Poe and Sullivan's Island by Shelley Hopkins

“The island is a very singular one. It consists of little else than the sea sand, and is about three miles long.  Its breadth at no point exceeds a quarter of a mile.  It is separated from the mainland by a scarcely perceptible creek, oozing its way through a wilderness of reeds and slime, a favorite resort of the marsh-hen.  The vegetation, as might be supposed, is scant, or at least dwarfish.  No trees of any magnitude are to be seen.  Near the western extremity, where Fort Moultrie stands, and where are some miserable frame buildings, tenanted, during the summer, by the fugitives from Charleston dust and fever, may be found, indeed, the bristly palmetto; but the whole island, with the exception of this western point, and a line of hard, white beach on the sea coast, is covered with a dense undergrowth of the sweet myrtle so much prized by the horticulturists of England.”

This is how Edgar Allen Poe describes Sullivan’s Island in the story “The Gold Bug.”   His description doesn’t make me want to visit, but I have to remember that Poe was stationed on Ft. Moultrie, on Sullivan’s Island in the early 1800’s.  Beach islands were different places then.  What we consider a vacation spot was a place hard to get to, hard to live in, and basically undesirable.  It is a completely different place now, full of vacation homes and expensive property.  Unlike many beach towns, it isn’t over developed, but still retains its beach town feel.  My favorite walks have been along the beach from the main street to the fort.  I also love walking in town, looking at the beach homes, exploring Ft. Moultrie, and eating seafood at my favorite restaurant, Sullivan’s.   I love the entire island visit, from crossing the drawbridge to parking along the side streets and following the different pathways to the ocean. 

The island is small, only 3 miles long, so really I can park anywhere and walk easily to the beach.  One warm Saturday in January my kids and I parked behind the visitors center for Ft. Moultrie and walked all over the town.  First we walked to the pier behind the visitor’s center and watched a few boats gliding along the inter-coastal waterway.   I was tickled to see a man navigating his boat while talking on his cell phone.  Wherever we are we still bring our bad habits.  I took a few pictures of the boats moored to the docks, and of the marsh grasses with the sunshine reflecting off the water. 

We decided to walk towards the commercial part of town in search of lunch, and so we followed the sidewalk by the beautiful homes.  One house had several trees in pots in the front yard.  The trees were lemon and orange trees, very tiny but with full sized ripe fruit.  It was odd to see a spindly looking little tree sticking up out of a pot holding up large ripe oranges.  Another house was for sale, and I eagerly checked the reduced price, still beyond what I could pay.  We passed a series of apartments, one unit had the door wide open and we could hear loud music and a cheerful party going on, the next unit had a hammock hung under the porch, making a most inviting scene although I guess the hammock would not be a great place to relax as long as the neighboring party was going on.  I passed many houses with hammocks in the front yards, hung from porches or trees.  I yearned to live in those houses, resting in the hammock and feeling the cool ocean breeze from only a block or two away.  My son reminded me that we were on a busy road, and every tourist in town would be driving or walking past these houses all summer long.  The idea of peace and restfulness seemed more of an image than a reality. 

The sun was out and the temperature was warm for January, but the breezes brought in cool air.  We chose to leave the sidewalk, turn right and follow a neighborhood street to the last row of houses.  Every so often a public access to the beach is placed between houses and we were quickly walking beside the water.  The air was chillier, but we didn’t mind.  We passed many people also walking on the beach with sweatshirts and jackets, even gloves and hats.  Maybe it was because we had been walking for a while but their choice of winter wear seemed excessive.  We walked along the beach until we judged we were close to the main street and the restaurants, then we returned to the town.  Crossing the main street we continued towards our destination, Poe’s Tavern.   We were not the only ones interested, the street was full of cars, all the parking lots were full, and the restaurant looked crowded. 

We sat outside on picnic tables and ordered our food.  I wanted the regular cheeseburger, so I ordered the Gold Bug.  Laura loves different foods, and especially anything from the sea, so she ordered a hamburger with a crab cake on it, the Annabelle Lee.  Joseph likes spicy chicken so he ordered the black cat, a burger covered with drunken chili.   We became cold sitting there in the sun because of the cold breeze, but even so we enjoyed our meal.  The burgers were the best I have had in a long time.  Laura loves Edgar Allen Poe, and never turns down a chance to quote him, so when her food got cold due to the wind, she had to say, “A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling my beautiful Annabelle Lee.”

Edgar Allen Poe was stationed at Ft. Moultrie from 1827 – 1828.  He later located several of his short stories on Sullivan’s Island including the Gold Bug.  We chatted about his life while walking, and wondered what his family and friends would have thought to see a restaurant and the town library named after him. Poe wrote poetry to be musical, even rhythmic, which was not the style of the time.  He felt the poem was the “rhythmical creation of beauty,” but his critics were not impressed, and saw his poetry as nonsense jingles. 

When we walked through the town library, the Edgar Allen Poe Library, we saw prints representing The Raven, and The gold Bug. Almost every corner of this tiny building had something honoring the author on the walls.  His critics may not have been impressed, but today his poetry is extremely popular.  The library was housed in a building that had been a battery for Ft. Moultrie, and it is very small and claustrophobic.  While we were talking to the librarian a mother and her daughter pedaled their bikes into the library parking lot, took their books out of the child’s front handlebar basket and walked in to exchange them for next weeks reading material.  This may be a vacation spot, but it is also a small town with regular residents, and nothing feels more normal than biking to the library every week to collect books. 

The kids and I really enjoyed our Poe discovery day, walking on the beach and eating some excellent hamburgers.  By the time we returned to our car we were cold and tired, but ready to return over and over. 

This last picture was taken on Ft. Moultrie.

Life as journey, when we hear "no" by Shelley Hopkins

No. no. no.  I don’t think anyone likes to hear this word, whether its a two year old that wants to touch everything he sees, or an adult just trying to get by in this world.  The word no represents a door closing, a pathway not available.  The word yes lets us think that we are going to be able to move forward, realize a dream, or at least try something new.  The word yes is full of color, opportunity, and light.  The word no is dark, narrow, and depressing.  At least that is how these words feel, but the truth about these words is somewhat different. 

There are times in our life when no seems to be all we hear.  No, you can’t finish school right now, no, you are not going to get that job, no, we don’t want you here.  No, we don’t want to buy your book, your house or your car.  No, we don’t want to read your articles, listen to your song, or call you on the phone.  There is a saying that whenever a door closes a window opens.  My version right now could be that whenever the word no is thrown at me, the word yes is lingering in the shadows.  When we hear the word no we can walk away with our head hung down, or we can look among the shadows, search in the woods, and find the word yes waiting for us.  It just might have a different look than we expected.

I recently read an inspirational book that had a lot of real world and historical illustrations.  One very interesting illustration caught my attention.  A man had invested his entire life into a career, only to loose the job and what he felt was his purpose and direction in life.  He came home to his wife, gave her the bad news and sat at the dining table depressed.  She listened quietly to his news, looked at his sad face, and then walked out of the room.  When she returned and laid a pen and some papers on the table in front of her husband she said, “Now that you have lost your job, you can write that novel you always wanted to write.”  His name was Nathanial Hawthorn, famous for The Scarlett Letter.  The word no actually enriched his life, and the lives of all the readers that have enjoyed and learned from that novel. 

I love to read adventure books, books that involve hiking, biking, exploring new places, and generally involve a person testing his limits and abilities in different ways.  My son gave me a book about a man walking the Amazon River, and I have been pouring through this book all week.  One reason I love these books is that I can have the feel of the adventure without the mosquitoes and blisters.  There is one singular thing that I learn from all these books, whether the book involves sailing or walking, kayaking or flying, exploring uncharted areas or walking the Appalachian Trail:  The biggest enemy or danger isn’t the wilderness; it’s the adventurer himself.  When a person sets sail he takes his own mind, his own fears and his own problems with him.  Self-doubts are the real danger for each adventure. The man walking along the Amazon river records many times when he wanted to quit, and when he was hating the journey, wondering why he was there and wanting it to end.

 I watched a PBS special many years ago about through hikers of the AT.  A large group of hikers that planned to do the trail were given video cameras and asked to record their adventure, their thoughts and feelings along the walk.  This was a multi-part series, and it was interesting to try to guess who would finish the walk and who would have to give up along the way.  I guessed based on physical fitness and desire, assuming that the real through hiker would be in great shape and eager to enjoy the wilderness.  I still believe those traits are important, to do a thing you have to want to do it and to prepare to do it, but what really made the difference was a mindset to finish the job.  The people that finished the trail had decided that they would finish, not that they would enjoy every moment.  They were taking on a goal.  The person that was so focused on enjoying the hike was derailed when it got hard, blisters showed up and exhaustion took over.  The ones that finished knew that it would not all be fun, and that at times only determination would get them through.

What does this have to do with the word no?  I have always thought that our life resembles a journey, a pathway.  We walk along the pathway sometimes encountering obstacles and sometimes we walk in beautiful vistas.  Sometimes a huge river blocks our way and the bridge is out, other times a friend picks us up with his boat and carries us across.  We are going to hear no a lot of times in our lives, there is no escaping that fact.  We can only choose how to respond to that no.  I can choose to get depressed and discouraged, or I can choose to find another way.  Today I am writing.  I hope that a few people will read and enjoy these words, but even if not, I am learning and enjoying the process.  Good luck on your journey, and I hope your “no” will lead you to great places!

Kale soup or Brose by Shelley Hopkins

Kale, part 2

This picture shows the leftover soup after last nights meal.

            I never thought a slimy looking green soup could taste so good, but I have learned not to judge so quickly. I had been searching for kale recipes and this soup looked interesting, plus it had the added bonus of being a traditional recipe from Scotland.  I love to try foods from other countries, and I am very interested in going to Scotland and enjoying a traditional meal after hiking in the highlands and exploring the castles.  I am not interested in haggis, so the soup seemed like a natural second choice. 

            We have been in a very warm southern January but yesterday afternoon the sky turned dark, strong winds pulled and twisted along the trees, and in just a few minutes a chilly rain fell.  Suddenly the soup seemed like a good idea, and I began to boil the kale.  With our window open to let in the chilly wet breeze we sat at our table and enjoyed the dinner, a green salty soup and a French loaf dipped in oil.

           

Here is the recipe that I found online.

Brose, a Scottish soup

10 oz curly kale, washed and stalks removed

2 pts hot beef broth, I used chicken broth

2 oz medium oatmeal

1 heaped tsp salt

fresh ground black pepper

Place the kale in a large saucepan with the hot stock and bring to a boil.  Cook uncovered over medium heat about 10 – 15 minutes, until tender

Meanwhile, place the oatmeal on a sheet of foil and toast under a hot grill for 3-4 minutes.  I broiled it, watching carefully and shaking so it does not burn

Transfer the kale to a blender and puree with just a ladle or so of the stock.  Return it to the pan, add the salt and plenty of freshly milled black pepper.  Gradually add the oatmeal, stirring, and cook for 4 to 5 minutes more.  The recipe says to serve over the last of the oatmeal, but I used all of mine in the soup.

Enjoy, and let me know what you think!

10 reasons to send your children outside! by Shelley Hopkins

Top 10 reasons to send your children outside

1.     It’s a sunny day.  Children need free time to play outside, and to feel the breeze and the hot sun.  A little recess helps clear the mind for better study.

2.     It’s a rainy day.  My children loved to play in the rain.  They splashed in puddles, ran in the rain and enjoyed the raindrops on their skin.

3.     It’s a “any type” of weather day.  Every day has weather, hot and sticky, cool and rainy, cold and snowy, and when dressed appropriately each of those days can be enjoyed outside.  That is a good lesson in preparing for each type of weather and for understanding the changes in weather.

4.     It’s a grumpy day.  Nothing cures a grumpy kid like a 10-15 minute romp in the woods or backyard.  Physical movement is a great way to release negative and angry energy.

5.     It’s a negative day.  Maybe your child is having one of those “I feel dumb” days.  It might be time to declare a “park day,” pack a picnic lunch and just climb a tree and play on the swing set for the afternoon.  Those multiplication tables will still be there.

6.     Science Day.  The best way to learn science is hands on.  Making a volcano on the back porch, or shooting off film canister rockets give great chemistry and physics lessons.  Walk the woods with a tree guide, collect leaves, observe insects, clouds and weather patterns.  Build a sundial, and mark the shadows throughout the day and compare to your watch.

7.     Art Day.  We loved hiking with our sketchpads, looking for inspiration.  Chalk art is always fun, and with a rain storm or watering can the created art takes on an impressionist feel.  Painting is always better outside. Nature photography is also a form of art, and your student can share her photos on the computer later.

8.     Geography Day.  Make a map of your neighborhood or of the local park.  Study water erosion or build that volcano I mentioned before.

9.     Earth day.  Spend this day picking up trash or planting something.  And that leads to….

10. Dinner.  This is my favorite, because I love picnics in the park, cooking hot dogs over a fire, grilling hamburgers, and especially, gardening.  The lessons learned from keeping a garden are so many that maybe I could make a top ten list for gardening.  

Kale, or what to do with this leafy green vegetable by Shelley Hopkins

Kale,  or what to do with this leafy green vegetable

I like to have food adventures, and for many years the idea of food adventures meant trying new restaurants, or learning to cook meals from other cultures.  This time around I plan to learn how to cook and enjoy different vegetables.  There are so many plants out there that I have never cooked with, and that I really don’t know much about.  This week I want to learn more about Kale.

Kale is a leafy green vegetable related to the other greens, such as collards and spinach.  It is actually very pretty, dark in color and crisp, with sharp little wrinkles at the tips of the leaves.  One cup of this leafy vegetable is packed full of nutrients such as calcium, fiber, vitamin C and vitamin K.  It has cancer-fighting antioxidants and is rich in lutein and zeaxanthin, which help with eye health. 

One website recommended adding kale to soups, stews, stir fry meals, salads and egg dishes.  I even found a recipe for kale chips, and that intrigued me, so chips from kale was the first recipe I tried. 

Put chopped kale in a bowl, and mix with olive oil, lemon juice and salt.  Mix, and then place in oven on parchment paper and heat at 350 for 10 – 15 minutes.  I mixed the ingredients, 1 tsp of the lemon and oil, and a pinch of salt, then spread the leaves on a casserole dish with tin foil because, as usual, I didn’t have the parchment paper.  After 15 minutes the leaves were still soggy and gross looking, so I heated them for another 7-8 minutes.  I pulled the leaves off of the tin foil and let them dry on a cookie rack.  I was quite surprised when I tasted them, they were good!  Really good!  They make a good snack, but a better addition to a salad, as they are slightly crunchy and very lemony tasting.

The next evening my husband cooked an onion in olive oil, added kale and mushrooms and stirred them around a little.  I drizzled a little bit of my lemon over the mix, he took it off the heat and we ate that with our supper of leftovers.  Again the meal was pretty good.  Next time we will take time to cut off all the thick stems, that part was too bitter and strong.  Also some other flavor is needed, I poured some vinegar over the mix like I would over collard greens. 

Today I searched the internet and found 5 great recipes.  I will try them and post here later in the week.  Happy eating!

Palmetto Trail Walk by Shelley Hopkins

For New Year Day my family hiked a new to us trail.  We walked along the Palmetto Trail through the Frances Marion Forest.  Our section of the trail is called the Swamp Fox trail, after the Revolutionary War hero, Frances Marion.  The path was wide and flat and easy to follow, and for the entire 5 miles we never saw or heard a single other person.  That rarely ever happens on hikes anymore.  We drove to a primitive campsite, parked our car, let the dog out, and started walking.  Mostly the woods were long leaf pine, planted by a local paper mill.  I had a chance to compare baby long leaf pine to the taller mature trees.  This tree starts out looking like a fuzzy alien with long pine needles sticking out in every direction.

            Fairly quickly into the hike we found a pile of scat, poop, in the middle of the trail.  It was strange, as if a very lazy person chose the most conspicuous place to take care of his private needs, as if he were marking the trail.  We may be an odd family, but we find scat interesting, it shows what animals are using the area.  I remembered my dad telling me that bear scat looks like human scat, and bears are likely to go in the middle of a trail or pathway, as if they are saying, “I am here.”

            We hiked with a new awareness, listening and looking with a different level of attention.  Fallen logs were more interesting, especially if they looked like a frenzied bulldozer had plowed through them, searching for a tasty insect dinner. 

            The weather was perfect on this New Years Day; just cool enough to keep the walk pleasant.  Our next trail surprise was a bundle of fur.  It looked like someone had cleaned all the dog hair from my vacuum cleaner and deposited the fur right on the trail.  We tried to figure this out.  There is no dog that sheds as much as mine, but even she distributes her fur evenly all over our apartment, and on my daughter’s dark sweaters.  This fur was in a clump, in the middle of the trail.  We walked on, snacking on cookies and nuts.

            When I stopped again to investigate a pile of scat, my amused husband pulled out his cell phone, snapped a picture and immediately uploaded it to facebook.  I may be the one stopping our hike to investigate, but he is the one with very confused facebook friends as they click on that picture.

            This scat was long and tubular and full of fur.  I know this not because I touched it, but the fur was all through the poop.  Again I remembered my dad telling me that coyotes and wolves leave this kind of scat.  As they digest the furry little rodents that which is not digested is passed on through the intestines and dung is basically the parts of dinner the body cannot use.  Later when I got home and read all the bemused comments under this strange photo I saw that my dad had answered the question saying that probably this was scat, “of the trickster.”  Native American legends give the coyote this name; he is “the trickster” in all of their stories.  We finished the hike never seeing any wildlife, only hearing birds singing and flitting from one tree to another, but we knew from the evidence that wildlife can be found in this area, and that gave us another level of enjoyment.

            This walk was the perfect way to start a new year.  Instead of cooking traditional foods and watching TV, we wandered in the wilderness, observing all the clues of a healthy and busy wildlife, and generally having a wonderful day.  If what you do on the first day of a new year reflects the rest of the year I will be very happy, spending time with my family, walking in the woods, and investigating piles of poop!  Well, 2 out of 3 isn’t bad!

How did you spend your new years day?

            

Why I chose my title for my blog by Shelley Hopkins

Why “Have Peanut butter will travel?”

The kids and I drove across the country a few years ago, from Georgia to Montana, with many interesting stops along the way.  We slept in various campgrounds, some nicer than others, and visited different parks and trails.  We mostly drove fast for the first couple of days, then we explored more as we were closer to the west.  We camped near Canyon de Chelly, now one of my favorite places, and after our simple breakfast we packed up camp and drove to the canyon to find a place to hike.  I parked the car at an overlook and we started down the trail.  I was used to hiking up things, mountains and hills, but this time we started by going down.  The views were stunning, and walking on bare rock, a rock that swirled with colors, was a new experience.  It was early, and we enjoyed cool air.  A few people walked more quickly than us, and passed us on the trail.  I remember an American Indian walking hurriedly with his pack.  He had artists canvases scrolled up and sticking out of the back of his pack, and as he passed us I had an image of him setting up somewhere in the canyon to paint.  For a fleeting moment I wanted to be him, with the ability to paint in nature that way.  The colors and textures of the rock punctuated with the bright green bushes and trees were too beautiful for a camera, it needed the artist’s paintbrush.  We walked on, enjoying every moment of a hike that was so different than the lush green of northern Georgia. 

When we reached the end of the trail, deep in the canyon, I was surprised to see that several of these people that had hurried down the trail were not there to enjoy the nature, but to set up shop.  The artist wasn’t painting, he was selling his paintings.  Women were selling jewelry, some people were selling pottery, causing the bottom of the canyon to have a festival or market feel.  This was not what I expected to find when walking out in a National Park.  The Indian Reservation owns this land, and I had no complaints, actually I just wished I had hiked with a little spending money.  We enjoyed our snack and then eventually returned; now hiking up hill.  The temperature was hotter and drier than what we were used to, but even my youngest enjoyed the walk back to the car.  Once at the car we were ready for lunch.  I popped open the back of our van, my son pulled out the coolers and I made our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  These simple sandwiches were our lunch every day of the trip because they were so easy.  We always had fruit, chips and maybe cheese and crackers with them.  It may not have been the most exciting lunch but it was cheaper than fast food every day, and certainly a little healthier.  We tried to have a little more variety and fresh veggies for supper, but I didn’t want complicated when we were driving and camping every night.  To me the food wasn’t the point of the trip, the adventure was.    

While we were sitting on the coolers eating our sandwiches in the middle of the overlook parking lot, a woman and her 3 kids walked by.  She said hello, and we began to chat a little.  She asked me if I homeschooled my kids, and I said yes.  She said she could tell, homeschoolers are easy going, and could make a field trip and picnic anywhere.  I responded, “Have peanut butter will travel,” and we laughed.  I remembered all the many field trips we had already taken in our home school, and the picnics eaten from the back of our car, or on the grass of some museum or historical location.  PB&J’s seemed to reflect our love of simple adventure, how easy to slap a few of these sandwiches together and hit the road, ready to learn and experience.  This is why I titled the blog Have Peanut Butter will Travel.  

Images were copied from Google images.