Awendaw SC Red Wolves 6/24/14

Sewee Visitors Center

     

     After a two week break to spend time with my children in NC and resolve some issues on the van that I am traveling with, I am back on the trail heading north.  There are a couple of stories that are worth posting before we leave the Charleston area behind.  One of them is the Sewee Visitor and Environmental Education Center just up 17 in the Awendaw area.

     This center, like many has the auditorium for educational films, the interactive displays and stuffed specimens of local creatures that are placed in settings that mimic the natural surroundings.

Bobcat

     But what sets this center apart lies down a walkway a few hundred yards behind the center itself.

     The path leads to a large observation deck that overlooks two enclosures that serve as home to a group of red wolves.

     Inside the enclosures are dens that have been made for the wolves to use.  Clean of limb, these are a beautiful creature.  They do not have the square boxy chest of a dog; rather they have the "V" shaped chest that allows a narrow stride and fluid motion even when they are running at full speed.

     Red wolves were once plentiful along the east coast from Pennsylvania to Florida, and ranged as far west as Texas.  In the wild, their primary diet is rodents and small mammals, along with berries and an occasional deer.

     Mature red wolves run from about fifty to eighty pounds.  In the wild their life expectancy is 6 to 7 years, but in captivity they can live as long as 15 or 16 years.  Realizing they were facing extinction, in 1980 the US Fish and Wildlife service trapped around twenty that were pure-bred.  As a result of that effort, some 200 now survive in captivity and over 100 have been re-introduced to the wild.

     At this time of year they are shedding their winter coat, so they do look a bit rumpled.  But even in captivity they are shy and do their best to avoid contact with humans.

      This center had a surprise this year - a couple of their wolves bred, which is somewhat of a rarity in captivity.  Ignoring the shelters that had been built, the female dug a den that is pretty amazing given how deep and extensive it is. She tore through, over and under many tree roots to carve out a safe place to give birth.  And when heavy rains came that flooded the dens, she dutifully carried the cubs to safer ground until the waters receded.

     And one day - there they were.  "Wolf-man Rob" is the sanctuary's leading wolf advocate.  Here he is with the pups shortly after they were born.

     Rob is a retired teacher and coach from New England who has loved canines of all types since he was a boy.  His daughter came to college in Charleston, and Rob found the center and started volunteering.  In just a few short years he became the person in charge of the wolves here.  

     His days are spent observing their behaviors, educating people who visit and seeing to the basic needs of the wolves.  He is passionate about these creatures, and can talk with you for hours about various aspects of wolf behavior and the age-old myths associated with them.

     In this litter, this first time mother gave birth to six pups.  One was still-born the next day and another appeared healthy, but died - perhaps of suffocation.  Two other females were transferred to the den in Alligator River NC and the remaining two are still here in Awendaw.  They are doing fine and developing in that rapid and amazing way that young life does.

     The mother carved out a nice little niche for the pups to cuddle in, and they commenced quickly to the point where they wanted to start exploring their world.

     Soon it is time for a veterinarian to visit.  There are many communicable diseases that wolves can get from domestic animals, but these pups were found to be in great shape.

     In nature, animals have to mature quickly or perish.  And so in just a few weeks these pups are running and learning the information they need to survive in this life.

     These are beautiful creatures, and generations to come will be grateful for the efforts of those like Rob who have brought them back from the brink of extinction.  

     Speaking of wolves, I spent a few days in North Carolina with another sort of wolf pack.  The wolf is the mascot of  the charter school that my youngest son Drew graduated from.  I am grateful for the time I was able to spend with three of my four children, and hopeful that my youngest sets himself a course in life that will bring challenge and growth.  

Woods Charter School; Chapel Hill NC

Drew addressing his class at graduation

Three of my four children

     For those of you that are residents of Mount Pleasant SC, the issues with my van brought me into contact with someone who might be an asset to you.  I am a pretty good mechanic, but several of the things the van needed were beyond the scope of what I could figure out or had the equipment to accomplish.  Anthony and Nick of Autoworks of Charleston, located just up Rt. 41 in Cainhoy were very helpful and very fair.  I watched them work, and you can tell the difference between a master mechanic and an average one quickly.  If you have issues you need resolved and a place you can trust to shoot you straight, this is the spot.

     Today's parting shot is of a moth that I saw on a screen door.  I think this is a Luna Moth - a unique creature for sure.

Happy Thursday !!

David

If you would like to contribute to this journey or to the foundation, just click Here.  If you have no idea what this is about, Click Here and Here.  Click Here to email me, and if you want to read today's meditation just click Here.  Thanks for your interest and support !!

5/18/14 Prints for the clinic, Mike Dussel - Charleston SC

Folly Beach Pier

     Thanks for bearing with me the last two days all.  If you missed the last journal entry, I returned to Charleston to fill a big print order.  Also, a few local donations allowed me to fill in some holes on the clinic walls.

     These are all going into the clinic -  I was able to print and frame 12 more for a total of 52 photos that are now printed, framed and hanging on the walls at Network Neurology.  The first one is of the Folly Pier on one of those mornings that sunrise was surreal.

     Here is the battery in downtown Charleston

     This is the largest one for the clinic this run - this is Daufuskie Island looking toward Hilton Head at sunrise.

     Shrimp boat at Port Royal

     Haig Point on Daufuskie Island

     And this recent one from Wormsloe Plantation at Isle of Hope, Georgia

     A pier on St. Helena Island

     And this one from three weeks ago at Magnolia Plantation.

     The 52 framed prints now in the clinic depict scenes from Bull Island in Awendaw SC to Skidaway Island in Georgia, which are the two coastal edges of what is called The Low Country.  There is nothing further north or south - just boundary to boundary.  If you get the chance to poke around the clinic some day you will have to let me know what you think.

     And by the way, the clinic is doing amazing things with some stroke patients, epilepsy patients and traumatic brain injury.  There is going to be a big push forward with autism patients - this may well turn into the first hope that autistic people have had of finding a "normal" life.  Stay tuned - the next couple of years are going to be amazing.  My role in this saga is becoming much better defined, and I will share all that in detail later this week.

     One of the things that helped the costs this print run is that my printer, Mike Dussel who owns Blue Wave Print in Charleston and his wife Becky just bought a house and I traded some labor for a big discount on printing.  The house they bought was out of foreclosure, and the guy who owned it did a lot of damage before he was evicted.

     There were hardwood floors throughout the house and a hardwood staircase.  The guy took a chain saw and cut every step tread, and then carved profanities in the floor of every room. 

      Well, it worked out for Mike and Becky because they got a good deal on the house.  I helped tear out floors.  What a shame to throw away such a beautiful hardwood floor - but there is nothing else to be done.

     The biggest part of the print order has to be delivered to Savannah and all the pieces hung tomorrow.  Then I am not sure if I am heading on to Atlanta to meet with several clinics there or if I am going to head further along south along the coast.  I know the next two weeks are going to be hectic as details are fleshed out regarding the board of directors and the federal paperwork for the foundation, but it will all come together as it should.

     Today's parting shot is what has been home for the last three days - the back room of the print shop.  I am very grateful to Mike for allowing me access and giving me such a good deal on printing for the images we have donated to the clinic.  

Have a great Monday all !!
David

If you would like to contribute to this journey or to the foundation, just click Here.  If you have no idea what this is about, Click Here and Here.  Click Here to email me, and if you want to read today's meditation just click Here.  Thanks for your interest and support !!

5/15/14 Print order to fund the foundation

Will Green

     So I said last night that I got good news and left Skidaway Island.  I got a call from Will Green, the owner of Old Savannah Tours.  He wants to help us get the foundation set up, and so he ordered framed canvas prints for three of his locations.

     I went to the three locations and measured the spots for prints.  We then selected prints and I headed back to Charleston to fill the order.  The great thing about this is that it, combined with some money Dataw Island gave me for photographing for them, gives me the money to file the paperwork with the government to start the foundation.  

     The name of the foundation is going to be the "More for Less Foundation."  I will give more details as it unfolds, but the important thing is that it is getting underway and that down the road all of our contributions will become tax deductible.

     And the name "More for Less?"  That was suggested by Chris Crolley a good while back.  It refers to the guy whose accident started this journey in the first place - Dr. Les Neville.

     I stopped by to see Les for a bit on my way into Charleston.  He is still in the nursing home on John's Island.  I can clearly see the marked improvements in him, but now he is struggling a bit because he is starting to realize his situation.  He does not have much interaction as it is a low-end nursing home and he is mostly surrounded by folks who are incapacitated for one reason or another.  So he is getting a bit testy - and although I hate to see him go through it I see it as a good sign that he is becoming more aware of his circumstances and wants things to change.  Les never was patient with the status quo, and perhaps this personality trait will prove to be what pulls him through this in the long run.  But for now, this place is the only option available to him.  If you can spare a bit of time and are close to John's Island, please consider stopping in and either chatting with him or reading to him a bit.  Nursing homes are not the most desirable places, but I assure you that you will come away with a strong feeling of gratitude for blessings you may currently be taking for granted.

     So a mad-house day, chasing down foam-core to mount prints on, canvas to print on and getting framing supplies lined up for the job.  A lot of these pictures have never been printed before, so it has been fun seeing them for the first time.     

     This print run is 173 square feet of canvas, the largest print run I have ever done.  Above you can see them coming off the printer.  The printer started running at 5 pm yesterday, and it has just finished printing.  (It is 3:30 am)  This print shop is a beehive during the daytime, so the only time I can use the facilities is at night. 

     Here are a few quick shots of the prints as they are mounted.

     So it is going to be a busy next two weeks with many details to sort through and decisions to make.  Please bear with me as this is a crucial stage of this journey.   I will do my best to still deliver some good content each day, but I won't have near the time that I usually take to put together the journal entries.

     The parting shot today was take up by the frame shop.  This is near the air base where the big cargo jets fly out.  A photograph can't do them justice - you just look at them hanging in the sky and know that there is no earthly way a monster like that can leave the earth.

Happy Friday !!

David

If you would like to contribute to this journey or to the foundation, just click Here.  If you have no idea what this is about, Click Here and Here.  Click Here to email me, and if you want to read today's meditation just click Here.  Thanks for your interest and support !!

5/5/14 MUSC and Van

Charleston SC

     Today finds us in Charleston at MUSC.  (Medical University of South Carolina)  The first medical college in the South and the tenth in the United States, it opened in 1824 with 7 doctors and 30 students.  The school added pharmacology as a course of study in 1881 and nursing in 1882.  The college again expanded in the 1940's by adding the basic sciences as an area of study and again in the 1950's with the addition of the Dental College.

     This is where the team is that will perform many of the clinical trials for Epilepsy, Autism and Traumatic Brain Injury that we are raising money for.  The university has a long history of neurological and spinal cord research and treatment.  

Dr. Michael Yost

      Dr. Michael Yost showed me around, and although we didn't have much time, there is some real neat stuff these folks are doing.  Dr. Yost is the director of surgical research at the university, and one of the current projects is making replacement muscle.

Heather Bainbridge

     Here is a machine that these folks have put together that "prints" muscle.  Various canisters hold different types of cells and the machine is programmed to combine these into the shape of the muscle that needs replaced.  Additionally, their research has led them to solutions for scar free surgical procedures.  MUSC has been raising over 200 million a year for the funding of basic research, so the measly 20 or 30 million that we need to raise for these neurological studies seems like a drop in the bucket.

Dr. Kindy

     Dr. Mark Kindy is the the individual who will be spearheading our studies.  He is a research career scientist and professor who has published over 160 papers in peer-reviewed publications.  The core of his research has been around strokes, traumatic brain injury and Alzheimer disease, and he has taught a wide range of classes to students on issues surrounding these subjects.  

    I am excited with the team here.  These Dr's. combined with the others at Network Neurology and a couple of other clinics that are coming into the picture are going to make a world class team to advance these studies.  I am confident that ten years from now treatment for Epilepsy, Autism, Brain Injury and Stroke are going to look completely different.  In fact, we will look back on today''s techniques like we currently look  back on the use of bleeding and leeches.  I am not sure how this whole effort is going to turn out, but the pieces are certainly falling into place.

     Another area that we have come a long in is the ability to take and process photographic images.  Here is an old photograph, a 3 inch by 5 inch print taken about twenty years ago by Will Green, the owner of Old Savannah Tours.

     

     Using Adobe Photoshop, I was able to correct the yellowing and take the railing and tree branch out of the picture.  To combat the very low resolution of the photo, I applied a treatment called "cross hatching."  This program takes the data and mimics the strokes an artist would make if they were painting this picture with a brush.  This takes care of the blurred lines and all the spotting and speckles that would otherwise be there.  It also somewhat corrects for the areas that are out of focus.  

     I then printed the photograph on canvas to further the "hand painted" effect.  This finished piece is 3 feet high by 4 feet wide, ready to mount on a wall.  I dropped it off for Will to see in Savannah this morning - hopefully he will like the finished product.

     Numerous of you have asked me about my accommodations on the road.  Well, the answer is that I am as "self contained" as I can make myself on a small budget.  Today was time for "spring cleaning," and I went through everything I am carrying with me to clean and reorganize it.  Here is the van right after I pulled everything out.

     Someone once told me that you can't put twenty pounds of crap in a ten pound sack.  Well, I think I am pushing twelve pounds or so.  I have a set of light carpentry tools, electrical and plumbing tools and mechanical repair tools on board that fill two bins and three tool boxes.   I also have a camp with tent, lantern, stoves, cookware, backpack and camping tools that takes up two bins.  I have office equipment including a printer, camera, tripods, laptop and back-up laptop, paper, tax documents, books, notepads etc that take up two more bins plus a second back-pack. Miscellaneous extra clothing, laundry supplies, cleaning supplies and basic cooking supplies fill another two bins.  Then there are four cloth bags for clean and dirty laundry, two coolers (one for canned goods and dishes plus a smaller one for cooled goods) and a host of little things like a chair, fan, walking stick, printed photos to trade for things along the way, batteries, battery charger, first aid kit, bedding and more.  

     Here is how I am arranged.  The van has sliding doors on both sides, so the first two bins in can be pulled out either side.  One has the basic camping gear and the other has the tools I use most often.  These are shorter than the other bins, the reason for which will become apparent in a minute.

     Then, behind these first two bins come 7 more bins, each labeled with what the contents are.  

     Smaller tool boxes and the large cooler are worked in along the front edges.

     Then a couple of blankets go down, followed by a piece of plywood and a couple more blankets.  This supports an air-mattress that I sleep on.  Alongside this goes the second cooler and laundry bags.  All kinds of commonly used things get shoved in the cracks and crevices that are left.

     Then in front goes a duffel bag with toiletries and the backpack with the camera and computer equipment.  A large console between the seats holds other commonly used items, as do beneath the seat bins and the glove compartment.  So I have a surprising amount of space in the driving area with easy access to the things I use most - for now anyway.

   The tools have come in handy many times already - I changed a starter for some folks that were stuck and have made several minor repairs that the van needed.  The carpentry, electrical and plumbing tools are there in case I need to take some odd-jobs to fill in financially.

     And today's parting shot comes from Savannah GA.

     I remember my father's low tolerance for anyone who wore their hair or dressed in any manner other than the mainstream style.  If he saw a man with long hair, he would say that it would be the day he would die that anyone couldn't tell him from a woman from behind.  If he saw someone with a shaved head he would say they looked like a convict.  And black leather or rock band t-shirts?  Forget it.  

     Savannah is the home to the Savannah College of Arts and Design, so there are many young folks walking about the streets.  The college age is just when many of us set about to test the "norms" society has set forth, each in our own way.  So it was difficult not to take too many shots of the students as they walked about - but I liked all the effort this fellow put into his "look."

     I have been invited back to Dataw Island to shoot for a couple of days, so I am looking forward to being able to shoot photos from the artistic rather than the journalist posture for a couple of days.  

Have an awesome Tuesday !!

David

If you would like to contribute to this journey or to the foundation, just click Here.  If you have no idea what this is about, Click Here and Here.  Click Here to email me, and if you want to read today's meditation just click Here.  Thanks for your interest and support !!