Doctor Grandma

The lake gulls did not miss us. They flew around today with their high-pitched sound, like they did while we were gone. They do not get a vacation.

It was nice to come home to this peaceful setting, where we live. The high hit the mid-to-upper 70s today. Bright sunshine all around. Al & I bought some groceries, got a light dinner at Zorba’s and pretended like we weren’t out of money as of tomorrow. I needed to go into my office but decided the heck with it & will just go in early tomorrow morning. Did some laundry at home, then went out to dry it at the local laundromat, as the free washer and dryer we picked up is really only “free washer”. The dryer doesn’t work.

Then I took a late evening walk around the pond and neighborhood, as the dark deepened and the moon came out. I’ve been playing on facebook, and my husband the early riser went to bed before dark! He is wiped out from the trip. We got home around midnight last night.

The frogs are slowly coming out of hiding, or hibernation, if they do that. Heard some loud treefrogs today.

I am happy here, and this is where we will stay.

Last year we had one light dusting of snow, on Inauguration Day of the new President Obama. I remember because my college closed and Al and I had a great day at home, watching the festivities on tv.

This year, we got 6 inches — last night. The children of the neighborhood swarmed outside this morning, all morning, because this is South Carolina. though we got 6 inches, the high today would reach 40 or above, and it would melt by nightfall!

Parents and children built snowmen or women. I say that because I saw one complete with a set of breasts. Snow covered the tops of palmetto trees and pines. Down here, people do not own snow shovels, salt, or boots. Many don’t have gloves. I saw kids outside “sledding” with trash bags, down a hill, having a blast. Kids and parents threw snowballs at each other and laughed. Someone took a 4-wheeler, hooked up a long mat behind it, and gave kids rides on the mat, swirling them around until they fell off. They did this for a couple of hours straight. I took a couple videos of their fun. Most of them were out in sweats and a light jacket. Some did not have gloves. They were obviously SO inexperienced at this, but it didn’t matter. It mostly melted by this afternoon. There are now patches of snow left inside the woods and in shady spots. By tonight, all the snow creations were melted down to one small ball. It was a happy morning of play and delight. By this afternoon, older kids were walking around the neighborhood, down in the dumps, because it was already disappearing.

Eventually one kid got hurt when they went over a rock and he hurt his knee. (It was a mat, remember, not a sled!) Then some people took the kid home in a golf cart, which is the main mode of transportation in our neighborhood. Cracks me up.

This was a nice vacation day to remember. Rain is predicted for tomorrow night.

This morning, a small group of 3 geese landed across the pond from our house. One of them was evidently appointed as sentry, as he stood slightly away from the others, honking constantly. The other two were unconcerned about their surroundings and walked around near the edge of the water. Suddenly, I saw a heron to the left of the group, intently staring in their direction. Then he lunged at them, as if to say, “Get out of here, this is my corner of fish!” The geese fluttered a little bit but when I looked back, the heron had flown away.

We get birds flying around our pond but most do not land in it. The herons walk around the edges, looking for small fish. The people of this neighborhood breed fish in our pond, with some catfish and carp getting huge in there. We see them occasionally while walking around the edges. I think most duck and geese don’t swim in our pond because they might encounter fish twice the size of themselves. Either that or they just fly over another set of houses and have access to a much bigger and more diverse place (the large lake).

Dec. 18th in South Carolina. It’s been raining all day long. We are expected to get an inch of rain. The water has been moving across the pond in ripplets, fastly moving most of the day. The machine– whatever it is– Al says it’s not a pump — at the edge of the pond lets a little of the water out, and it trickles down underneath the road and remains “Bear Creek”. But the water is dammed up to create our pond in back of the house.

It is chilly here today, with highs only in the 40s. This is “cold weather”. Of course, people here have no idea what cold weather really is. They cannot imagine wearing gloves, yet feeling like you have no gloves on because they’re the little, cheap $1.00 pair you get at every discount store, and you feel your fingers going numb underneath them. No, it’s not cold here.

Just now I went to close the blinds, since it is growing dark, and saw a gorgeous, huge crane rise up from the grass and glide out over the pond. It must’ve had a wing span of 5 feet. A wonderful sight. (Memories of geese landing on our frozen pond in Indianapolis, and watching them slowly take steps on the solid ice!) It is quite different here, and I am quite content to be here. Not looking forward to the drive north next week.

Around here, football is the EVENT. So this weekend is homecoming, both for many high schools, and for my college. First of all, driving home I met many decorated cars coming toward me with streamers flying out the windows and other decorations all over them. They were on their way to the game. This high school is out in the country, near Chapin or near Little Mountain. Kids from that area of the county attend it. The sign out in front of their school says, “REBELS WITH A CAUSE – EDUCATION”. They are “the rebels”.

We went to a show last night at the Opera House and afterwards went into Pizza Hut. It was 11:00 at night. The place was full of life, people talking loud, lots of high school kids and families, some with 2 and 3-yr-olds all dressed up for having been to the game. This one was in Newberry. I think everyone else in the Pizza Hut was black. My husband talked to a man who looked to be less than 40 yrs old and he had 6 daughters.

Tonight is homecoming for Newberry College. Graduates actually return for this game! It’s a big event, the band plays a lot and they have displays up around campus of Newberry history. Football is the game down here. When we attend basketball, there won’t be many other adults there, let alone faculty. Maybe 20-25 people and then students, maybe 50-70 students.

Our name change is a big, big deal down here also. We are no longer the Newberry Indians. We are becoming the Newberry Red Wolves, which I think is AWESOME.

It’s nearly October and we are still having 90-degree summer days. There is change in the air, but not the same as up north. Our pool closes this weekend. No trees have shown a sign of changing color, all leaves still intact.