I promised more about fun and funky Folly Beach a couple of posts ago, so here you go . . .

The beach itself–from the northeast end to the southwest end–looks much the same, wide, flat and firm–in fact, pretty perfect, so we’ve been taking lots of long walks. Usually, when we drive the five minutes from the condo, we turn right at Folly’s one stoplight, to drive down to the southwest end and the county park, where there’s lots of free parking. But one day we turned left and found this . . .

 

. . . the Morris Island Lighthouse just up over the dunes.

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s what else we found, one day in early-December . . .

I can’t help asking myself, if you have to dress like this . . .

. . . with gloves and a wool ski hat, should you even BE in the water?

But he was not alone. As you can see, he had lots of company out there. No, thank you.

Here’s another fun seeker I encountered one day down at our usual end, at Folly Beach County Park. His friend had one of these on his back already and was revving the engine. I didn’t stay to see what, exactly, he and his friend would do with these, but he did let me take a picture of it. ↓

Looks scary and loud to me. Apparently I am NOT an adrenaline junkie.

On a slightly calmer note, about a week or so ago, our youngest daughter, Chelsea, discovered it was only a quick one-hour flight down from DC, so she came down to join us late Christmas day and stayed through the weekend. Timing turned out to be perfect, because the weather was fabulous, even hitting 70 a couple of days. We dropped her luggage off at the condo and took her straight out to the beach for our walk. It just happened to be the lowest tide we’d seen yet . . .

We ended up doing more shelling than walking. Chelsea actually found two LIVE sand dollars, something I’d never seen before, and later found a large live conch. (Yes, she put all of them back to live happily ever after.) Super cool, though.

So, okay, our version of fun is a bit less action-packed, but I guess to each his own. Some of my fun is in taking pictures and writing this blog for you, so thanks very much for reading (and commenting now and then).

Do anything, but let it produce joy. ∼Walt Whitman Leaves of Grass

Find ecstasy in life; the mere sense of living is joy enough. ∼Emily Dickinson

Even in the mud and scum of things, something always, always sings. ∼Ralph Waldo Emerson

Wishing you a fun–and safe–New Year’s celebration!

I love decorating for Christmas, and I especially love Christmas lights. Last year Christmas at our house looked like this (including darling granddaughters).

This year, there’s no room for a tree in this condo, and living as nomads, of course none of our ornaments are with us anyway. Here’s our Christmas Tree this year.

 

Instead, this year we have drinking glasses with dollar-store lights stuffed in them on various end tables and counters, which is more festive than you might think, but still. I’m enjoying lights wherever I can find them. Last Friday night we went to dinner at Taco Boy, here on Folly Beach, because it had a few fun lights and looked quirky enough to pique our interest.

Plus I haven’t quite satisfied my craving for Mexican food. Mediocre margaritas, I’m sorry to report. The fish tacos were not bad, but the lights were better. I’m not certain they were all to do with Christmas, but look how fun they are . . .

And the wall of masks is pretty great, too . . .

By the time we left, I still hadn’t had my fill of Christmas lights, so instead of heading straight home, we decided to follow some signs we’d noticed advertising a holiday light show. It turned out to be the Holiday Festival of Lights at James Island County Park . . .

. . . which is apparently a big deal around here. It was mobbed, even at $15 per car. Not quite Cavalcade de La Rochelle, but reasonably entertaining, especially for children, with more than 700 light displays, many of them moving and changing. My favorite was this beautiful blue tree reflected on the pond . . .

This evening the sun set on a day of pouring rain, gloomy as can be outside. So I’m especially thankful to be inside, having a glass of wine with David and enjoying our dollar-store decor and tea lights on a tray, in place of the usual shimmering tree and blazing fire. Of course, even dollar-store lights shine, and they’re beautiful to me.

A few bonus thoughts about light:

Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.∼Desmond Tutu

Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.∼Martin Luther King, Jr.

There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.∼Edith Wharton

Wishing you light and life this Christmas!

 

 

 

 

 

I decided I couldn’t wait to show you Middleton Place . . .

. . . a local rice plantation first settled in the 17th century, so I’ll save other Folly fun for later. This past Saturday afternoon was absolutely glorious, so we drove out to Middleton Place, because we’d heard the grounds were fabulous . . .

. . . which, as you can see, is absolutely true. The live oaks were huge and spectacular . . .

. . . the waterfowl were cooperatively posing . . .

. . . and a few paperwhites and camellias were even in bloom.

 

There was also a lovely little restaurant. We got there just in time to catch the end of the lunch service and had a cup of She-Crab soup, of course, but also shared a Fried Green Tomato sandwich–YUM!

Aside from the grounds and restaurant, there were also artisans in the workshops demonstrating work that would have been done on the plantation. Here’s the cooper . . .

. . . an absolutely charming gentleman who spends his days giving history lessons to tourists and making barrels and buckets like the ones you see on his work table. There was also a potter and a woman who dips candles and grinds corn with two huge grooved circular stones. I was so fascinated–and distracted by the peacocks in the rafters waiting for spilled corn–I forgot to take a picture.

One thing I appreciated about these artisans, aside from their skill, is that they always used the term “enslaved Africans” instead of the simpler “slaves” which struck me as a more respectful, honest treatment of the hard fact of how this particular part of American prosperity came to be.

Let me never forget those whose lives were not–or are not now–filled with days of ease and adventure.

From an old hymn:

Comfort, comfort ye my people,
speak ye peace, thus saith our God;
comfort those who sit in darkness,
mourning ‘neath their sorrow’s load; 

∼Words: Johann G. Olearius, 1671
∼Translation: Catherine Winkworth, 1863 

I wish you comfort and peace this Christmas season, and I wish for you an abundance of opportunities to share the same with all those you encounter.

 

Charleston is a very photogenic city, from the Arthur Ravenal Jr. Bridge we had to cross (and recross) when we got here . . .

. . . to the multitude of intriguing little alleys, like these . . .

. . . and these . . .

Lots of brick–which I love–and even cobblestones on some streets. And of course now it’s all decorated for Christmas. So even though most of the trees still have green leaves on them, and there are palm trees everywhere, there’s a gaslight glow to everything–which, okay, is probably here all year, but it goes really well with all the poinsettias and red ribbons and ornaments.

Then there’s the food. There’s a reason you always hear about southern cooking. We stopped in here early Friday evening a week ago . . .

. . . originally just for a glass of wine, but the aroma of BBQ was so enchanting, we decided to stay and eat. A local specialty is She-Crab Soup, so we each started with a cup of that. Words fail me. Maybe it was the combination of the wine and the ambiance of the roaring wood fire combined with the transporting redolence of barbecue, or maybe just the drizzle of sherry on top, but it was so amazingly delicious, we  were actually startled. What? Seriously. YUM. Then Shrimp & Grits for David and Famous Smoked BBQ Chicken Brick Oven Pizza for me, most of which we took home. A little too much southern deliciousness for one meal.

Then we wandered a bit more, happening upon the French Quarter Friday Night Art Walk, which was fortunate, as it only happens four times a year. Lots of great art, plus free food and wine, but of course, we had already eaten. Oops. So maybe not so fortunate, since we didn’t need the food and wine and the galleries were more crowded than usual, but there was a fun festive atmosphere everywhere.

Charleston and the Low Country seem to bring out the creative side of people, for me primarily with photography at the moment. I’ve taken so many photos, you should probably prepare yourself for a few more frequent posts while I get caught up. We’re definitely NOT sitting in the condo. We’ve been out and about having all kinds of adventures.

Hope you are too!