(no subject)
I'm visiting my family on the coast of South Carolina. There are certain elements of every trip that we've done for so many years that they've become tradition. In the summer, this involves as much beach time as we can squeeze in. In the winter, we spend more time in the botanic gardens and on various trespassing adventures. We kayak all year round, and tasty food is central to every family gathering.
This weekend was delightfully warm, so we spent two days on the beach swimming in the ocean, scouring broken shells for sharks teeth (we found 4), scanning the sea for porpoises (we saw 2), people watching, and casting the fishing net in the surf. The fishing net is a new thing and I learned to cast on this trip. My biggest catch was 8 fishes. My biggest fish was 7 or 8 inches. We let them all go.
One afternoon, while the tide was rising, we went kayaking in the marshes. My paddling technique has improved over the years and I relied on that to explore some the narrow channels. This time out I also learned to stand in my boat. No casting the fishing net, though, because I wasn't prepared to be covered in muck. I did bank at one point and make friends with some muck-covered periwinkle snails, though.
We visited the marshes at dusk one night to walk along the causeway and boardwalk out into the saltwater marsh. We saw Roseate Spoonbills (pink birds with spoon-shaped bills) on an usual visit from Florida. We also saw the local Wood Storks, Snowy Egrets, Black Skimmers, Great Blue Herons, Swallows, Cormorants and Ibis. The alligators were out and about, too, looking particularly insidious.
Shopping with my mom is also a tradition. My trip coincided with the local arts festival featuring artisans from across the south-eastern US. I made some great finds and justified the expense as philanthropic support ;) We also had lots of fun scavenging the racks at our favorite consignment shop.
My uncle and his wife moved to the area last year, so spending time with him is a new element of my trip. This time, my itinerary just barely overlaps with the grandmother's arrival for October. Tonight I'll have dinner with them all. Tomorrow morning, I leave early to get back to the city in time for work. I hope it's not considered too unprofessional to show up a little sandy and sun-burnt.
This weekend was delightfully warm, so we spent two days on the beach swimming in the ocean, scouring broken shells for sharks teeth (we found 4), scanning the sea for porpoises (we saw 2), people watching, and casting the fishing net in the surf. The fishing net is a new thing and I learned to cast on this trip. My biggest catch was 8 fishes. My biggest fish was 7 or 8 inches. We let them all go.
One afternoon, while the tide was rising, we went kayaking in the marshes. My paddling technique has improved over the years and I relied on that to explore some the narrow channels. This time out I also learned to stand in my boat. No casting the fishing net, though, because I wasn't prepared to be covered in muck. I did bank at one point and make friends with some muck-covered periwinkle snails, though.
We visited the marshes at dusk one night to walk along the causeway and boardwalk out into the saltwater marsh. We saw Roseate Spoonbills (pink birds with spoon-shaped bills) on an usual visit from Florida. We also saw the local Wood Storks, Snowy Egrets, Black Skimmers, Great Blue Herons, Swallows, Cormorants and Ibis. The alligators were out and about, too, looking particularly insidious.
Shopping with my mom is also a tradition. My trip coincided with the local arts festival featuring artisans from across the south-eastern US. I made some great finds and justified the expense as philanthropic support ;) We also had lots of fun scavenging the racks at our favorite consignment shop.
My uncle and his wife moved to the area last year, so spending time with him is a new element of my trip. This time, my itinerary just barely overlaps with the grandmother's arrival for October. Tonight I'll have dinner with them all. Tomorrow morning, I leave early to get back to the city in time for work. I hope it's not considered too unprofessional to show up a little sandy and sun-burnt.