Author: tophatpat

Zink Residence, St. Mary’s, Ga.

What an interesting week reacquainting with the Zinks individually and as a family unit. It’s barrel of kids and animals; three girls, two beagles, nine chickens and a pig. Hyperactivity reigns from the crowing rooster’s wake up call until youngsters eyes droop at bedtime. School, church, girls scouts, play, homework, animal husbandry, cooking, laundry, dishes overfill the day; it’s a distant memory to me. Youth only lasts so long, soon we forget how we made it through the turbulent stages of family, work, finances and lists packed with important to-dos.

The Catfish Festival Parade in nearby Kingsland, Ga., was the big event today. It was a lot of fun for the kids, parents and grandparents!

Zink Residence, St. Mary’s, Ga

Just a little more than a mile from the Zink residence is Crooked River State Park. Today, Penny and I biked over to enjoy the warm sunshine and the quiet serenity of this park. I had taken three longer, faster solo rides since arriving here, so it was time to go slow and smell the roses with my sweetheart.

Soon we have to leave these little munchkins and their shenanigans, but we will be seeing them at Christmas and again in the Spring. Pig and I finally got acquainted; I think he really likes me!

Zink Residence, St. Mary’s, GA

This night was our seven birthday, seven layer, seven present party. We each submitted menu items which made for an interesting smorgasbord. Penny and Stacia made seven layers of carrot and vanilla cake with cream cheese frosting and pineapple filling using skewers to hold it all together.

Zink Residence, St Mary’s, GA

We took the girls to their church, The Harbor, so they could practice for the upcoming Christmas play while we attended the service. We’ve learned to wear ear protection because the praise music is quite loud! The sermon was passionate about being humble; let God be God.

After lunch, we dropped them off at a Girl Scout playdate at the state park only a mile from their home. We got a chance to nap and watch football during the 3 hour event. There must have been 100 girls attending with archery, frisbee, limbo, crafts, among the activities. They were tuckered out after all that. I saw some more of the tree spirits that intrigue me so on the way out of the park.

Mom and Dad arrived shortly after that and the family was happily reunited.

Zink Residence, St. Mary’s, GA

Penny’s birthday today and she gets to spend it with her granddaughters! The weather was a bit sketchy so we decided to go for a walk around the neighborhood to see how we should dress for our trip to the plantation. After lunch we headed north about 40 minutes to the old Hofwyl-Broadfield Plantation started around 1806. It grew to 7,300 acres worked by 357 slaves, steadily producing rice until the men of the family left to fight in the Civil War. After the war, without slave labor, rice production dropped, land was given up to pay taxes, and dairy farming was established.

The plain style house remains a snapshot in time. The furnishings, table settings, china cabinets, bedding all just as they were, The girls had been there before, but they were attentive to the ranger leading the tour of the house. They reveled in showing us around the out buildings.

 

 

Zink Residence, St. Mary’s, GA

Matt and Stacia headed out to Columbia, South Carolina for tomorrow’s football game and we enjoyed checkers and movies with the girls. Meet the Robinsons was the choice; it was enjoyable! Lots of popcorn was consumed, well, some hit the floor. The two beagles, Duke and Daisy, and the pet pig, Pig, scrambled to get the fallen kernels. Yes, there’s quite a menagerie here; nine chickens out in the coop.

The Zink Residence, St.  Mary’s, Georgia , 215 mile jump

We got up early allow time for a bike ride, showers and breaking camp for our drive across the state of Georgia. It was an unhurried morning rising at dawn doing some tasks together and some individually This was our first time here; it certainly won’t be the last.

Unfortunately, we won’t get to see tonight’s sneak preview of the annual Festival of Lights. All week long, workers had been setting up all sorts of displays along the roads and trails of the park. They claimed 500,000 lights! If we would have reserved tonight, we could have viewed them at no charge. Next time we will be sure to make our last night here the sneak preview night. Once the show opens, the crowds will make it hard to get in and out and around the park.

Unaware that the coast of South Carolina was skewed towards the west, I kept asking Penny why we continued to go west? She showed me the map and made the observation that we had to go west to get past the estuary like terrain south of us. That made sense to me; it felt good when we finally headed south. One pit stop at the Georgia Welcome Center, PB&J a little later and soon we were across the state approaching St. Mary’s which is just north of Florida. The truck thermometer was 70 when we left, 63 along the way and 80 when we arrived. Gotta  love it!

This is our third time “camping” in their driveway; its amazing how kids change in such short times. That’s why we make a point to visit often. Too bad our grandkids are on opposite sides of the country! We all enjoyed each other’s company over meatloaf, mashed potatoes and corn.

James Island Campground, Charleston, SC

An afternoon at Folly Beach!

James Island County Park, Charleston, SC

At first, it was our intention to go to church nearby at 9 AM so we could go to the beach, but after waking to cloudy, cooler weather we decided to change plans. Penny remembered the great choir at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, so we opted for the 11:15 AM Mass.

Coming into the city an hour early, we parked near the church and walked to Battery Park (now known as White Point Gardens), where cannons were used to defend the town. Two interesting things happened there. First of all, while walking the edges of the park there was a small group (20) on the water side of the road waving confederate flags. On the park side of the road was a similar sized group holding signs rejecting racism and hate. We walked between the two groups. It didn’t seem confrontational, so we weren’t scared, but it was sad to see. And, yes, we looked away from the haters and gave our support to the lovers!

Secondly, as we were nearly all the way around the park we saw a huge red tailed hawk swoop in and perch in one of the many live oak trees in the park. It seemed so odd to see a raptor in this urban setting amongst all these people. It was well camouflaged naturally and because it was backlit by the sky, I had a hard time getting any detail of its features. It paid us no mind as we followed it from perch to perch. Then it happened! The bird was hunting, watching for prey in the trees, not on the ground. Boom! It surprised a squirrel and had captured its lunch.

On our way through the 300 year old neighborhood, the delightful gates, balconies and gardens were very interesting. Of course, these homes pre date automobiles, so the need for fences and gates was utilitarian, to keep the horses and other livestock in. Balconies gave relief from sweltering heat. And, the gardens were likely for produce more than for ornamentation.

After church, the smell of the sea beckoned so we strolled downtown past the multicolored buildings to Waterfront Park.

We found the heron while walking along the waterfront park. Returning “home” for lunch, we heard this guy tapping the tree above the ITLDO.

As you should know by now, Penny and I are Live Oak geeks. There is a large specimen near us, the Angel Oak, we saw once before through the chain link fence that protects it. Today it is open until 5 PM, so here we go! It is only 65′ tall, but it shades 17,000 sq. ft.! Its longest limb is 89′ long having a circumference of 11.25′. The trunk is 25.5′ in circumference; it is estimated to be over 400 years old.

I must say these pictures cannot capture the enormous size of this tree, but hopefully they give a glimpse of it.

What a day!

Charleston, SC

My thoughts have been fixed on slavery and the plight of our dark-skinned brothers and sisters since the visit to Ft. Sumter yesterday.

“The greatest evil in our country today is not racism, but ignorance. I believe unconditionally in the ability of people to respond when they are told the truth. We need to be taught to study rather than to believe, to inquire rather than to affirm.”

Septima Clark-1975

Septima Poinsette Clark (May 3, 1898 – December 15, 1987) was an American educator and civil rights activist. Clark developed the literacy and citizenship workshops that played an important role in the drive for voting rights and civil rights for African Americans in the Civil Rights Movement.^[1] Septima Clark’s work was commonly under appreciated by Southern male activists.^[2] She became known as the “Queen mother” or “Grandmother” of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States.^[3] Martin Luther King, Jr. commonly referred to Clark as “The Mother of the Movement”.^[2] Clark’s argument for her position in the Civil Rights Movement was one that claimed “knowledge could empower marginalized groups in ways that formal legal equality couldn’t.”^{[2- from Wikipedia}