It’s fairly common knowledge that the East Coast plays host to hundreds of golf courses, from ‘cow pastures’ to top-notch championship, exclusive clubs like Pinehurst, Augusta and so on. In my previous working life I had the privilege of playing at many of them, though my handicap was nothing too special, ‘customer golf’ games were often the fodder of forging relationships, many of which continue to this day. I don’t play any more, as the results of various surgeries now preclude the necessary dexterity to exercise a good swing. The only course I would par these days is a putt-putt playground and only then if I time my stroke to make it through the windmill sails on number 4!

I can’t say that I’ve ever seen an ugly golf course; even the ill-kempt ones provide a decent walk through the countryside or quiet cruise on a cart with a libation at arms length. There are lots of worse ways to while away a few hours.

Meetings and conventions exposed me to various and sundry destinations nationwide and the quiet of the Low Country has always held an appeal that won out in the selection of where to retire. The “Coastal Empire” as some locals call it, is the stretch roughly between Charleston and Savannah, which are both cities that Terry and I love to visit. To me, there’s a certain ‘Englishness’ to the atmospheres there. There’s also an opportunity to indulge our foodie exploits in either place although there are some wonderful restaurants locally and on Hilton Head to compete with our home cooking pursuits. I’ve even enrolled in some casual cooking courses at the Culinary Institute of the South just to expand my repertoire.

Our community was originally designed as a golf course and some late decisions were made to change it to a lake community, embracing all the wildlife that goes with that, up to and including the alligators and snakes within it. If you can imagine what were supposed to be fairways, are now lakes and waterways with all the relaxing amenities and surroundings providing diverse options to play or relax.

I know that Pickleball is the latest and fastest growing sport in the USA and here it’s no different, with a vigorous membership whose energy seems to be inexhaustible. Like golf, I make a good spectator rather than a player. However a fairly formal Bocce ball league was just put together so we have involved ourselves in this rather sedate but sociable game, along with a few of our adjacent neighbors. So far we’ve disported ourselves in reasonably good form without too much exertion, keeping the competitions firmly in the category of ‘fun’. 

Our house is on the largest of the lakes and we marvel every day at how differently the water reacts – it’s always changing. We thought the wildlife was active when we got here. This year, with a warmer summer, the activities around us never cease. The Bald Eagles here are mating – noisily; the Osprey pair are crashing and diving for fish. A White Tailed doe was on our front porch a few evenings ago to see if we had anything appetizing in our plants out there. I think I’m going to be at odds with the local armadillos who seem to think they’re JCB earthmovers!

It’s all part of life’s rich pageant and passing parade which here, is better than watching the telly!