.  Happy hour was pretty happy but not over the top.  And the dinner was at a resort restaurant.  I was seated across from a lady and her husband who were doing the Great Loop which goes up the East Coast.  Interesting stuff, except that she was really snippy and rude to her husband who seemed to want to talk incessantly.  He was working on his third Dark and Stormy, repeating the earlier stories, and she was telling us how she knew who she was at 20 and didn't need to learn much more about herself.  I finally said that I didn't have a clue who I was at 20 and was really getting to know who I was over the past decade.  I am really happy that I have made that progress.  And I know enough to realize that I can last through a two hour dinner with just about anyone, learn something, and then walk back to the boat.

On Sunday, we headed back up the coast to my home port.  I was tired and in need of a good soaking shower when I got home.  But here are some photos of the scenery on the trip.

At the dock

Lots of marsh and lowlands

Storm clouds coming in 

Paddle boarders going by 

A bridge opening on the ICW

Old boat shed along the way

Yes, that is a manned gun boat telling me to stay away. 

And then there is the garden.  It is coming along nicely.  My wife has a green thumb.  We have mulched, planted, amended, and irrigated.   The flowers are her pride and joy.  I like them but am partial to growing the edibles.  I do like the strawberries and blueberry plants.  I had best show you the way it looks now because later in the summer, it will not look nearly as pretty or lush.  

The blueberries!

Irrigating the raised beds

Potatoes coming up 

The walkway to the front door

Today is also my mother's birthday.  I usually write a tribute to her here.  My tribute to her this year is short. She was an inspiration in so many ways.  I miss her every day.  She loved me as her child and taught me about dedication, science, a love for books and research, and to pursue my dreams no matter what.

Photos from the boat trip

The time on the boat was really good, although the weather turned rainy and windy by Friday.  We did manage to have a good fire on the beach Thursday evening. And our Labrador seemed to especially enjoy her time by the fire and on the beach.   Here are some photos our excursion.

Today, we have been splitting logs from the fallen oak tree.  I rented a hydraulic splitter, and so far we have split about 10 cords of wood.  Much more remains to be done, but for today, we've both had enough. It is really good exercise and so far, we managed to not mash any fingers or feet. Time to get washed up and head to a meeting. 

I hope that you are having a good weekend. 

The Lowcountry where I live

Mark asked about the name Lowcountry which is the area where I live along the southeastern coast.  The name is both a geographic and social identifier. The geographic area extends from the mid-lands of South Carolina to the coast.  Much of the land is at or near sea level, hence the term "Lowcountry".

If you fly over this coastal area what you will immediately notice are the marshes and dendritic meandering tidal creeks.  The tidal range here is around 5 feet, and when the tide goes out,  the marshes and mud flats are devoid of water.  The dark mud on the tidal flats is sticky and thick and is known as pluff mud.  It's often a revelation to those new to the area when they get out of a boat and sink up to their butt cheeks in pluff mud.  In fact, there is a bumper sticker that says: "Pluff mud: You never forget your first time".

Rolling in the pluff mud

The land is low with cypress bogs, marsh hammock islands, roads canopied by live oaks whose arching limbs are shrouded in silvery clumps of Spanish moss. But it's the omnipresent water—tidal marshes, rivers, estuaries, and the Atlantic Ocean—that really marks the culture of the region and makes it so distinctive.

On the sea islands such as the one where I live, there is a large African-American population.  Many are descendants of slaves who speak the old Gullah dialect which is "an English-based creole language containing many African loanwords and significant influences from African languages in grammar and sentence structure. Properly referred to as "Sea Island Creole" the Gullah language is related to Barbadian Dialect, Jamaican Creole, Bahamian Dialect, and the Krio language of Sierra Leone in West Africa. Gullah storytelling, cuisine, music, folk beliefs, crafts, farming and fishing traditions, all exhibit strong influences from West and Central African cultures." (from Wikipedia).


Among old timers, it is still possible to hear this wonderful language.  Here is a sample of the Lord's prayer in Gullah being spoken and written:

Baskets made by the Gullah out of pine needles and sweetgrass

 For many people in the Lowcountry, shrimping and crabbing are still actively a way of life.  More people have moved here from "off" because it is possible to buy waterfront property on deep water.  Some of the islands have become gated communities and resorts.  I'm glad to live on an island that still has the old ways and hasn't become a resort.

Shrimp boats coming in after a day on the water

Out here, you either stick it out or you find that having to drive 10 miles to get to a grocery store is a pain.  This island has a lot of churches and a couple of country stores.  There are no stop lights, no Wal-Marts, no commercial development.  Farming is still done on the island, with tomatoes being a big crop. The island is also home to the Charleston Tea Plantation and Irving House Vineyards.  Irving House markets Firefly Vodka which is vodka mixed with sweet tea.  And there are a few shrimp and fish docks that process seafood.

More and more people are coming to the Lowcountry because of the laconic life style, the beauty of the marshes and rivers, the architecture, the history, the art, the food and the southern hospitality.  So far, the island where I live is still unspoiled--close enough to town to get to great restaurants and "culture" but far enough away that most people don't want to move here.  That's a good thing.  Mine is a love affair with this place.

Of gardens and storms

Squash blossom

Things have been going along well here.  Both of us have been enjoying the overcast weather.  Yesterday, we dug potatoes from the garden, harvesting a 5 gallon bucket full. We talked about what to make with so many potatoes: soup, home fries,  mashers--all things that we rarely eat. I suspect that friends will be getting baskets of potatoes for a while.

The garden is verdant with more vegetables ripening.  The flower beds are filled with color.  The smell of gardenias, roses and the Confederate jessamine is heady.  I took some photos this morning of the gardens.

A profusion of gardenias blooming

Blueberries on the bush

Many tomato plants staked

One of several flower beds

The deck with roses and hibiscus

Flower bed with coleus, yarrow, cleomes,  and many other plants

Walkway to the front door

Basil rows

Confederate jessamine on an old oak tree. 

We went to my mother-in-laws birthday party on Monday.  She is 90 years old.  The care givers had gotten balloons, cupcakes, and flowers.  We brought a couple of salads and pizza.  The neighbors came over, and everyone, including the MIL, had a nice time.

She enjoyed all her gifts and made a lot of funny quips.  Her humor hasn't left her, even though she often gets confused.  For her birthday, she seemed fairly sharp which was good.  By 2 PM, she was exhausted and had to be helped to bed for a nap.

Today, I'm visiting my father-in-law.  He is holding his own but can no longer walk much so he moves along with the wheel chair.  His mind is still sharp.  I think that he is resigned to being at the nursing home now.  We see him three to four days a week.  I think that he really only wants to see his wife who often doesn't know who he is.  She thinks that I am her husband at times which either makes my wife laugh or cry depending on her mood.

More thunderstorms are expected this afternoon.  I think that I'll go sit on the boat later and watch the storms come in.  There is nothing like a southern thunderstorm.

"During the summer it rains almost every afternoon........ From my gallery, around three o’clock, you could watch the clouds build as high and dark as mountains......, then within minutes the barometer would drop, the air would suddenly turn cool and smell like ozone and gunmetal and fish spawning, the wind would begin to blow out of the south and straighten the moss on the dead cypress trees in the marsh, bend the cattails......, and swell and ruffle the pecan trees in my front yard; then a sheet of grey rain would move out of the marsh…and ring as loud on my gallery as marbles bouncing on corrugated tin.” ~James Lee Burke