Not to worry

For those of you who may have concerns that I'll be seeking a call here in South Carolina while down here (or even later) I don't think that will be an issue. During my stay here, South Carolina is approaching a primary election, and almost every single ad I've seen on TV so far has the candidates trying to "out conservative" each other - including all the candidates for their Education secretary, and the State Treasurer candidate who is using immigration reform as one of his platform issues. What the treasurer has to do with immigration I don't know. South Carolina is not only a red state, it's bright crimson!

So I can't imagine a congregation anywhere in the state that would even consider calling a Yankee woman pastor with liberal ideas to interpret the Word of God for them! So not to worry...

I'm over it!

OK, mourning period is over. While I still miss Emerald Isle, Mt. Pleasant, SC is right up there on the list too! This place is more built up, but so much fun! I love it here too. Today I just wanted to get my bearings around the place, but I ended up having a great time.

After exploring some of the back streets, I checked out the Visitor Center and found out that there's a 72-yr-old nun who rides her moped through the town - so I'm in good company here! I then headed over to the marina to find the water taxi for tomorrow. While there I got quite a show from some pelicans on posts in the water (see the pic - for those of you who are thinking these photos are small and out of focus, click on them and you'll see them big & clear!)

Then came the best part of all - the perfect burger! I mean really, the absolute perfect awesome burger! I decided to have dinner at Art's Bar & Grill in honor of one of my building chairmen (had a beer for you too, Art.) Art's has an outdoor bar & eating area too, which made it a definite stop. They grind their own meat for their burgers every day, and I had one that was crusted with peppercorns and served with a blue cheese dressing. I knew when the juice was running down the side as I picked it up that it would be good. One bite and I was in heaven! The company was very good too, as I chatted for a couple of hours with Ben the Bartender and a couple who are in the process of moving to Mt. Pleasant from Hermosa Beach, CA. Yes, this place is so great that even California residents are moving here.

Nothing like a perfect burger to get me over my grief. Tomorrow I try the Art's Wings - a blend of hot sauce & blue cheese marinade. That just might put me over the top. :-)

(By the way, I'm including a photo of my home away from home all set up, for those of you who are curious.)

In Mourning

I am missing my ocean terribly right now. No ocean breezes here, and no sound of crashing waves. But I am going to try to keep an open mind now as I continue in my journey. There are new things to see yet.

Tonight I'm in Mt. Pleasant, just outside of Charleston, SC. This campground is actually closer to downtown Charleston, and I can get there by water taxi since my scooter wouldn't be safe crossing the connecting bridge on the highway. I'll be here for 4 nights, and hopefully get to see another view of the ocean in a new and exciting way.

The drive today was long, but mostly interesting. I went from the Marine Base at Camp Lejeune to the overbuilt tourist trap of Myrtle Beach. A few observations that caught my attention: First of all, I saw a church on the way out of North Carolina called St. Mildred Catholic Church. I didn't even know there was a St. Mildred! That was a first for me.

Next, I could really tell I was in Marine territory (not only from the many planes & helicopters that flew over us at Emerald Isle.) In one short stretch of highway, about 4 or 5 miles, I counted 12 (yes TWELVE) barber shops! There were even more tattoo parlors, but I didn't think to count them. But next to almost every barber there was a sign for tattoos, and many in between.

Finally, as I drove through North Myrtle Beach all the way south to Myrtle Beach itself, I was very very glad I had stayed in Emerald Isle and skipped this portion of the planned stay. I could have sworn I was driving through Wisconsin Dells transplanted to the ocean. If I wanted a Dells kind of experience, I would have stayed in Wisconsin. Can you say "tourist trap?"

I finally tonight have my pics organized a little more, so I'm going to try adding photos to some of my past blog entries. We'll see how well it works for me. I'm going to add one parting look at Emerald Isle from my beach.

It's all about the critters!

(This photo was actually taken in Charleston, but I couldn't resist adding an "ARC" to my ark musings. Don't know what ARC stands for though.)

I'm starting to feel a bit like Noah here. While it has been almost perfect weather every day during the day, 3 of the last 4 evenings we've had heavy rain and/or storms moving through. Saturday there were severe thunderstorm warnings with threats of nickel-sized hail and 60 mph winds. We got some fairly steady rain that moved through quickly and that was about it.

Last night and tonight though, all the severe weather warnings were elsewhere. You'd never know it from watching out my windows. We had heavy, heavy rains and thunder & lightning both nights. The rains came hard and fast, and both evenings I've had a lake develop outside my door. Tonight it looks to be about 3 inches deep, judging from the way it has submerged the 2-inch board that I have leveling my picnic table. It's still raining now, but from the sounds on my roof the deluge has slowed to a light rain. There are still some rumbles of thunder, but the sun is shining to the west again.

Watching the lake grow around my RV is strange though. I really was starting to wonder if I should gather the creatures two by two. I have the two cats covered, although I doubt that 2 neutered males is what God would have in mind. But there are plenty of critters out on the beach that I could gather up.

I've already mentioned the stingrays and jellyfish during the low tides. Yesterday I watched a couple of big ol' sandcrabs skittering along the beach near where I was reading too. I've seen little bitty ones before, but these were about as big as my hands. They can sure scoot sideways across the sand fast though. Goofy looking little critters, they are!

Tonight during my walk, a guy called me over to ask if I'd ever seen 'sand fleas' before. I imagined little fleas like the ones that cats get, or that my friend Sue found biting her ankles when she lived near the beach in San Diego. I sure didn't expect what he had in his hand. He had a quarter sized bug that was just about the creepiest thing I've ever seen. It was wiggling around on his hand, and then when he put it in the water it immediately dove to the sand and burrowed down into it. I saw him again on my return walk and he called me over to show me another, bigger one. This one had eggs, that he also showed me - ugly yellow gushy stuff buried inside it's underbelly. Caviar, he said. Yum yum! (BARF!) He showed me how he would dig into the sand where the tide was going out to find these giant fleas. Not that I ever plan to do it myself.

So, 2 neutered male cats, 2 sand crabs, 2 sand fleas.... should make for an interesting start to the ark, ya think?

Outside the rain is still steadily falling, but the sun shines. I may just go wade out into my lake to see if I can find a rainbow on the horizon!

Beach life is good life

Some days are just more productive than others. It's amazing how inspiring a day at the beach can be. I worked through a few writing exercises, took a good long walk along the beach, washed & sorted out all the various types of shells I've been picking up (these are the inspiration for a few of the ideas I'm bringing back to Milwaukee with me)and read a few chapters of Jimmy Carter's book. Plus, my tan is getting a bit darker, even with the sunblock. My back started the peeling phase of the burn today, so that was protected yet again during my beach time.

Now if I could just have a little more solitude instead of some of these pesky neighbors, I'd be happy! Actually before this week, my neighbors were all good - except for the ones that turned off MY electricity when they disconnected yesterday. I came back from a day away at church, lunch and grocery shopping to find my power off and the temp in the Beast up to almost 90. My poor boys were stuck in here with the windows closed because the a/c was supposed to be running. Now my neighbors are all just a bit odd and annoying. But then again, they may think the same thing about me!

I have two more full days here with the beach, and then I swear I'm moving on. The women in the office know me now. Every time I walk in, they ask me how long I want to extend my stay this time. But I do want to get to Charleston yet, so 10 days at Emerald Isle will have to be enough - for this year anyway. I will be back though.

In the meantime, I intend to take full advantage of this relaxed and refreshing life as I can!