Matthew KO's Kayaks

Matthew KO’s Kayaks

Like the heavyweight it was, Hurricane Matthew tore through Georgia, South and North Carolina in early October leaving havoc and misery for many residents in its path. Downed trees, collapsed roofs, flooded streets and homes, water and sewer lines broken, caskets disinterred, debris everywhere. Emergency services and first responders taxed to the max. There was a report of a man who called a pizza delivery service to take a pie to his grandmother and tell her to call him. They did, she did. 

At my house there was no serious damage. One limb from a neighbor’s tree fell across the edge of the roof but it was harmless. My cleanup was easier than for thousands of others. 

All around Moss Creek, the last gated community before reaching Hilton Head Island, the affects of the storm can still be seen. It will be weeks before all the debris is carried away and restoration can begin. The golf courses haven’t re-opened yet. Horrors. Psychiatrists are on hand. (Just kidding.)

Lesser known damage sites include this kayak storage area at Moss Creek. This is at the marina where at least two boats left in the water to ride out the storm capsized. 

  

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Alligators and the black squirrel

This afternoon Joyce and I took a ride in a golf cart to the 11th hole on the North course here at Moss Creek and counted 11 baby alligators in a ditch nearby. The momma and the papa were nowhere in sight. These babies, currently about 30" long,  will - if they live - grow to about five feet in length. At that time Moss Creek management will have to decide what to do with them.
One day this past week some of these gators were on the fairway as golfers played through.  These are the first gators I have seen since moving to Moss Creek in March 2013, although friends have reported many earlier sightings. These two are the cover picture on my album.

 On the way home we stopped to look for a larger gator but he would not surface. It was quite hot and probably he stayed under water to keep cool. As we were about to get into the cart we saw this black squirrel.  These are uncommon in this area. At one point I took a head on camera shot and said "turn for your profile." We laughed as he did exactly that. I do not pretend to converse with squirrels.

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My walk - in free verse

I went up Wax Myrtle Lane

At Cat Brier Drive I went right

An instant decision

Usually I go left.

A car came toward me

One step off the edge of the road

Onto the grass

Until it passed.

Then a waste haul truck

Came along

Again, I stood on the grass

Until it passed.

Two women did I encounter

Walking in the opposite direction

One talking on a cellphone

The other being ignored

We passed without exchanging greetings.

Onto Timber Lane

And through Stablegate community

A man and his dog

A plastic glove on hand

To clean up after the dog.

Rat-a-tat-tat, I heard

And, again, a second volley

I stopped and looked

But could not see the woodpecker.

The day was cool

The sky was clear

I turned left on Moss Creek drive

And left on Cat Brier

And right on Wax Myrtle Lane

I was home

My daily walk was over.

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Pick a number

As if peace in Syria and a nuke-free Iran are not enough on your plate there is the problem of not remembering what you’ve read.

Have you gone to the library and found a book by one of your favorite authors only to realize after you take it home and read twenty pages that you have read this book before? Well, my wife recently gave me a solution for that. It is so simple in its conception and execution that I may nominate her to be on the team struggling with the Syria and Iran issues. She has selected a page in every book she reads and when she finishes she circles the page number and returns the book. The page is always the same. When browsing the library weeks or months later she finds a book she will enjoy she checks the page number and if it circled she knows she has read it and moves on. I am now doing this and have chosen a page number which means something special in my life so it is easy to remember. If you pick up a book in the library and find two page numbers circled, it is a pretty good conclusion that Joyce and Archie have read the book.

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A Merry Christmas and Happy New Year greeeting

Having crossed the 82^nd meridian of life I pause to wish a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to those living people who played a significant role in my vibrant, interesting and mostly pleasurable life, to wit: my brother and sisters; neighbors and boyhood friends in places I lived; teachers from first grade through high school and fellow students encountered along the way; folks I worked with prior to going in the service and those I hung with after work; men and women I was privileged to associate with during eight years of Air Force service, including those who trained me and advanced my career; the wonderful people over the next 50 years who I met in my work, college and graduate school, community, church, political and social life; my five children  

who made me and their late mother proud by turning out to be good people in their own lives and mating with a good husband and wives and making us proud grandparents; the many folks we came in contact with around the world, especiallyin China, Australia and South Africa; doctors and nurses who have helped keep me going all these years; the fine women and men who cared for my wife in her advanced and declining years; those neighbors and strangers who became fast friends and sustained me in many wonderful ways during those difficult years; and my new wife

and her family and the recently acquired friends and neighbors who continue to make my life worth living.

Merry Christmas one and all and Happy New Year!

Trees

Over the weekend I was out with some friends on their boat and while looking at the shore and the far away horizon I got to wondering about the stand of trees in the distance. Tall, strong, almost regal. It was not anything unusual, similar sights are visible everywhere. Riding along an Interstate through the low country or in the mountains one sees the same. Off in the distance trees appear uniform in height like an army on parade. So even, so neat-looking. Why is it like this, I wondered? Do trees talk to each other and say “conform, stay in line?” Walk down a busy city street and look ahead as far as you can see and the eye will treat you to a smorgasbord of heights and shapes. Even if you look down a long, wide boulevard, such as in Paris, you will notice differences. There is always someone taller who breaks the continuity of the line. Not so with trees in the distance. Tree tops appear even, more disciplined and I wonder how this comes about. Trees compete for the sunlight to help them grow. It seems they willingly share and not one is hoggish. Is this why on the horizon the line of trees appears so even? Assuredly, I know when you get up close you will notice differences, but looking at the horizon all is orderly and unbroken.

These are just some recent random thoughts I have about trees. I have not given much thought to trees in years, living as I did in a metropolitan area with more asphalt and concrete than greenery. My new home (Moss Creek plantation, Hilton Head, SC) is surrounded by trees, grass and two golf courses. I had almost forgotten how pleasurable it is to look around and see giant oak trees with massive trunks and limbs testifying to decades, if not centuries, of growth. It is, all in all, a most pleasant experience.

Easter Greetings

This is my first Easter with my new wife Joyce at Moss Creek Plantation, Hilton Head, SC. We wish everyone a joyous and blessed Easter. It was a good time when Joyce and I met and even better when we decided to marry. Each of us had been widowed for almost three years. No matter how long you have lived there is no substitute for having someone in your life with whom you can be happy and look to the future
We have blended two households into one, and, in my case, meeting and getting to know new people. This is my initial experience of living in the Hilton Head area but I am slowly learning my way around. I see some bridges, overpasses and other state property named for men and women I served with in the state legislature years ago.

This picture was taken over Christmas while visiting my sisters in The Villages, Florida.

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