Observations from my Backpack

Alas!  A plastic bottle found today in the inland waterway - Shem Creek One of the joys of walking here by the coastal creeks and the inland waterways of South Carolina is that if I am so fortunate, I may get to see beautiful ocean creatures swim by.  Each sea creature, swimming with such grace as they come up out of the water and then gently down with their fin high in the air.  Just have to stop and wait and wait until they swim again by.  Pure nature at it's best. Shem Creek, in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina has built multiple walking bridges next to dock areas where local shrimpers park their working boats, and leisure boaters often pull in to pick up friends or to eat at one of the local restaurants.  Any given day out in the creek, Dolphins swim by, and just recently a group of Manatees were under one of the walking bridges.  The Dolphins were swimming about. TODAY,  I asked.  What ia a plastic bottle doing floating about in the...

On a lighter note?  Tomatoe Pie, a  Southern Tradition Friday, June 12, 2020 Two pies just came out of my oven as I can't just seem to make one Tomato Pie. I purchased heirloom tomatoes grown on Johns Island, SC today, and added in two types of cheese, Dukes, sprinkled Bacon and small cuts of onion, Italian seasoning (even though a true southern cook would only use Basil) and decided at the last minute to try a little sour cream in the mixture.  Just tried a small taste, and really good with the cheeses and the thin slices of tomatoes.  Next time I will return to the Dukes only, and no sour cream! It is that time of the year when the home grown tomatoes start coming in from the islands nearby where I live.  I once asked the chef of One Broad his secret for the BLT that he serves only a few months of the year. He always uses his homemade breads, gently grilled.  His secret - were the tomatoes grown on Johns Island, SC.  He shared that it is th...

Our Holy City - Reflections June 17, 2015 Early in the day, 2 teachers and myself and 18 African American boys (3 were Backpack Journalists from Sanders Clyde) had our last waffle breakfast at the student center of Voorhees College.  We had spent 3 days exercising learning more about football plays. Evenings were spent together in the dorm, in open discussions about how to grow up, safely, as a African American youth.  Dr. Cleveland Sellers and his son, Bakari Sellers also spoke to our group.   It was an amazing few days! June 18, 2015 Exhausted from the days before, awoke up late to news radio, and at first I thought I was in another world.  Thus began the journey that we, the Backpack Journalists, walked in following the murder of 9 people at Mother Emanuel Church Bible study.  We attended many of the prayer sessions, visited the church with flowers and messages, and at one point, was ushered into the NBC trailer to view their production at the same ...