Kiawah

     The last 24 hours have been amazing.  I was in Mount Pleasant and had 17 miles distance to empty in the van last night.  Someone handed me a $25 BP gas card and asked me if I could use it.  I thanked them, and when I went to pull out, I realized I had no idea where a BP station was.  And there one was - across the street.  A bit later someone made a $ 200 donation, which covered insurance which was due to lapse Tuesday.  Now I am all set to get the gas and groceries needed to get south to Daufuskie Island this next week.  The whole trip has been this way - what I need has come exactly when I need it - not before and not after.  I hope I never come to the point that I take these things for granted.

     My first stop was Angel Oak - I think it might be the only one tree national forest in the USA.  There is no way to photograph this tree to bring perspective to the viewer.  Several of the branches that droop and hit the ground are five to six feet thick at the point they hit the ground!!  It is 28 feet in circumference at the base, and the longest branch is almost 200 feet long.  The canopy covers over 17,000 square feet.  It is an amazing thing that is a must visit if you ever make it to John's Island in SC.  

     Afterward I visited Les in the nursing home on John's Island early, then went and shot some test photos at Kiawah Island's Oak Point.  The statuary is in the back yard of a home on the golf course there - I thought it was neat.  Lately it has been too cool for alligators to come out, but the temperature was up a bit today and this big fella was laying by a lagoon.  The egret seems to know which end is the proper one to avoid.  This gator is a good eleven feet or so - much more critter than I care to tangle with.  Gators are funny - the ones under about seven feet scoot into the water quickly when they see you coming.  But there comes a size - perhaps eight or nine feet - that they just lazily lift an eyelid and look at you as though to determine if you are enough meat to justify the expenditure of energy required to catch you.  Anyway, this is a big lizard, and they can outrun the fastest race horse for about twenty yards.  I have a healthy respect for these guys.

     This weekend is a spiritual retreat I have attended every third weekend of January for the last five years.   I helped set up in the afternoon, then gave the camp, Camp Christopher, a number of photos that I had taken there in years past and other local photos taken recently.  I have a feeling I will be back to this beautiful piece of earth many times.

Tonight's sunset from Seabrook Island

      When you have a hundred men who have come together for a weekend, all with the intent of learning to be better people it is bound to be powerful.  The speaker tonight made the comment (about working toward spirituality) that "They told us the sky is the limit, but there are footprints on the moon."  I will  have to use that in a meditation soon.  I heard several other great things, but things go so fast they get away from me.  I will be sure to take a note pad tomorrow !!

     I will do the journal again tomorrow night, but I am trying to focus on this conference.  All have a great Saturday !!

David