Barbara and I are enjoying our 6th annual January in Hilton Head. It's our week to share, grouse, laugh, reminisce, plan, contemplate, cogitate. It's our ultimate therapeutic retreat! I thought it would be our last one, since she is moving back to USA in July, but she assures me, that is not the case. This will continue to be our week to connect.
Last year, my friend Jean and her husband took a condo on the upper end of the island for part of the same week we were here. Jean and Barbara and I played one of the WORST games on miniature golf ever in just above freezing temperatures. We laughed so much we had to make a bathroom run before the end of the course. (Needless to note, we did not back up any other players as we were the only "hardy fools" playing the course.) Barbara claimed her fingers were frozen due to how often she had to pluck her ball from a water hazard!
For this year, we invited Jean to join us for a few days. We had two ulterior motives (besides enjoying Jean's personality and stories):
- Barbara wanted advice on creating a quilt from her mother's nearly 70 year old Hawaiian Islands fabric pieces...the remnants from the muumuus she made for her daughters while they lived on Oahu.
- We wanted to reprise our hilarious gooney golf experience. This last was enhanced by the fact that I had saved the scorecard from last year for a discount on fees.
On Saturday, my trip began with a bang - literally. I turned onto I-10 and within a quarter mile, my back rear tire shredded from something on the road. Mary Todd (Bless her Lincoln heart!!) got me safely to a gas station so I did not have to pull over on I-10! AAA showed up quickly to change the tire (WAAAAY too cold and windy for wimpy me to try that task!) I made it to Tammy and the dealership to find that the tire I needed was not in stock, so I was looking at Monday afternoon as the earliest departure date.
Back home I went to unpack Mary Todd, call Barbara and Jean to share the situation, and feel a bit of sadness mediated by joy - I was sad that I was going to lose a day with Barbara, but joyful that my car had kept me safe once again and not done damage to herself. Conversations with the AAA guy indicated that he had had multiple flats from that stretch of I-10 all afternoon, so my presumption is that something on the roadway cut the crap out of my tire!
Good thing I had to stay home another two days. I had originally packed for freezing temperatures and over the weekend, Hilton Head underwent an upgrade in weather. Today I'm sitting on the balcony in the sun with in-the-shade temps of 68-69. It was fortunate that I had the chance to re-pack for this get-away with tee-shirts and layered sweaters ratehr than the burly winter wear I originally had in mind.
The first couple of days have been great. I arrived to find Jean and Barbara had created a plan for the Hawaiian quilt. No surprise as Jean is quilting genius!!!
Barbara told me when I called about the change in my plans that she had left her knitting needles and yarn at Julie's, so I brought her needles and some pastel yarn I inherited from Jean's mother's stash. While Barbara began a blanket for Isabella, Jean and I quilt stitched. Only a couple of surprises: Jean was awakened at 1 AM by the moon shining so brightly in her bedroom window that she thought it was headlights! (Shades of
Moonstruck minus Nick Cage!!) and a window washer appeared outside our 4th story condo with no warning about 9:30 this AM!!! Good thing we were all dressed!
This morning off we went to Legendary for our gooney golf match. The woman remembered us! We had a good time, but missed the hilarity of last year; 20 more degrees of warmth made a big difference in the atmosphere. (Kind of sad.)
On the plus side, each of us improved our scores. Barbara and I were still abysmal; Jean came in under par!!!
Back at the condo, we lunched, chatted and Jean left for Florida. Barbara finished the row she was knitting, leaped up and began to put her fabric pieces together, groaning when she discovered she had mis-cut two pieces, making them larger than her mother's pieces. She and I are kind of awed that Millie hand cut all these bits with scissors!!! God Bless rotary cutters!
She has begun to stitch this quilt that has such emotional importance to her thanks to Jean's loan of her extra sewing machine. She is excited. I am tickled she will soon have this visible reminder of Millie and her wonderful childhood. Well, not "soon" as she has to leave what she does not finish here until her return in July! Nonetheless, she'll have it for her next North Carolina winter!
My realizations for the first half of this annual retreat are varied:
- I'm frustrated because I can't keep what happened which year we were here straight!
- I appreciate a condo with too many electrical plugs!
- Hard chairs without cushioned seat are very uncomfortable while stitching.
- Jean makes great soup!
Totally true: the most valuable antiques are old friends!
We have 4 more days here. Looking forward to what they bring!
Barbara and I decided to see a movie as she hadn't been to one in more than a year. We saw Hidden Figures and were blown away by the power of the film! It was embarrassing to be reminded how racist and sexist our population was back in the 60's. The bravery of those women was astounding and humbling. I have never wanted anything as badly as they did. We talked a lot about how our country needs to maintain its forward motion.
