Lens-Artists Challenge #119 – My Hideaway

river, yellow, flowers, kiawah

RIVERSIDE

“Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there someday.” 

A.A.Milne

This week Ann-Christine has invited us to share our personal hideaway(s). Although In her view a hideaway is indoors (a place like her gorgeous glass house!) during this time of COVID restrictions, Kiawah has gone beyond being my home and has indeed become my hideaway. Here there is fresh air, ocean, river and marsh surrounding us.  Birdlife is abundant as are deer, alligator, and the occasional bobcat. What more could one ask of a hideaway?

lagoon, branch, water, kiawah

LOVELY LAGOON

“A drop of water, if it could write out its own history, would explain the universe to us.”

Lucy Larcom

Kiawah has beautiful walking paths and a myriad of bicycle routes. We are a small island located about 30 miles from downtown Charleston SC. Because my husband and I are avoiding the city during COVID, we are fortunate to have several restaurants on the island – all of them now offering outdoor dining. Except for an occasional cold snap, our weather is quite mild allowing for most any outdoor activity year-round including dining.

shrimp boat, ocean, swimmers

HITCHIN’ A RIDE

“The sea is man’s only hope. Now, as never before, the old phrase has a literal meaning: we are all in the same boat.” 

Jacques Yves Cousteau

While we are not quite “all in the same boat” as Mr. Cousteau says, we are all facing a myriad of issues. Some of us are retired while others must work. While that sounds like a benefit, with it comes a higher risk of being in a more virus-vulnerable age group. Some of us can isolate in areas more blessed by nature, but that same isolation makes it more difficult to be with our families and loved ones who live elsewhere. There is no easy answer nor are any of us exempt from all of the issues that COVID presents. Our best chance at surviving our problems is to focus on the positives while managing through the obstacles.

early sweetgrass

EARLY BLOOMERS

“Be tough in the way a blade of grass is: rooted, willing to lean, and at peace with what is around it.” 

Natalie Goldberg

Here on Kiawah, the arrival of sweetgrass as a sure sign of fall. Like the glorious reds and golds of colder climes, our pinks and purples predict the arrival of cooler weather and attest to the ephemeral aspects of nature. All of today’s images were created on a single day last week. The beginning of shrimping season means that huge boats followed by dozens of birds can be seen while enjoying the warmth of our southern beaches. Rivers and lagoons are calm and quiet, bordered by sweetgrass blowing in the breeze. I’ve included several images of these beautiful harbingers of autumn to show not only its delicacy but also its resilience as it continues to bloom year after year.

 

sweetgrass, kiawah, pink, green

SUN-KISSED

“When the wind blows, the grass bends.”  

Confucius

sweetgrass, kiawah

DRIPPING WET

“Get close to grass and you’ll see a star.”

Dejan Stojanovic

sweetgrass, water, trees, kiawah

SPRINKLED BY THE POND

“I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journey-work of the stars.”

Walt Whitman

Many thanks to those of you who responded to our first-ever horse host, Biasini, and to Ma Leueen who helped him with his typing and responding to their Communication challenge. These days communication becomes ever more important as COVID keeps us from our normal daily interactions with friends and loved ones. We appreciate your sharing your thoughts and images on the subject with us, as always. This week we look forward to seeing your personal hideaways. Please be sure to Tag them Lens-Artists and to link them to Ann-Christine’s original post here. Finally, we hope you’ll stay tuned next week as I’m back at the challenge helm right here on Travels and Trifles. Until then, stay safe and have a great week.

 

 

 

 

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117 thoughts on “Lens-Artists Challenge #119 – My Hideaway”

  2. OK, you’ve sold me on where I need to move to next 🙂 An incredible series of photos, each one seemingly better than the other – a vicious circle of beauty. I may have told you this before, but my parents and family were in SC for the wedding of my cousin (I was stuck in China…) and fell in love with it and said if it wasn’t such a long way away from the Pacific NW part of the US they’d move there in a heartbeat. Also, Patrick Conroy, one of my favorite authors has written so beautifully about SC as well. Enjoy your beautiful hideaways ~

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    • Hmmm…..Pacific NW vs SC, that IS a tough one (although there is also much to be said for being “stuck in China”)! And yes, Pat Conroy was a much-loved local legend here in SC. Glad you enjoyed my little homage to the beauty of the lowcountry. If one must be stuck somewhere to avoid a pandemic, it is not such a bad place to be 😊. As always Randall, your visit and comment are much appreciated.

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  3. I love the images of Kiawah that you shared in this post, mainly because you are showing something unexpected. I love all your takes on sweetgrass — various light, angles, and nearness. So pretty. I have several sweetgrass baskets bought from the ladies who set up on the highway to Charleston. Is that the same as what your photos show? If so, I’ve never seen it growing. Very pretty. I may not post this week since I’ve just arrived in town from a trip to Texas. But please know that this is an excellent theme, and I’ve seen several terrific interpretations from you and others.

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    • Many thanks Rusha. Yes, it is the same plant BUT it turns purple in the fall for about 6 weeks only. The rest of the year the structure of the plant is the same but its color is what you see in the sweetgrass baskets. Basketmaking takes forever and the skill has been passed down through multiple generations of Gullah women beginning way back when they arrived from Africa. There is a thriving Gullah community around our area.

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      • I’ve tried to keep up with this craft since I fell in love with it years ago. I think it’s in Hilton Head that there is a cultural center dedicated to providing information and demonstrations related to keeping the craft alive. I can only imagine how demanding the making of baskets must be! Thanks for sharing your pictures.

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  12. What a lovely start to the week Tina. These are lovely and your comment to “focus on the positive” to survive these challenging times is such an important message to us all. Thank you so much and have a lovely week ahead 💕

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    • Thanks Andrew – just trying to face the daily problems with as positive an attitude as I can manage. I’ll be VERY happy when election season is behind us! A lovely week to you too my friend.

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  16. Marvelous photos! Greetings from our somewhat larger island (Jamaica). What a lovely place. Do you know the book “Braiding Sweetgrass” by Robin Wall Kimmerer? I just finished reading it recently. it’s a joy.

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  17. Absolutely gorgeous images, Tina. Your love for Kiawah shines through in every image. The sweetgrass is so delicate, feathery. I love it. You are truly fortunate to be in that part of the world right now. You should be able to eat outdoors for a more months. The restaurant owners here are talking about extending outdoor dining through the winter (Really??).

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    • Thanks Patti, yes I really do love it here, especially now (now as in Covid and now as in autumn). Most of our restaurants are talking about doing outdoor heaters while will extend the season. Last week we had a res with friends and it poured rain – always a danger for outdoor dining!

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      • Ohh…so much for outdoor dining! Some restaurants have the heaters set up here. It seems to be working…in terms of getting customers to eat outside.

  18. Those grass photos are beautiful! I heard an interesting point made about the phrase ‘We are all the same boat’ in the context of the pandemic, namely that we are all in the same ocean but have different boats – some have an ocean-going liner; some have a comfortable, secure yacht; some have a canoe; some have a leaky rowboat.

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  20. Beautiful hideaways, Tina! I always love your pink sweetgrasses! So unusual and stunning. I had seen your post yesterday while I was finishing mine and I’m happy to be able to link mine to Leya’s theme today! Enjoy your pink grasses and beautiful scenery–I’m sure it brings you immense joy!

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  22. Beautiful images from your corner of paradise Tina, I especially love it when the sweetgrass returns 💚

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  23. A beautiful island, A great hideaway! I can imagine the joy of walking on these paths and cycling bicycle routes.
    The sweetgrass are beautiful through your lens. The second and last images are my favorite. 🙂

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  25. Beautiful post Tina. What a beautiful place to be “hiding” in during this pandemic. I live in a small community and if I didn’t have wonderful neighbors I would have felt alone when this whole thing started. Now we have formed pods and go out a little. I have my photo pod and my husband has his astronomy pod. Thank you for showing us your pod!

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    • Thanks very much Anne – we are fortunate that our island is a bit of a refuge and if we follow the rules and associate only with friends who do the same, we feel pretty comfortable. I imagine it’s the same thing with your “pods” as well!

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  27. A beautiful season over at yours, Tina – you write it so well. And the sweetgrass bending in the wind – glorious. i do believe we need outdoors allways, and winter time here, we need indoors, fires, candles. It seems you don’t have darkness over at Kiawah!

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    • Many thanks Ann-Christine. While it doesn’t happen often we do indeed have some darkness here, especially during hurricane season 😫 so we never take our sunshine for granted! I agree “outdoors always” even when the snow is falling and wind is blowing (which I remember all-too-well from our winters in the north. And indeed there is much to be said for firelight and candles on those wintry days!

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  35. I did that today, keeping the outside world at bay. Having a place to retreat to where no one bothers you is essential, even in good times. Even if you don’t have that special place, you can still have it. The doorbell rings, don’t answer it. The phone rings, don’t answer it. Keep the shades drawn. No communication with the outside world, no email and no texting. It certainly declutters the mind. Laurie does wonder what I’m doing when I do it. 🙂

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      • Made a quick trip this morning to have breakfast with Laurie, Andrea and the girls. Haven’t seen the girls since late August. We had a good time. 🙂

  41. Tina, I really enjoyed these looks at your island. Even though many of your lovely photos are of exotic places, this place rivals them in so many ways. And it’s the place of your heart, which is even more important.

    Have you hostesses considered announcing the theme maybe the week before? Because I participate in a challenge already on Saturday and Sunday and because Saturdays have so much going on, especially if my husband actually has one off, it would be nice to be able to assemble my thought and photos at leisure, post them on Saturday, and then have time to also view all the posts in this and the other two challenges as well as those regulars in my Reader. I often just feel I can’t do one more post in a decent fashion and so I end up not participating. Just my thoughts and maybe 5 cents worth. 🙂

    janet

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    • It is all of that and more Anne – many thanks. The interesting thing is that although is looks so delicate, the fronds are actually quite splintery and can really feel like needles sticking your fingers if you touch it. Another of nature’s tricky protective measures!

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  46. We don’t have your pretty grass, or the alligators (grateful for small mercies 🙂 ) but otherwise we seem to inhabit very similar worlds, Tina. It’s cool here early mornings and after dark at this time of year, but still with glorious days and blue skies. I can’t call it my hideaway because one or two other people have discovered it, but I do my best to scare them off. Perhaps I do need alligators after all! 🙂 🙂

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    • LOL re the alligators Jo – unfortunately they seem to draw more visitors than they keep away!! Yes, there’s no more beautiful time here than autumn – although I suppose that can be said of most places. One of these days I’m hoping to see yours!

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  48. You have a beautiful hideaway. Nice post. We are headed to Arizona in November where we can have our outdoor restaurant activity. We had expected our rural state to have less risk than the Phoenix metro. As it turns out, the upper Midwest is having a surge to the point of having minimal availability of ICU beds. We will make our hideaway there in the south. 😀

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    • Thanks very much John. My Colorado brother also winters in AZ and went down last week. Have been reading about the midwest surge – very frightening. I fear we’re in for a long and difficult winter in the colder states.

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