The message forum is an ongoing dialogue between classmates. There are no items, topics, subtopics, etc.

Forums work when people participate - so don't be bashful! Click the "Post Message" button to add your entry to the forum.

David Mitchell

John,

I am not really sure what our totals were. But it lasted almost uninterrupted for two whole days. I think somehwere around 8 to 12 inches, but spread out over 24 hours. It was awfully slow moving. These storms affect a lot of people in the area with ponds and lagoons being a big part of the local landscape. But those lagoons fill up fast and leave no place for the water to go. It's bad in certain older areas out on Hilton Head, which were not well laid out well for drainage.

Fortuneately I live on the banks of our beautiful May River *, where drainage is not problem. But when we get hit with the full force of a hurricane, "storm surge" becomes the greater threat. That didn't amount to much with Debbie.

* May River was the inspiration for Jonny Mercer's oscar winning song "Moon River" He was from Savannah and had a home here in Bluffton on the river bank. 

Today in full sunshine 

(this is our deep water dock. Water came up to the high walk way during our huricane Matthew hit some years ago. We got no storm surge from Debbie) 

James Hamilton, M. D.

Dave,

Beautiful pictures of the river, sky and green tall grasses!

Makes me wonder what kind of critters hide in those tall grasses 🤔.

Jim

Michael McLeod

quit whining about wimpy little thunderstorms and the dregs of full fledged hurricanes. I pee in your general direction. we get the real thing down here in fla.. House shaking, power failing, trees falling, ladies on their knees in the dark saying the rosary. I'm not making any of that up.

Timothy Lavelle

Do you recall any gun shops in or around Columbus back in the day? Though I now live far away, all childhood wonderings lead me back to the Hilltop and Columbus. I can't recall a single place where someone could go to buy a pistol. The population of the US was much less when we were kids...maybe 250 million? I wonder if there is a straight line trend in murders over time from then to now or if there was a sudden jump at some point. 

I checked Google and it ays there are 246 places to buy a gun in and around Columbus. About six places have sold more than 25 guns each that have shown up in crimes. Two of those six gun shops are way out West Broad...probably around the Hilltop.

I think I would like to hereby challenge the second ammendment and I'll throw in the supremecy of the Supremes as an added bonus. 

David Mitchell

Jim,

Mostly racoons and foxes along the water's edge - and a lot of beautiful Great Blue Heron, who stand and wait for low tide in shallow water and grab small fish beneath their long toothpick legs.

As far as marine life in the river itself, it's a lot of bugs, frogs, fish and dolphins. We (the neighbors) sit out on that deep water dock (first photo above) and watch the porpoises swim back and forth and pop up briefly to blow air out of their blowholes. Especially active late at night during full moons.

Also a few pelicans who will cricle 50 tor so feet above the water and suddenly dive straight down and splash hard with their long beaks as they grab a fish near the surfacce.  

Oh, almost forgot, shrimp, crabs, and one of the main local sources of food, and "Low Country" Cuisine - Ohhystahs !

(you Yankees may call them Oysters)

All the dark rough areas are dirty oysters in their shells. Gathered by hand in heavy boots - and shells as harp as a razor. May River Oysters are considerd the best anywhere. Talk about delicious! The tide swings full course about every 6 hours and 12 or 13 minures. It ranges seasonally from about an 8 1/2 feet to about 12 feet or more (up and down full cycle). This oyster bed you see here causes an ocaisional boating accident. When the tide is high it is completel invisible and boaters come out of one end of a nearby passage (second photo above) and go straig across it without knowing it's there and catch their engines on this "bed".

David Mitchell

speaking of "Tides",,,

Interesting fact about Bluffton and the May River.

Author Pat Conroy grew up in the (nearby) Beaufort area. When he wrote PRINCE OF TIDES, he was living with friends here in Bluffton. He wrote a ton of good novels and just passed away at age 70 a few years ago. He chose not to name Bluffton in the book. Freindns have told me that they did not want him drawing attention to Bluffton. 

Then he had lived out of the country for years. He was manic depressive and offended lots of people in and around Beaufort, Bluffton, and Charleston. Some for good reason - he was very outspoken abouth racism, especailly in the local school system in which he taught - i.e. "The Water is Wide" - about the unequal grade school system on Daufuskie Island where he taught in low quality all-black grade school on the island of Daufuskie. But he came back to Beaufort several years before his death and sort of mellowed out. He married his 3rd wife and started taking his medicine. He settled down and was welcomed back in a big way. He even became a guest speaker at seminars about depression.  

He went to the "Citadel" (famous military school in Charleston "My Losing Season" and "The Lords of Discipline") and was told never to come back on campus. But at his funeral the Citadel sent several hundred Cadets to line the walk way from the parking lot to the door of St. Peter's Catholic church in Beaufort.

The town had just been celebrating his 70th birthday and done some book promotion parties. 
The streets of downtoen Beaufort were lined with "Pat Controy is 70" posters in shop windows along Bay Street. When he died of cancer shortly thereafter you'd have thougt it was the end of the world in and around Beaufort!

I loved seeing Nick Nolte and Barbara Streisand in the film. But the book was better and I feel at times like I am living in the novel. My oldest daughter Sara, is a writer today because this book and one other left such and impresion on her.

Pat Conroy

James Hamilton, M. D.

Dave,

"Sitting on the dock of the bay..." ala Otis Redding.

Sounds  like a pleasant way to spend the evening with your neighbors - and perhaps a can of insect spray - watching those dolphins. 

Jim

Sorry, but my mind has to ask:

Any history of Vibrio infections from eating raw oysters from those oyster beds in that area?

Michael McLeod

Dave:

Swear to God you have the makings of a great columnist. I've had that thought before.

What brings it to mind at the moment is: that nicely chatty post below. And chatty is generally way harder to write than it looks once you've written it.That's been my experience anyway.

speaking of chatty I'm at a turning point in my year as I set writing assignment aside because I have to start preparing for the personal essay writing class I teach at Rollins College. So that's why I'm talkier than usual. It's a combination of sitting here figuring out the class and sifting through my notes and with a bit of avoidance behavior tossed into the mix.

David Mitchell

Just thinking about Tim's question about guns - - -

I read somewhere (and cannot find it now) that the murder rates in the U.S. ramped up considerably after Colt introduced the revolver back in 1836. Somebody cross check me becasue I have looked and cannot find the arrticle now.

Michael McLeod

"It's not what you look at that matters. It's what you see."

Henry David Thoreau

James Hamilton, M. D.

Mike,

Love that quote from Thoreau. It is one that is often applied to photographing landscapes, particularly those "intimate landscapes" that focus on smaller elements of the "big picture".

Jim

John Maxwell

David Mitchell

Jack,

I have trouble understanding the last part - about muskets -  did you mean musket balls?

But I am aware of how dangerous the millling process is. Back in 2008 a portion of the Imperrial Sugar plant (once owned by Dixie) near Savannah exploded, killing 14 and wounding about 30 people. I was sitting on my deep water dock and felt the glast in my chest. 

I got a better understanding from an ex-brother-in-law who used to work for Bordens (who owned Dixie for a while). He had inspected the plant and called for them to clean the air vent system - to no avail.

He later explained how dangerous those operations are - the fine dust is like gun powder when something ignites it - something like the spark of a nearby fuse box or a short circuit.

Be safe

Michael McLeod

Jim: As a journalist over the years I began to treasure great quotes -- either the ones that I remember collecting on my own, while researching stories, or others so pithy and lyrical that they became part of the literary landscape.

That one - that quote - has a place in my hall of fame. Its power is that it transcends - it can be read in so many ways, its meaning expanding like raindrops on a pond. Some people savor beautiful horses or expensive wines or brilliant Mozart melodies. Gimmie a kickass quote every time.

Monica: Thanks for the reading tip. And I am sorry for your loss and what your brother went through.

Monica Haban (Brown)

VESPER TIME The Spiritual Practice of Growing Older   Frank Cunningham

May I suggest that you read the above mentioned insightful book on aging.  You need not be Catholic or Christian to find wisdom in this book.  The author's background is similar to that of Mike McLeod.

Last year, specifically July 27, 2023, my only brother Matt Haban died.  Exactly one week before he died, he handed me this book and told me that it was a Must Read. He was an avid reader, and at age 80, his idea of a retirement job was to have spent the past 18 years as a teacher's aide for the developmentally and physically disabled at Pickerington North Central High School.  His mantra was Prayers and Patience.  

In 12 weeks, he lost 65 pounds and was diagnosed with a rare lung cancer mutation (non smoker) that spread to his bones.The fifth case in central Ohio that year.  I don't intend to be critical, but after a month at the James Cancer Hospital, they offered no treatment or cure possibilities.  He was their Guinea Pig, their Lab Rat.  Even hours before he died, they had him endure an extremely painful bone biopsy. They sent him to the ER to die, though a compassionate nurse, insisted that he be returned to him his room to die.  Some of you may know him, our Watterson alumni Father Mike Watson arrived to give him the Last Rites. My brother looked up at me.  Told him Father Mike was there to give him a ticket to heaven.  I will be eternally grateful to Father Mike for his presence on that day.

Hope you'll read the above mentioned book.

David Mitchell

Monica,

Sorry to hear about your brother's ordeal. That must have been tough for all of you at the time.

James Hamilton, M. D.

Monica,

Condolences on Matt's ordeal and death last year.

The "art" of medicine still has many gaps when it comes to dealing with death and dying. That nurse was way ahead in that art.

Fr. Watson being present was a true help and blessing.

Time may heal all wounds but it often leaves scars, often on family members. I am sorry Matt was subjected to a painful procedure in his final hours. Why that was felt to be needed is unknown. Perhaps to help in treating future victims of this rarer form of lung cancer? 

I am sure he got that "ticket to heaven".

Jim

Joseph Gentilini

Monica, I am so sorry for the loss you have experienced with your husband's passing into God.  Before my mother died, she told me "Joe, I will only be a whisper away."  This helps me to believe that my mother is near.  Joe

Monica Haban (Brown)

Joe-

I love your mom's words, and I truly believe our loved ones are still with us, in another realm.  It was my brother Matt who died, rather than my husband Don.  The latter will likely be around awhile longer.  I've lost too many friends in the past year, and confident that many of us have also.  I was at a dear friend's surprise 80th birthday party recently.  She was crying as she had three friends die in the previous two weeks.  I tell her no worries. We'll both live to be 100, to the delight of each of our daughters who are best friends also. 😬

Monica Haban (Brown)

Jim-

Thanks for your kind words. Matt endured endless, constant tests. Being the kind person that he was, he simply said "Prayers and Patience", still with a smile, a peaceful countenance. The James is a research hospital as you well know, and there's no doubt that they were doing their research on him.  One hopes that helped or should I say is helping others with that same disease.  I do hope all or at least some of our classmates will read the above mentioned book.  It is insightful.  Some of you have shared that you already ordered it on Amazon.

Donna Kelley (Velazquez)

Monica, I am really sorry to hear about your losing your brother.  We can never really be prepared to lose our loved ones, especially one of our siblings. They stay with us in our hearts and in our memories but we never stop missing them.

Thank you for recommending the book.  I ordered it this morning.

Big hugs.

Mary Margaret Clark (Schultheis)

Kamala Harris made sure in August of 2021 that everyone knew that she was the last person in the room with Biden when he made his decision to withdraw from Afghanistan. This disastrous decision reinstalled the Taliban as well as Sharia law, killed 13 American soldiers and left  behind $7 billion in U.S. military equipment. Subsequently, the Biden/Harris administration "gave" $239 million to Taliban terrorists "by accident".   

Today, the Taliban are are marking the 3 year anniversary with a celebratory parade showing off the equipment that was left behind. 

After 25 days of being chosen as the Democrat presidential nominee (without a single vote), Harris has held no pressers and no sit down interviews. Is the DNC fearful of letting her go off teleprompter? Where are the journalists?  

Bill Reid

In her post #14305, Monica Habin (Brown) discusses a book her brother Matt recommended to her shortly before he died. I was captured by the thought and ordered the book immediately from Amazon. It arrived yesterday and I finished reading it today. I join them in recommending it to you.

The author, Frank Cunningham, is a contemporary of ours, a former editor and publisher for Ave Maria Press. His exceptionally well-written book speaks about five areas of our lives that we might reflect on given our mid-70’s ages: Memory, Intimacy, Diminishment, Gratitude, and Acceptance. He frames each of them in terms of the phase of life that we are now in. One insight he proposes is this: we have lived our lives through many phases – childhood, young adulthood, adulthood, and now retirement, each phase starting and ending as we begin the next phase. He then proposes that the one we are now in –  “old age” as some call it – is not a phase we will pass through. It is a phase that ends with us not passing through, but rather passing on. That’s typical of the insights he presents and I found his thoughts amazingly appropriate for the life I’ve lived and am now living.

It's unusual to find a book that is written about YOU. I discovered myself in his words. You might find it written about you also. Amazon has it and I highly recommend you give it a look. It’s only 138 pages, short enough and yet powerful enough to give you hope and relevance as we continue to pass through our current phase of life.

Monica, many thanks to you and to Matt for bringing this terrific book to our attention. As you all know, I don’t post here very often. But I was so captivated by this book that I just had to pass the recommendation along to you!

Joseph Gentilini

Thanks for the book review, Bill.  I ordered the book and it should arrive on my birthday - a present to myself.

Joe

Michael McLeod

As a writer 'm just happy to see any book read and reviewed. So thanks!

Sure wish I could wave a wand and have everybody sitting around my swimming pool. I'd have the party in the evening 'cause the florida sun is so beastly from now till october.