Somewhere That's Green

This song title from "Little Shop of Horrors" sums up our back yard. Top photo is an anhinga sunning by the lagoon. Next is the back of our house and then a bluebird sitting atop his house. Bottom is a young alligator (one year) at the bottom of our property. We had three young gators out there recently and one large one on the other side of the lagoon. Click on any photo to see it larger.

Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head

Guests of honor Eileen & Al Goldstein visit in Savannah along with Hinda & Marty K. Here we are on River Street after dinner at Huey's. So good to see old Yardley friends. It was a gloomy night following days of rain, but that didn't stop us from being cheerful and warm.

My Old Kentucky (SC) Home

This OLLI class took me to the Nemours Plantation in Yemassie, SC. This 10,000 acre site is not open to the public, so I was thrilled to get to see it. They have eight miles on a river and at one time it was a rice plantation. Now the land is owned by a private foundation and dedicated to preserving the ecology and doing research. We had an orientation and then loaded in the backs of pickup trucks where we held on for dear life and were attacked by vicious mosquitos. We saw a huge eagle's nest with a chick. Click to enlarge and see him. The marshes had many varieties of ducks and water birds. We visited an old house, chimney and beautiful live oak trees. A great excursion with friends Sue & Bob Wiener and Carol & Arnold Seidman.

Sitting on the Dock of a Bay

Another OLLI class, this time at Port Royal. We visited an estuarine center and saw tanks of fish and critters that live in our local waters. Then we went to the water's edge to see a large Whelk (no it's not a conch) and lots of oysters. That's our instructor, Bob, demonstrating how to cast a shrimp net and the bird (I think) is some type of grackle. There's a long boardwalk along the marsh with a look out tower that I will visit another time.

Proud to be an American

Jeff and I led services at Parris Island for Purim. We had 14 recruits and found it most meaningful, as always. The top photo is our marines graduating that week and then Jeff and our mascot - he sings "Proud to be an American" and the recruits love it. Recruits making HaMotzi and Jeff leading the discussion hour following services. Since it was Purim we read the Megillah and used groggers to drown out Haman's name.

The Rose

Spring has sprung in the south. My knock-out roses have begun to bloom. The bush behind with the purple/pink flowers are lorapetulum and very popular here. The leaves stay green all year and we have several in our yard.

School Days

My last class for Ecology of the Lowcountry. Today we visited the Waddell Mariculture Center and I found it fascinating. We learned all about the fishing industry and also how fish are affected by the environment. We then saw the tanks where fish are farmed and studied. I hope to come back when it gets warmer and see all the tanks full and being aerated. The middle photo is a white shrimp and we're looking at his reproductive system.