October 25, 2026- Hana babbled almost non-stop today, when she wasn’t hanging onto me, to walk around and around. She wore herself out, a couple of times, and tumbled over, inside the playpen, but she was no worse for the wear, at day’s end.
My granddaughter is growing. She is 31 inches tall and will probably have another growth spurt shortly. She doesn’t have a whole lot of patience, when it comes to her meals, but I tell her that her mommy is only one person, and she will just need to do something in the meantime, while her meal is being prepared.
Some focus was on her Dad, as he organized his office space, with two pieces of furniture that he put together this evening. Life goes better when every member of the family feels affirmed. We are making another concerted effort to organize the upstairs, and it’s happening.
HANA’S NOTE-When I tumbled and scared myself, Mommy, Daddy and Papa were all there to make me feel better. I have to make sure I listen to them better.
EXPANDING CIRCLES: South Carolina- The Palmetto State was the first place I lived, outside of Massachusetts. From June-September, 1969, I was a resident of Fort Jackson, outside Columbia. Eight weeks were spent in Basic Training, and three weeks followed as a general laborurer, whilst waiting to be transferred to Advanced Individual Training, at Fort Benjamin Harrison, outside Indianapolis.
Since then, I have returned to South Carolina six times-with visits to Greenville, Rock Hill, Travelers Rest, Aiken, Edgefield, Walterboro, Timmonsville, Florence, Hemingway, Beaufort, Hilton Head, St. Helena, and Richard B. Russell Lake, as well as Columbia and Charleston. My visits have generally gone well. I connected with a Xanga friend, in Greenville, in 2018. I also spent time with my middle brother and his family, outside that fine city, when they lived there in 1987.
The Turf-South Carolina’s northwest is covered by the Blue Ridge Mountains. The state’s mid-section is Piedmont and the eastern two thirds are covered by coastal plain. South Carolina shares the Sea Islands with Georgia. The main islands in S.C. are Hilton Head, St. Helena, Dafuskie, Fripp, Edisto, Johns, Morris, Bull, Cape, Murphy and Isle of Palms. South Carolina is drained by the Santee, PeeDee, Congaree, Saluda, Edisto, Combahee, Seneca, Tugaloo and Savannah Rivers, as well as their tributaries.
First Nations- South Carolina is the ancestral home of the Catawba, Eastern Cherokee,Pee Dee, Southern Iroquois, Cheraw, Santee, Wassamasaw, Edisto, and Waccamaw peoples. The Catawba are a Federally-recognized tribe. All others are recognized by the State. Native peoples in the region were largely exterminated, due to smallpox carried by European settlers. Those who survived were for the most part forced to move to Oklahoma, during the administrations of Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren. The above-mentioned Nations were permitted to return to South Carolina in the latter part of the 19th Century.
Where I feel most at home- Greenville, Columbia, Hemingway, Hilton Head Island, Aiken
Where I most feel at peace- Hemingway, Aiken, Hilton Head Island, Calhoun Falls State Park
NEXT: North Carolina
