Day 1: Sigh-worthy weather on the beautiful isle. Hilton Head competes well with the self-appointed title of paradise that Fort Myers advertises, although admittedly Fort Myers would say, “uh, let’s compare in January.” But September in Hilton Head is startlingly beautiful given the variety of pines, palms, and Spanish moss. It covers itself with glory.
Our dog Max, however, did not so.
He managed to pee twice indoors despite taking him out last night at 9pm and again 6am (he woke Steph sufficiently for her to take them). A veritable flood under the kitchen table this morning such that I thought we had a roof leak. (Wishful thinking.)
Day 2: Early wake-up for church since we wanted to pick up groceries we order online btwn 9 and 10.
The homily of Fr F was unexpectedly moving. He was very self-deprecating, apologizing for not having time to prepare a good homily since the past week has been crazy and unexpectedly so. He said not that any of his homilies are much good which would get 5 Pinocchio’s from me.
He said that having had recent heart issues with a pacemaker installed has led him to consider how selfish he is and how unappreciative of how all the stress, sadness, strife in his life was much for the good. He said without the suffering he would still be an atheist. He said of those who tell him they had a hard childhood basically everyone does and “welcome to the world”. He also said how everything is falling apart at the same time, crime up, and the southern border wide open.
**
Reading a book on bourbon making and one has to give a nod of respect. Corn, wheat, a special yeast and water - plus time. Five to twenty-five years of idleness. What other product do I use that takes so long to make? Even a house takes only a few months. Perhaps wood furniture, made from trees grown from seeds. A fine bourbon is subject to time and cannot be arrived at without it.
An analogy to how God makes humans?: water, blood, spirit that take a lifetime before the ultimate taste test: God’s judgement.
**
Picked up coffee at the nearby “Skillet” with the dogs (“dog-friendly” said the sign so I didn’t have to feel like I was being an imposition in bringing in the beasts and bothering passersby). The thirst for coffee is real given they don’t have the promised Keurig until tomorrow sometime. Cost an amazing $7.50 for two cups of coffee with tip. The coffee was okay but no Perkins. Speaking of, found out their brand is Mothers Parker (or Mother Parkers?) but while they sell coffee grounds they don’t sell Keurig cups.
**
Two days of 9 miles running and walking (3.6 of the former) seems to have been too much given my still weakened post-Covid state. Figured I could workout hard in the strength of yesterday’s fitness level.
Seems to be some bad weather on the horizon. Picked up a book called, “What to Expect When You’re Expecting a Hurricane”. Just a joke, but I am trying to get figure out rainy day activities so I signed us up for a Hilton Head distillery tour on Thursday. It was actually rated as the number 1 best thing to do in Hilton Head on a rainy day. (The level of competition isn’t high - going to Holy Family Catholic Church is number 7 and St. Francis by the Sea at number 2.)
But today a gorgeous day today spent gorgeously. I contemplated on the front porch area with a cigar and packed up all the stuff to head to beach-land. Went solo since Steph was going to work out virtually. Jogged the beach and then to the condo to pick up the dogs. Then back for the sun and read, this time a lot of the great “Pilgrimage to the Museum”. Riveting short history of the empires of the world. Tried to read some of “Harlem Shuffle” but it’s sluggish-going. I liked the New Yorker except much more.
Tues: So today I ordered breakfast for pickup at Skillets, including the “main attraction” two coffees. Then we headed out to Burton Wells dog park (actually Burton Wells, so I had to re-jigger directions to the dog park a minute away). It was a 55 minute drive but worth it because the whole time we were there we were the only dogs. Which meant we could leave Max off leash. Been many years since Max has been off-leash somewhere on purpose outside our back yard.
M. and her boyfriend K (who is studying to be a doctor and technically already one as far as degree). He’s shorter than her, probably 5 8’’, and seems like a nice guy. Generous with their time as they did an hour and a half with us and the dogs.
Maris was unbelievably giddy around Bailey. It’d been 2 years since the litter mates were last were together and all her old puppyhood came back to her and they were tussling and running like crazy. It was endearing,
Her brother, a priest, is stationed in Guam now as chaplain. He sure had a rough service in Afghanistan when he gave last rites to all his military buddies. Seems like he had a bit of PTSD as he wouldn’t talk about it for a few months.
The dogs plunged into nearby lake and they were all having a time while getting filthy. At the end Maris tried to get into Maria’s car as they were getting ready to leave. At the risk of anthropomorphizing, Bailey stuck her head out the window plaintively as if pained at the coming separation. Maris came up to the car, stood on her hind legs to reach the SUV window and they briefly touched noses. A tear-jerker.
On way back home we stopped at Harold’s Diner on recommendation of Maria and Keegan, but they were closed. Harold is a gruff, rough, transplanted New Yorker and Maria said she was taken aback. But the burgers there are sooo good.
That plan off, we stopped at Smokehouse BBQ and I picked up ribs and wings. Garrulous old man bellied up to the bar with three women of varying ages and races. Seemed an odd combo. Maybe work mates playing hooky. He says that he has 7 children, all boys, and all are productive high fliers. He said he’s old school and wasn’t going to raise any slackers. He seemed the quintessential barfly, the sort of friendly-aggressive, aggressively-friendly sort.
**
Listened to Oathkeeper’s Stewart Rhodes on Conservative Daily show. He’s pretty nonchalant about the lay of the land, how every dictatorship starts with using sham trials to try political opponents and that is just the way it’s always been since time immemorial. He also said that as a Christian it should be expected - that we would find trouble (persecution) in this world. Says that what he’s going through (solitary confinement for 22 hours daily and looking at a sentence of a decade or two) is nothing like what Solzhenitsyn went through. He says he wants to keep the mindset of Nelson Mandela, who always knew despite 20 years in prison that he would be vindicated and cleared of charges.
**
Wed: The idyllic weather of the past three days has fled in solidarity with the folks in Florida who are getting hammered. Fort Myers especially it seems. The webcam at Island Inn in Sanibel where we once stayed a week was a picture of health yesterday, with a large sand margin showing and an overcast sky. This morning, not so much. The waves cover everything and it looks turbulent. An hour later the feed is offline presumably because the power is out.
Our rental owner’s only concern is that the electricity might go out. Steph’s going to cook a meal ahead in case that happens. We can just use our phone service to watch TV on our iPads if the wifi dies. It’s an adventure! Or should I say misadventure.
Grateful for the three beautiful days we’ve had. Certainly a big upgrade over Ohio weather based on what I’ve seen on the app - about 15-20 degrees warmer and much sunnier. Even today much better: 54 and cloudy in Columbus versus 70 and cloudy here. Plan is today to just go to pool.
**
Fell into some “doom-scrolling” as they call twitter feeds. In this case all the doom was the pretty much direct hit of a cat 4 or 5 hurricane to the tender parts of Florida, specifically Fort Myers and Sanibel. Unimaginable windspeeds to go with the rain. I guess I’m glad I didn’t make reservations at Diamond Head resort yet.
Going over land takes a lot of a hurricane so it will get tamer as it goes over Florida but they say could pick up enough over the Gulf to reenter South Carolina as category 1 storm. Which means I could say I experienced a hurricane, if a mild one. Either way Friday is a “lost day” although that’s relatively speaking. We can still read, drink, think...and watch movies.
Surprisingly, they cancelled weekday Mass at St. Francis already for Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Glad I contacted them rather than just assuming they’d have it, especially since Thursday is supposed to be only mildly rainy, hardly a weather event at all.
My over/under for how long it would take for the Left to criticize DeSantis for the hurricane was one day, but it turned out to be zero days. On “The View” they slammed DeSantis for causing it due to his climate change policies. So those who picked under got it right - not even 24 hours before the Left used it.
**
Ponderous world event in that someone blew up Russia pipeline. Tucker Carlson thinks Biden admin did the dirty deed (literally dirty since it’s very bad for the environment). Democrats don't worry about the environment except as a lever for power. Gifts for demagogues: environment “crisis”, covid, and then Jan 6 federal road show.
It seems likely it had to be US, UK or Russia and the latter seems extremely unlikely.
I feel cynical these days on account of politics. A cynic believes everyone acts from selfish motives, at least that’s the dictionary definition. But isn’t that what Jesus meant when he told his generation they were an evil generation? Christ seemed singularly unimpressed with human unselfishness during his time on earth except for a very few, like the Roman centurion who professed great faith (and even then Jesus was praising his faith, not his lack of selfishness). Or is it that cynic is only vindicated before the coming of Christ? Or perhaps cynicism is spiritually acceptable only with respect to politicians, ha.
**
Weatherman on twitter says, “Biggest tropical threat in 3-4 years for South Carolina.”
Response from a local: “It’s going to be at most a CAT 1 hurricane….we have dealt with a lot worse in the Lowcountry.”
**
Later went to the local hardware store to visit the “White Dog”: Maverick. He’s a huge 145 lb all white Great Pyrenees who sings along to the background music in the store, and to our delight a song came on that he likes and he launched into it, actually in keeping with the music. Steph got it on video. He’s even performed with the local symphony. He’s the canine star of Hilton Head Island.
Thurs:
So today’s goal was to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear, or lemonade out of lemons. The weather was surprisingly good; the forecast had rain starting at noon but nothing yet and it’s 4pm. It’s cool, at 65 degrees, and certainly windy at 30mph. We headed off to the Distillery tour and enjoyed the rapport from one transplanted New Jersey dude, an old fat short guy who could tell a story. He went into the history of Hilton Head and how it was developed by a guy with Ohio roots (Fraiser) and it’s been all Ohio ever since. We were on the tour in fact with half Ohioans, two from Cleveland and two from Troy. I told him we call it “Ohio south” and he averred. I think he’s slightly exasperated by the number of Ohioans he meets. Says he will be drinking most of the next two days while staying at a friend’s house for a prolonged hurricane party.
We tried some 6 shots, 5 of which were rum. Most were average to middling. “Island Cream” was the last one and a favorite locally; they can’t keep the bottles in stock due to demand. Between that and the mai tai initial cocktail, I had my share of alcohol today.
In hindsight a brewery tour would be more in my wheelhouse but I’m not sure there was one handy and this was ranked super high on the list of things to do in Hilton Head.
**
Hit Mass in the morning. Holy Family (unlike St. Francis of the Sea Catholic Church) is not afraid of a little hurricane and didn’t cancel.
It doesn’t look like we’ll get a direct hit - it’s moving up the coast towards Myrtle Beach. A titanic struggle between the hurricane and the coastal air mass according to a local weatherman.
Meanwhile I can’t look away from Sanibel and Fort Myers. Wow. Some amazing videos that look like the Ohio flood of 1913. Other pictures of just wreckage that looks like a tornado tore through. I’m thinking a Sanibel trip is out for us this winter.
**
Ventured to the beach for an icy dip in the frothing Atlantic. Some serious waves and fierce undertow. Would’ve been fun to really engage but didn’t have boogie board - and the fact no one else was in the water was off-putting. Not far away there was a big lifeguard vehicle, no doubt telling people to stay out of the water. So I only went in to my waist and only for a minute. The 30mph winds made it feel like January weather.
Fri: t’s starting to sink in just how bad that hurricane in Sanibel was. The air footage looks like war zone. Our old historic “Island Inn” got destroyed looks like. Looked for info about St. Isabel’s and came across a 2019 tweet which makes me like Isabel all the more: “We were on Sanibel for a wedding this weekend. We went to St. Isabel's, at the end of Mass our priest said Franklin Graham had asked all pastors to pray for President Trump.”
Our weather meanwhile has been a nothing burger. Just light rain and clouds. In other words, in Columbus we call that a Tuesday. I was able to easily take the dogs on a couple walks already today. Also smoked a cigar on the balcony. Amazing how fast the day goes by when you’re doing little but dog walks, eating and a nap.
On the way to the beach on a whim I decided to see if I could get the dogs in Piggly Wiggly to pick up more bacon, eggs, and ham. And I asked a cashier, who was helpfully lingering in the doorway, and he didn’t seem to know the store policy but said it was okay with him so I took the chance. Max was distracted by the smells of packaged foods but I managed to steer them on the dual leash through the narrow aisles (fortunately there were few people around due to the “hurricane” or “tropical storm”).
Afterward I had to carry the grocery bag to the beach which was a bit cumbersome. Max also pooped along the way so for awhile I had poop bag, grocery bag, and two dogs. I set the bags down for a brief visit to the beach. The waves were fierce but not especially large. Sort of like Rudy of Notre Dame fame. There is a certain majesty to the waves when their crests have spray coming out of them due to the wind. It looks sort of like incense rising. Holy smokes!
Nice to have the Bengals game distraction last night and a win no less. The game ran longer than a Wagner opera however. I feel like it’s another sign of what your society values in how long an event is “permitted” to go on. In the old days, frontier Ohio church services would carry on for 3 hours. Now we complain if something is over an hour; even Steph’s non-denom service is about an hour. But now our religion, sports, goes on for 3-4.
Sat: Back to Hilton Head being good ol’ sunny Hilton Head. Brilliant morning with the tree-sun glistening. Seven foot tall banana plants stand along the path off our back porch. An ancient live oak tree is directly in front of us and leans precariously on the condo next to ours. At first I thought it was leaning on ours and had grown concerned given the prospect of an approaching hurricane. It’s already done a little damage to the neighbor’s roof, crunching the corner of it.
That neighbor came out earlier and said we really dodged one (meaning the storm). I forgot to point out the tree leaning on his condo but I’m sure he’s aware.
Hit Mass this morning. Good Fr. Farrell is back from a priest’s retreat this week but is feeling sick so he skipped both the homily and the Confessions afterward. One of the beauties of the Mass is how there’s no greater signifier of the dignity of man than that. For a priest, flesh and blood, to be able to call Jesus down from Heaven to be physically present is a gobsmacking sign of the regard God holds man. And it’s so either/or, so binary: either the priest is up there doing nothing, being a fool, playing pretend, or that priest is engaging in the most important and awe-inspiring work on earth in changing bread into the Body of Christ on the altar. It is the zenith of prayer and faith.
Good line from rosary meditation book on the Presentation in the temple: "It is not a strong will that helps Mary withstand Simeon’s ominous prophecy, but love. Mary places all her hope in the presence of God who is Love."
We got to the beach early - for us - at noon, and the water looks as it does at no other time: translucent, transfigured, glorified. The sun between 10am and 2pm strikes the waves and sends a thousand points of light. By 4pm the effect is dulled and the water turns to blue with gray patches and dirty white foam.
But at noon white stallion waves leap from the glinting, sparkling white-blue.
**
Added a few to my Babylon Bee reader-submission headlines:
Local Man Worried About Becoming Pregnant After Learning Men Can Become Pregnant
Biden Praises Press Secretary’s Hit Song “Fast Car”
Study Shows Covid Vaccine 100% Effective At Increasing Pharma Profits
Sun: Sparkling wine of a morning. Last night watched lengthy but meaty interview with Darren Beattie on the lay of the land with Trump and populism. He said it’s actually a pretty good sign for a democracy that Trump was elected at all, given every power center in America was against him. But obviously it’s a very negative sign that he was hamstrung constantly and was warred upon from the get-go. In fact, he said that was Trump’s big sin: not recognizing the war was NOT over after he won. (I naively thought the war was over once he won. I had thought a duly elected president would be accepted as president.)
Trump tried to govern as a conventional Republican when something else was called for. The big moment was likely when he backed down from the Deep State by firing Gen’l Mike Flynn. At that point the Deep State had already won. Trump, understandably, was trying to work with a system that he didn’t know was already broken.
Beattie also said that political reality is that Trump has a following that DeSantis does not. Until DeSantis can get 10,000 people in a rally for him like Trump can, he’s very skeptical of the chances of a DeSantis in a nationwide election. Trump is it for the GOP; there’s no substitute.
**
We’d rode over to Seaside and witnessed the power and glory of my brother's electric bikes. Wow cool toy for sure. They zoom-zoom-zoom at a press of a button and Doug and my sister-in-law let us ride them the 12 miles we did to and from Land’s End Tavern where I had delicious fried chicken sandwich. I think of it as a motorcycle for non-dare devils.
**
Mon: Cold-ish morning here in Hilton Head. When it’s 40 in Hilliard it’s not going to be warm even 700 miles south especially when there’s a breeze. But I don’t mind much as I’m enjoying the contemplative atmosphere of a cigar on the balcony with Max. Things are quiet and calm when the weather’s “poor” even if 65 degrees and cloudy probably doesn’t qualify for many.
Really feeling the cumulative enjoyment of the vacation. Does make quite a difference just to get the extra couple days in (Sat and Sun). I’d be okay with a midweek departure although the weather looks too good for that to happen. There’s just a different vibe on vacation. Maybe partially the difference of flora and fauna and scenery on the dog walks, but also doesn’t hurt all the fun activities we’ve had that we wouldn’t in Columbus: lunch & bike with my bro, distillery tour, Maris and Bailey reunion at dog park, and, of course, long visits to the sea. (Although jogging on the hard sand is playing havoc on my feet.)
**
Feel a bit wistful that a niece is so committed to the global warming crisis that she’s refusing to eat hamburgers or steaks because cows make methane. She was told that her that her sacrifice will affect overall global warming by .000000000000000001 percent (or less), but she says that’s not the metric, that it’s the principle, etc... Which is a the Christian viewpoint since we believe our smallest sacrifices or “offering up” make a difference (similarly, for that matter, voting - since our single vote count is 99.99999% never the difference maker in any election).
But I felt wistful because I thought about how great and powerful would be her idealism if turned towards Christianity, how amazing it would be to know someone willing to give up something like that for Him. But then that reminds me that it all starts within not without and that I hardly have room to talk given my limited willingness to sacrifice. The young are idealistic, the old more cynical, and the problem is the young are not idealistic towards the right things and the old know the right things but are usually unwilling to give up their comforts for them. Thus is the conundrum of the human condition! Both young and old are foolish for different reasons.
Certainly it would seem she and her sister have totally bought in to the world's priorities. Certainly the failure of the education system is going to have an impact as night follows day.
**
Meanwhile back at the ranch I fade into a semi-nap and what comes to mind, oddly, in this hazy state, is a memory of a party on a hot Tuesday night in 1969, May 27th to be exact if my graduation certificate coincided with the party. My relatives and others are there, for my kindergarten graduation. I can’t tell if this is a real memory or a conflation of another. The weather, as reported by the historical web engine, said it was 79 degrees at 5pm. Reasonably hot, I guess, for May. Cue Bryan Adams.
**
Tues: Went to church because I didn’t feel like going, which is when you most need to go to church they say. And turns out to be the feast of St. Francis. Unaware of that, I brought Max so I hope he got a little blessing from the parking lot.
Fr. gave homily on how St. Francis continues to change lives. He knows a man in North Myrtle Beach area whose wife took him to Assisi in Italy. He was an atheist who went along just for his wife’s sake and lo and behold was converted and joined the Catholic Church and is a fervent and devout man. Just being around Assisi, the holy sights associated with St Francis, as well as being with the holy group of pilgrims apparently did the trick.
**
Took the day off workout-wise which was wise. Started off reading at the pool reading an eccentric Irish novel titled, “The History of the Rain”. The sun was warm and eventually we decided to catch the breeze at the ocean. We headed down for a restful three hours. Read more about the founder/developer of Hilton Head, Charles Frazer, in the book about him.
More and more journalists and historians are noting the parallels between 1914 beginning of World War 1 and what’s going on with Russia and Ukraine today, how we sort of sleep-walked into both by needless escalations.
As it happened, I just read these lines from that Irish Rain novel about the beginning of World War I:
“The message went loudly from Gavrilo’s gun into the passing head of Archduke Ferdinand and from there out through the mouth of Lord Kitchener in England. It was a fairly blunt system actually, download speed slower than Irish dial-up, but one hundred thousand men a month got the message and signed up to fight For King and Country...They poured out into the night afterwards, the starlight, the spires, all of them feeling like jumping, like dancing, as if for each a weight had been replaced by a lightness, as if that’s what it meant, Light Infantry. You signed your name on the line and you felt a little lighter, a little ascension.”
The conundrum is that war is no longer a manageable exercise given the weapons we now possess, but the need for war doesn’t dissipate accordingly. Alas.
**
Wed: Headed down to the “cement pod” as the Clampett’s called their pool) for the morning coffee. Gives off a Southern California vibe just now: hibiscus and palms, preternaturally blue sky, stucco siding, sunny and arid. Putting-green grass in the courtyard evokes Bob Hope invitationals. And the swimming pool itself is the state symbol of California, or if not should be, and this one is a generous sized aquamarine rectangular with gently pulsed water adding dimples.
Come 1pm I figured it was time to do a dog walk so we wandered leisurely down picturesque Dune road, parallel to the beach. Mansions to the left, castles to the right. We went to the end and Max didn’t want to head back the same way we came, so I accommodated him and we scampered over a presumably private beach path and headed back by sand where Max acquired a coterie of compliments from passersby. I joked later with Steph that I now know what being a celebrity is like due to walking around with one. Max seems to have a lot more energy down here; we walked some 3+ miles (over 3 walks) and he still wanted more. Not like him.
After the walk Steph and I decided to take it easy with a trip to the beach without dogs or tent and it was a lot easier. Just did a couple hours before heading back for steaks on the grill.
Thurs: Today dawned beautifully so I took the dogs on walk to ocean. Max again wanted more; he's machine down here.
They scared a cat or some furry creature up a tree and “blew up” as the guy on “Mountain Men” says of his hounds when they tree a mountain lion. It happened so fast couldn’t tell what it was for sure but it was way too big for a squirrel.
We headed to the beach where we saw body surfers and kayakers. As the sun hits the west sky I see what looks like the mermaid masthead of a great ship, proper posture at the front of the kayak, come to life. Steeds of waves carry them in and the sun silhouettes her like a Grecian goddess.
Later we rode out to Skull Creek restaurant and bar, starring sunsets over the marsh. Very crowded place which is hard to believe given it’s a Thursday in October, hardly peak tourist season, but “if you build it they will come”. Long drive to get there, almost off-island. We had an hour wait for the table but that was a feature not a bug since we enjoyed drinks in Adirondack chairs watching the sunset. Comfy and the quintessential Low Country view. The scene made me think of writer Pat Conroy who had an house on Fripp Island and wrote all his books with this region in mind.
**
Fri: Our last day in this jungle paradise. Took the dogs on their morning amble and appreciated all these “Jurassic Park” ferns. I also wondered what my initial reaction was to seeing Spanish Moss some 30+ years ago. I suspect I though them gloomy draperies, messy. Now of course I associate them with vacation good times and lenders of atmosphere.
Came across an excavation site and looked in the deep hole. Sand all the way down.
Also noticed the ubiquitous Palmetto trees, which South Carolinians love so much they put it on their state flag and state license plates. It only covers some of the state and can’t survive in the northeast portion but still it gets all the glory. Seems unfair to those in the Spartanburg/Rock Hill/Greenville area.
Headed to church today and the gospel was about Jesus expelling multiple demons.
More backstory on Fr. F: he was an atheist during his 20s but liked movies. He went to see “The Exorcist” and it really got to him. He didn’t believe in demons at the time of course, and knew that movies were fiction. But he said it felt like intuitively we know there is darkness and evil and for the first time in his life he felt it was there, adding the movie was “one of the moving moments in my coming to believe in God. We never know what will touch us or change us.”
**
Fumbled the ball this morning. I normally don’t do dishes on vacation as Steph handles that, washing by hand. I thought I’d do some by the dishwasher but unfortunately put dishwashing liquid in since there were no pods around that I knew of (which is what I use at home). But apparently washing dishes by hand requires a completely different soap set than automatic washer and we ended up with a mess, a huge flood of soap bubbles and water on the floor below washer. So spent about twenty minutes trying to clean that up.
**
Last beach day and the sun and surf wear down my defenses, ebb me and en-sleeve me in a past which is never quite reachable but always on the tip of my skin.
Great time soaking in the beach from a less crowded location. Much more enjoyable to find that sweet spot with little music and little traffic. Read a lot of “Geography of Nowhere”. Hard to leave the beach but so we did.
As we traveled back north through North Carolina mountains adorned in red, gold, and green now in early Fall, I couldn’t help thinking that I still like the Low Country more than the high country. That SC coast really gets into your blood. As I drove I thought about the wind skipping across the waves...
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