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Hilton Head Island 2019
Our next trip to HHI is coming up in less than a month, so it’s probably time I share the pics from 2019 in preparation for the upcoming one. I’m going to jump straight to the highlight of the trip, which was watching baby loggerhead turtles find their way to the ocean. (I’ve also seen that today, June 16, 2020, is World Sea Turtle Day.) Joe and I took a late night walk to the beach on the last evening and were delighted to discover a couple baby sea turtles working their way down the sand to the surf. We went back to the house to tell the family, and…
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Whitetop Weekend
My dad’s mom suffered Alzheimer’s and dementia at the end of her life, and it seemed she remembered childhood bits, but then there were huge chunks of time missing. I’m not a rock climber, but I believe documenting memories and thoughts is a little like when a climber clips in to a new anchor once they’ve finished a pitch. Not all is lost if they slip up. So here I am, clipping in a minor memory because it all matters. There is glory in climbing to new heights just as there is glory in watching the flowers sway in the wind. Having a child start middle school has really taken…
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Doughton Park Camping 2019
Back in September, Labor Day weekend, we returned to Doughton Recreation Area with our friends, the Shinglers.
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Coastal Trip to Cedar Point
As large swaths of the U.S. were engulfed in a heat wave in the middle of July, we were at the NC coast doing our best to stay cool and have a little fun. Back in March, I found a house on White Oak River that boasted easy river access, proximity to downtown Swansboro and a short drive to the beach. I was sold on the cottage by the screened in deck with a hammock, shed with kayaks and shiplap walls inside. I’m huge on last minute plans, but beach places in NC book far in advance, so I booked the place resting easy that we could cancel up to…
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Coastal Discovery Museum’s Butterfly Habitat Plants
Last summer we went to Coastal Discovery Museum on Hilton Head Island. The entire visit was great, but my favorite part was the butterfly habitat. I photo-documented every plant whose name was unfamiliar to me (or rather nearly all the plant tags) so that I could look them up later and determine if they could be added to my own yard. Hilton Head is Hardiness Zone 8b, and Raleigh is 7b, which means that some plants may be hardy in Hilton Head but not in my yard. Many of the plants in the habitat were right over that line between 7 and 8, so they might work better as annuals.…
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Whitetop to Beech Mountain
Every year we alternate which side of the family we spend Thanksgiving with. This year it was the Rollins side, and Mom and Dad wanted to meet up in Whitetop, VA rather than Chattanooga, TN. My parents rented a second place down 58 and had my brother and our families stay at their place on Pond Mountain. My sister has been going hard since having her third baby girl this past summer, so she and her family stayed back in Chattanooga. The food was excellent and the time together was warm and fun. About 30 minutes after we arrived on Wednesday, Andy excused himself from the table and reappeared decked…