We had a wonderful time on South Carolina's Harbor Island. My boy loved the beach, which surprised me because neither of his parents are huge ocean-lovers. He called the water "the big pool" and wanted to play amongst the waves every day. For my part, I confronted phobias #2 through #856 by walking well into the water to board our friends' boat and, a couple days later, try out another friend's jetski. I have always been deeply suspicious of the ocean (the movie "Jaws" came out when I was at a really impressionable age) and I really felt proud of myself by taking part in the festivities as much as I did. It helps that there is a huge difference between high and low tide in that part of the world and one could walk hundreds of yards into the water without getting in much deeper the waist. For variety, the island also boasts a lovely community pool with a gorgeous playground and sand volleyball court. We went on midnight "turtle hunts" - not really hunts, of course, but searches to find loggerhead turtle hatchlings, of which I spotted a couple. Tiny, adorable little things they are. It pains me to think that only, say, one out of every hundred will live out the week. We also played with dolphins who came to scope us out, saw 'gators, accidentally uncovered a colony of sand dollars and went shrimping and crabbing (less productive than fun - one shrimp and one crab do not dinner for 20 people make). Our friend Kenny went fishing in the surf and caught a baby blacktip shark, which I found less than charming - my philosophy is that where there are babies, there are mamas. As we were preparing to leave the house we saw a five or six foot black tip swimming about three feet off the water line in just the area where we played every day. A perfect day for vacation to end. My only real regret is that I wasn't feeling up to visiting any of the many lowcountry and Gullah restaurants in the area. Maybe next time (an excellent reason to return).


I feel I owe an apology to all of the fine people who were caught up in the black out last week (including my parents and both of my sisters). We've covered here my history of vacation-related disasters (illness and other bodily harm, automotive problems, terrorism, etc.) and, although I'm pleased that nothing happened to me on this trip - a rarity in the annals of my leisure time - I regret that my vacation clearly caused a calamity to be suffered by so many others.


Finally, in canning news, I think I may have had a brainstorm on the Orangina jelly issue. I think I need more acid. I'm going to use the same recipe as last time but squeeze in the juice of a couple of oranges and maybe a tangerine. That ought to help put things together. Regretably, I'm going to have to throw away the syrup from last time - I just can't think of a use and I want to re-use the jars. We'll just chalk it up to experience and the pursuit of knowledge. I'm still feeling pretty nauseated just about every day so I'm not sure when the next trial will happen but it shouldn't be too long.