Any adventure has a story line. Here is a pictorial narrative of our Spring Break trip to Ossabaw Island. First you had to have a planning meeting with chili dinner. We arrived at the Hunt Camp dock and were met by Jim, the Ossabaw Island Foundation representative . Putting up tents takes a variety of styles. Some built a castle. Others covered sandspurs with a palm walk. . Others had a foyer After that hard work, lunch was in order . If you got up early, you were treated with great sunrises and nights were equally beautiful . Every camp has a fire ring that needs fuel   and yields a wonderful time , but don't get 'smores in your hair.Activities were plentiful. You could catch a tour bus to Bradley Beach and learn about how islands are formed , or visit Sandy West and have her read about Maria Bosomworth and William Rodgers and scratch Queenie, twice . Some chose to paddle the inland ponds where there was lots of water and birds and alligators close up. You could stick around and paint henna art which takes a while to dry .  Alas, poor Yorick I went for a beach walk and found you. Eventually the group 

had to leave, but we'll be back next year.

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Ossabaw Journal

Sunday March 14
    About two miles after I left the house at 6:30 a.m., I remembered that I had not taken the cell phone. "No problem", I thought. We'll use Charlie's. Big mistake. Before the day was over we would lose more time by not having a phone in each vehicle
    We pulled out of the CHS parking lot at 7:15. Me, Amanda (English Teacher), my friend Charlie Mansfield and five students. The two girls are seniors and the three boys are juniors. Trip distance is 480 miles and takes about 9 hours, Charlie drive his RV and took five passengers and Stephen rode down with me. The trip down was fairly uneventful. Stephen followed our progress with the new GPS that we had bought with our Best Buy grant.
    In Richmond Hill we shopped at Kroger for what was to be produce, breads and last minute items. We spent $130. I went across the street to get ice in the cooler and the plan was for the RV to go on and wait for us on the side of the road. It was about 12 miles to the marina where we were to spend the night. They were letting us throw our tents up on the lawn. After getting ice, Stephen and I drove on to the marina but never saw the RV. Unknown to us, the girls had gone back in Kroger and got caught in a 20-minute line. We all finally met up at the marina, but by then it was almost dark. I put up my tent, but the other seven all bunked in  the RV. Supper was bagels or catch as you can from the groceries.

Monday March 15
   Left the dock at 9:00 a.m. sharp. Jim Bitler, the new Foundation rep on the island, met us at the hunt camp with the trailer and off we went. As it turns out, a tree was across South Beach Road so we detoured up South End Road, East on Willow and back down Hell Hole - quite the introductory ride for our kids. When we got to the camp we learned another lesson. Duct tape and label  all your gear. One tent was left behind so Charlie gave his to Ashley, he took mine, and I used the spare I had brought.  Actually, that worked our quite well for all of us. Next year I'm going to put together an entire tent/sleeping bag, mattress, ground cloth combo. They can be left behind.
   After setting up camp, we all took a general orientation hike and went shelling on the beach. Amanda found the catch of the day - a bottlenose dolphin skull which she named Yorick. Her class is currently reading Hamlet .John and Austin tried out the DNR canoe, and then tried their boogie boards that they had brought.
    Solar showers weren't working and would be a problem on and off all week. It was good to have Charlie along. He tinkered and trouble-shot and finally got it figured out toward the end of the week. We had enough hot showers to be clean and few enough to appreciate when the solar apparatus worked. Apparently, the previous week's group had fiddled with it.
  Cooked the group red beans & rice for supper and all became quite gassy.

Tuesday March 16
     Surprise!! It rained last night. Amanda got water in her tent, but we dried her out as the sun returned and stayed for the rest of the week. This was the only bad weather we had, and ,once again, it was just enough to make us not take for granted the beautiful weather that was to come.
     Charlie and I hiked the beach to South Point and came back on GPS. We set a line from the kiosk to the boneyard and then cut across the island. As it turns out, we hit an old road which paralleled our heading and we came right in on target. Nice piece of gear. I collected a twig with flowers from a tree near the point that I couldn't identify. Jim couldn't ID it either, but Charlie & I believe it is an Osmanthus (olive) of some type. I'll get in the existing checklists and see what possibilities I am presented with. Bluebirds were beautiful on the beach.
     After lunch I went up Coastguard Road on the GPS with Austin & John.  I took them up the road to show John where to fish in the upper reach of the tidal slough. They used the GPS to map out the route, because that portion of the road is not on our map. We'll download the route, as well as others, this week at school. Along the way Austin collected a small toad that he keyed out as a Southern Toad. Pretty could work since it was a juvenile. I think Austin was a little disappointed that there wasn't more turtle activity, but it was early in the year. In the summer the Diamondback Terrapins are active in the marsh. Hopefully, he'll be in our group next year which will be coming in mid-April and maybe they will be active by then. Certainly, the one month will make a lot of difference in a lot of animal behavior which the kids will be able to experience.
   John cut the head off of the dead armadillo that Ashley found for me. The kids are great about bring back old bones for me. It sort of reminds of my puppy bringing home gifts of bones when I was a child. The girls did henna tattoos today and went to the beach. The day was mostly overcast but not bad. Temperature is in the 70's. High 40's last night. Gnats are bad this evening. Chili for supper.

Wednesday March 17
     Charlie and I paddled Graves Pond. It's a 6-mile loop with a portage on Willow Road half way through. Alligators out the wazoo. We probably saw about 100. Gallinules were abundant as were yellow-legs (either greater or lesser). The two ponds are separated by a narrow strip of hammock and with in the West pond the two dikes/causeways across both ponds at each end. The East pond is affected by tides and the West pond is not not. Consequently, the bird life in the two ponds is quite different.
    At 11:30, Jim came by to take us on an island tour. First stop was Bradley Beach and he used drawings in the sand to very effectively explain to the kids how barrier islands are formed. Bradley Beach has been discussed as the best "beach" beach, but the kids quickly discovered blowing sand can take the edge off  of laying out to sun bath near a nice surf. We spent about an hour there and then went on to see Sandy. She was in great form and the kids loved her. She sat on the floor (at 90 years old or thereabouts) and the kids all gathered around while she read Maria Bosomworth and William Rodgers to them. Then we all visited with her animals. Sasoon has a large group of piglets that were a lot of fun to watch.
   After Sandy's we went by the Tabby Shacks where Jim provided some interpretive services.
We got back to camp a little before dark and Ashley orchestrated making Hobo Pizza which was fabulous. They go on next years trip menu, replacing spaghetti.
   John David, with help getting the wood, is our #1 fire builder. That kid has built the best campfires I've ever been around. He uses the cedar and just has a knack for making great campfires.
   All the stars are out. I sat on the dune line and tried to identify the constellations, but I don't do it enough to sort throught the "noise" of varying intensities. I got the Big and Little dippers and the North star, but I found the rest difficult. In June, when I return, I plan to make that a priority. There will be people who can help me.

Thursday March 18
     Solo Day. Folks are getting comfortable with their space and have apparently developed a sense of place. I see that, because today the kids started to spontaneously make individual plans. Charlie went north on the beach. Stephen went to South Point and then up Graves road. I had the use of the jeep so I drove up  to Spyder Ridge. On the way I dropped of Austin at Willow Pond to see if he could get a glimpse of mom's baby gators with the spotting scope. He hiked back via Graves Road.
     I parked the jeep just past the beginning of Spyder Ridge Road because of a very wet place where it crosses the old dune lines at 90 degrees. Then I hiked all the way out to the point, about 1 1/2 mile. Speid a small bunch of cedar waxwings working in a live oak and nearby yaupon holly. Jim had told me that they had come through the clubhouse area the week before. At the point, I was rewarded with good medicine. In the most peaceful setting, looking out over the Bradley River cutting through the salt marsh, a mature bald eagle gentle floated on the updrafts. Like it was blessing me for sharing the week with these kids. They are a special group. They are all quite different, yet they have bonded and they have appreciated the specialness of the island and their experiences. On the return hike I picked up a skull that I couldn't readily identify.. Image one and two. It has a strange dentition pattern. The size is that of a coon, but it looks much different. My only thought was a feral dog, but even that didn't seem to fit. I took it home and and have identified it as a pig. What fooled me initially in the field was the lack of a raised occipital region like all the big boars I have found. The skull was completely ossified so I ruled out a baby pig. Apparently, I have a small, mature feral pig without a lot of cross breeding. I wonder if pigs are born with full ossification. Something to check out.
     Also, on the return hike I saw a yellow-shafted flicker and a yellow-bellied sapsucker - both new to my Island List.
   Some of the kids had interesting days. John paddled up the slough to fish. He went a little past where we had hiked up Coastguard Road and stayed about an hour. He told us about an otter that played in front of him - popping up, "coughing" at him and swimming just under the surface. Stephen went up Graves Road and got to see an alliagator (up close) chomp down on an armadillo
   In the afternoon, I took one last beach hike. A short one. The reward was sighting two marbled godwits which are really cool with their very long, upturning orangish bills. Collected more moon shells and angels wings for Ellen.
   Supper is Charlie's cheeseburgers. The campfire was wonderful. Amanda sang for us and Austin played some too. I am so grateful that she brought her guitar. There is a peaceful that is hard to describe.

Friday March 19
    Departure. Pulled out at 8:00. Loaded the boat at 9:00. Even with a dead battery in the van we managed to leave Kilkenny at 10:15. Arrive at CHS at 7:15. We left the light in the back of the van on. Another thing to put on a written checklist for next year. I've got plenty of notes to tighten up the planning, but I have no complaints about this trip. It was truly an awesome experience.
  Austin rode home with me. We enjoyed sharing the music of WNCW as we went through the Piedmont and into the mountains. We both like traditional music so we chatted about songs and musicians and time passed pleasantly. He also followed our path on the GPS

To Be Continued

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    Sandy West and I have developed a relationship centered on our mutual love of dung as a teaching tool. That is, I use "turd farms" as a way to demonstrate succession in my classroom. Last year, I helped her start an experiment using peacock, pig and donkey turds. Although she doesn't maintain the successional communities any longer, she dearly loves to talk about them. There is a certain shock effect for those who don't know her.
    One evening, Amanda and several of the kids were discussing scarabs, their ancient reverence by Egyptians, and their relationship to the sun (in the case of golden scarabs, which I have in my collection), and somehow the following Haiku emerged. It's dedicated to Sandy and "Island Time".

She brings up the sun
With a rolling ball of dung
Her life's work is done
                                                                                                    CHS Spring Break '04

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Stephen's Pictures

Lone Tree on South Beach	The Boneyard	Looking South at Boneyard	Shells on the Beach
Boneyard	Dunlin Feeding	Evening view from Camp	Our Marsh
The swing at South Beach Camp	Palms at Camp	Our view out to the Marsh	Gator sunning
	Jim - our host	The Last Day -Our Group