It’s almost Christmas in the Carolina Lowcountry and in keeping with the times I find myself walking the woods and gathering pine branches and cones for the wreath that will hang proudly on the Historic Silver Dew Winery. This pilgrimage comes from my annual tradition of walking the woods on the hillside above our Pennsylvania log cabin, scraping away snow searching for long green ground ferns that made splendid Christmas garland.
Now up North the only sound to be heard was the crunching of the snow pack and the chirping of cute little nervous chickadees. And, except for evading the occasional limb made weak by layers of ice and falling on ones head, this was a venture that was safe for “the person” and warm to “the soul”. But down South, walking in the midst of tall standing lob-lolly pines takes on a whole new meaning. On warmer than normal days like we have had recently, all eyes are to the ground watching with careful eye for the beautiful colored Carolina copperhead that blends so magnificently with the gold and brown carpet of pine straw. Normally he/she would be taking a winters nap under an old pine log but with temps nearing eighty (80) this cold blooded creature finds solace in the warm Carolina sunshine. I too, find that solace and at times stop my foraging and simply listen to the rhythmic sound of pine bough brushing against pine bough. Underneath that green canopy, palm fronds, not to be outdone join the Southern symphony along with sound of the oceans waves gently engulfing the sandy Daufuskie shore. It’s my very own “nature sounds” CD and truly makes one realize how wonderful it is be alive.
With pine boughs to spare I load up my golf cart and traverse the bumpy root laden path that leads me from my forest en
See ya on the high tide….
LowCountry Joe
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