While Chelsea was here, of course we had to take her into downtown Charleston, so there was the usual peering down intriguing alleys and winsome walkways:

Fortunately for Chelsea, though, this time I was also on a mission. Both my mom and my aunt had insisted I find Mary Whyte’s paintings, and so far I had either been on the wrong end of downtown or was walking by the gallery on a Sunday, when it was closed. But this time, we were in luck and had a chance to enjoy Coleman Fine Arts, where Mary Whyte displays her amazing watercolors, uniquely and creatively framed by her artist husband, Smith Coleman. Absolutely stunning. Do yourself a BIG favor and check out their website, and don’t miss the videos.

I know the arts are well-represented in lots of different places, including many we’ve visited on this adventure, but there is definitely something about this area that seems to spark creativity. A number of writers make this their home, and artists and artisans are everywhere, many displaying their wares at the Charleston City Market. It was great to have Chelsea along, since her shopping / browsing tolerance is MUCH higher than David’s! Remember Chelsea in France? Anyway, it’s not all high art, but still. Got my creative juices flowing a bit.

So I’m feeling inspired again. I’m devouring Mary Whyte’s books on painting and doing a bit of drawing, but I’m still not quite ready to share any of that with you, especially since there’s a great deal of PREPARING to paint, and very little ACTUAL painting. Sorry. Instead, here’s today’s little arty photo project: ↓

I’m absolutely captivated by the patterns left in the sand by the wind and the receding tide, especially in the oblique, golden light of the setting sun. Besides simply looking super cool, these swoops, swirls, ridges and streaks make me go all philosophical, thinking about the forces that shape us. May the forces that shape you be few of the harsh-winter-wind variety and mostly gentle as the wash of the tide.

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!