Sapelo Island, Page 3

Day 10

Neal and I gave a presentation to the residents of the island.  I shared my watercolor painting journal of Sapelo Island and  we showed some clips from our wildlife films of the South American rainforests and the Grizzly Bears from Kamchatka Russia.  Great questions came from many in the audience.  It has been intriguing to compare life here on Sapelo, governed by the tides, to the life found in the tree canopy of the rainforest.  The abundance in each place seems almost directly opposite of one another.  In the rainforest,  life thrives from 6 inches below the surface to 200 feet in the tree canopy.  Here in Sapelo, the greatest abundance of the life is below the surface,  thriving in the marshes, estuaries, river bottoms, coast, and finally, the sea.

We had the honor to meet Cornelia Walker Bailey, writer, historian, storyteller, and a life-long resident of the island.  Her just published book,  "God, Dr. Buzzard, and the Bolito Man" contains stories and local history of her family and many past residents of the island.  Her stories are filled with local traditions and lore  passed down through many of the families  who  still reside here.  She writes that, " I want to hold up our customs and traditions for you to see ... as if each is a bright piece of fabric that I will stitch into a warm Geechee quilt ...".  She is creating a new tradition for the island by sharing her stories with everyone who will lean back and listen to how it was, and who they are.  

Cornelia told us she enjoyed the program on bears.  It reminded her of a story about when R.J. Reynolds owned the island.  A man was walking home to the far side of the island with a sack of small, young pigs.  He grew tired and stopped under a big tree to rest.  He soon fell asleep.  He woke with a start, belatedly  remembering that Mr. Reynolds had just recently released several bears from the mainland for hunting.  The man thought himself surely foolish for giving those bears the opportunity for such an easy, tempting meal while he was sleeping under that tree.  The man then hurried home.   I cannot wait to read her new book .

Day 11

This morning it was foggy and the sun glowed a burnt orange as it floated up over the white mist and outlined the trees on the horizon.  Just a few hours ago, I watched the moon set into the marsh grasses in a silver blue sky.  The rotation of the planets seem more pronounced here.  No snowy peaks to block the setting sun.  The stars seems over-bright in the inky sky next to the full moon.  The Spanish moss picks up the highlights of the moonlight refection, like silver dew on the trees.

 We rode the ferry to the mainland to do a program at the Visitor Center.  The center displays show life in the estuaries, also local basket crafts, lighthouse lore and pictorially illustrate the unique  chronological history of the island.   I enjoyed our presentation immensely because the audience contained many local artists, photographers and writers.  It was so wonderful to talk about the techniques of the watercolor medium and to try to infuse the participants with my enthusiasm for their wonderful coastline and the beauty of the estuaries.  We indulged ourselves with a dinner at a local "fish fry" place before heading back to the island.

Day 12

The worst part about any trip was to say goodbye to new friends and pack for home.  We bid our goodbyes to Florence at the community center who saved me hours by preparing all our lunches.   We returned all the reference books on loan and the 'much appreciated' coffee pot from Barbara.  It was a special treat to share those intense orange-red sunsets.  The sunset tour by boat will help me to remember forever the gold, violet, and lavender-blue I will always associate with Sapelo Island.  

The DNR lab was a great place to find information about all the creatures we found in the tide waters.  I learned so much from Merrilee about oysters and the role they play in monitoring the health of inter-coastal waters.  I enjoyed painting a cluster of oysters she was evaluating, and I was impressed that such a cluster contained so many beautiful colors and complex shapes.  I could only imagine the activities in these oyster clusters, like jumbled mini-brownstones of inhabitants poised on a bit of rock as they played out their lives under the tidewaters.

We boarded the ferry this morning to head to Savannah for a day, and then home to Colorado.   Upon reaching the airport, our newest challenge came when the rental car turned out to be a Geo economy car.  Much to the amazement of the local car agent, Yvonne, and myself, all our 10 bags of painting and camera gear fit!  As Neal with his long 6'2" frame eased behind the wheel, I could only be grateful that I did not place actual cash money on that bet I had going on inside my head that it all ," absolutely WOULD NOT fit in that car".  Off to driving adventures in Savannah ... but that's a story for another day!

Neal and I will always remember the warm , friendly hospitality of all those we met on Sapelo.  They made our experiences enjoyable and steeped in the unique history that makes up the Island called Sapelo.