It's Saturday morning and the VC is warm and quiet. I've just raised the flag (still at half mast), unlocked the VC, turned on the lights, said hello to the fish, fired up the Verizon Jetpack so that I am talking to the world, and now first things first, a blog post. I shouldn't be disturbed until at least 10:00 when maybe the first visitor may show.

I'm by myself today for at least half the day because this is the Christmas bird count day at the refuge. It is always held on the Saturday before Christmas. Shannon went with Susie, the volunteer coordinator who is leading the count on the Cuddo Unit. They left in the dark at 6:30 when the temps were hovering at freezing. Who is the smart one in the family...? There are also groups on the other three units doing bird counts. I expect the group here at the Bluff Unit will be back first to use the restrooms and get warm. As I was walking to the VC, I heard lots of shotgun blasts in the not too far distance. I thought it was ironic that on the day of the bird count, other folks were trying their darnedest to reduce the size of the flock. And, we are learning that rural SC is kind of a law enforcement nightmare. It seems that a prevailing attitude is that once duck season is open anything that flies can be shot.

I had said a long time ago in my last blog that I needed to introduce our neighbors. Their names are Al (not to be confused with Alan, that would be me) and Alice. They are from Ohio and have a variety of volunteer experiences under their belts. They have volunteered in FL, AZ, and KY. They drive a large motor home which makes our 5th wheel look puny beside them, and they are not full timers but will be heading back to their home in Ohio at the end of March. They are a delight, and we have enjoyed very much getting to know them and work with them. From the aspect of our relationship with them, we will be sorry to leave in less than 2 weeks. However, we just love moving on to new adventures.

We have reported to Savannah NWR, our next gig, via e-mail and telephone. We are now scheduled to pull in there on January 3. We will actually not leave Santee until the morning of January 3. We are anxiously waiting for Bobbie and Ken from Maine who are the volunteers that will be replacing us and whom we got to know when we were volunteering together last year at Padre Island. Our last volunteer shift is done on December 29, and we will hang around waiting for their arrival on the 31st. We look forward to renewing old acquaintances.

This past week we spent parts of 3 days in the Charleston Area. We stayed at my nieces on Sunday and Monday nights and spent both Monday and Tuesday during the day touring historic places in Charleston and area. We started with the Charleston Museum where I'd probably still be if Shannon hadn't physically pulled me out of the museum. Gotta read every word... We also toured three homes in Charleston. Two were restored homes with period pieces, decorated for Christmas. One was a preserved home rather than restored and the one I found most interesting. We also toured two plantations outside Charleston. One still had the original plantation house; it had survived the Civil War, or as South Carolinians like to call it the War of Northern Aggression. The other plantation had most of the buildings destroyed but it had a fabulous garden of camellias and azaleas. It would be awesome to see it in March. And, we actually will be back in Charleston in March as part of the RV Caravan trip we will be taking.

We have been surprised how much we have enjoyed experiencing South Carolina. There is such a deep history and a richness of culture here. We are glad that we took a break from our travels to the SW to come here. And spending time with my niece and family sure has been the whip cream on top of a pretty tasty sundae.