Theres No Place Like Home

Article and photographs without Photoshop or AI by Penelope Penn

 

APRIL IN SOUTH CAROLINA OPENS DOORS TO EXPLORE

"Radar," a Great Egret escaped a dire situation in Florid and chose to make his new safe home in South Carolina
     A uniquely outfitted Great Egret quickly won the hearts of locals and tourists when he suddenly appeared in a popular Murrells Inlet park, Huntington Beach. I was finally able to unravel the mystery behind him. I learned he'd traveled to find a safe forever home, having been a victim of the tragic 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico-now the Gulf of America. That's over 1,000 miles away. Everyone was fascinated by him and he even had his own Facebook pages in the US and internationally. His fans came daily, enjoying him nonchalantly fishing in the park and ultimately nesting nearby, but none of us were sure why he was banded, and outfitted with a wire protruding from his back. 

    During my affiliation with a marine research aquarium, we rehabbed and safely tagged many species to help us understand and share information with other scientists around the world. Like us, Radars taggers were also eager to study our environment and how to leave it a better place for our children and our children's children. 

    Undaunted by the crowds and local birds, Radar was the favorite and so named because of his apparatus, which transmitted to those determining if he could live a normal egret life after an oil spill catastrophe. This is one of the last photos of him before the oil ultimately took its toll, but the scientists were happy to receive it and told me they were relieved he was able to survive the spill for so long, make the long trip, and had been living his life happily as any Great Egret would. One of the last sightings was of him nesting and leaving us with offspring who will help provide much needed balance to our ecosystems.  With a little help from compassionate humans, Radar’s spirit, transmissions, determination to survive, and his offspring live on. 



Out of nowhere, this American flag captures your eye and a million questions ensue 

       While driving beside a seemingly innocuous strip of forest, I was surprised by an American flag that conjured up curious scenarios to explain how it found its way to its unique location. It protrudes from an imposing rock formation jutting out of an area blanketed by acres of dense forest, with no apparent explanation how its patriotic climber reached the top.  Even expert mountain climberS would find the challenge daunting, but the flag in its lofty home garner admiration and attention for miles. 

A Native American along the Chesapeake Bay

    Native Americans have been in our country for thousands of years. When we celebrated the 400th anniversary of English settlers arriving in Virginia to make their new home in the New World, a Native American dressed as his ancestors would have, and he became an integral part of the huge celebration. When I asked him to stand by the Chesapeake Bay and emulate the expression and emotions his ancestors would have felt as they watched the colonists land here in 1607, he thoughtfully took this stance. That day was the beginning of decades fraught with challenges for both cultures, and soon only a fraction of them were still alive. The intrepid yet starving and disheartened colonists stayed and became an important contribution to our America as it is today.

Cowboys and their favorite sidekicks take respite at the base of Superstition Mountains in an abandoned gold mine town.

    Riding in from the Sonoran Desert, cowboys make a favorite restaurant and an Arizona ghost town home for a few hours before sunset. Many bring man's best friend but they're not like the dogs we usually see here on the east coast. The cowboys explained that they deliberately cross domestic dogs with wild dingoes to help them be more suited for extended times on their desert travels when food and water might be impossible to find for a few days. A popular gathering place for them is at the base of the Superstition Mountains, former home to the Apaches and filled with lore, legends, professed to be haunted, and speculated to be a site of the Lost Dutchman’s gold. Those of us in South Carolina who savor cool evening temperatures, have to smile when these hearty cowboys announce that it’s almost 70 degrees and time to hurry back home before it gets any colder. “Let’s ride!” 

    South Carolina Aprils provide wafts of warm winds and inspiration to begin exploring and discovering, whether it be near or far.

As always photographs are true examples of our natural world and never altered by AI or Photoshopped

 


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