When Your Spouse Needs a Me Day

Yesterday, Lee asked me if we could have one day when we just did nothing and introverted. (I love turning nouns into verbs…not really, but I’m trying to use modern grammar.) How could I turn down someone who drove all the way from Texas to North Carolina by himself to spend time with me? So I said that would be just fine. I even did my best to introvert along with him, writing in my journals, blogging, crocheting, etc.

But I’m so used to moving around a lot that I finally had to take a hike (literally). I knew Lee would appreciate the time to calculate the April rain totals and sum up all his goal tracking in his journals, so I announced I’d go to Sea Pines for a few hours. I even drove, because, as we learned in November, you can’t walk into Sea Pines. You must drive and pay $9 to get in (going up to $10 soon). It apparently covers maintenance of the beautiful roads and such. Snooty.

While it’s snooty as heck, it also has that giant forest preserve smack in the middle of the neighborhood, which is on the far south edge of Hilton Head Island. I knew that if I went alone, I could spend all the time I wanted looking for weird plants and interesting wildlife. Off I went!

As someone who’s always looking at plants and birds, I have a hard time looking at directions and road signs, but I found the hidden parking area in the center of the preserve after wondering if the one-lane road was for cars or just bicycles (that you had to bring in unless you were staying there). I lived, and even had a little picnic of a banana and snack bar while listening to birds on one of the lakes.

My walking around was quite fruitful. It’s beautiful as always, though there weren’t any new and unusual birds to be found. That makes sense; I was barely two miles from the condo, not in some exotic locale. I enjoyed this beautiful Great Blue Heron, though.

I was happy to find a couple of alligators, since I hadn’t spotted any for a few days. One was quite close, but I annoyed it by walking by, so it left.

The plant spotting was quite successful, because I found some treasures. I was lucky enough to be at the preserve when the Grass-leaved Ladies’ Tresses (Spiranthes praecox) were in bloom. These are delicate native orchids found throughout the southern US in wet areas. What a lovely treat.

I also found a Florida Jack-in-the-Pulpit (Arisaema acuminatum) which is a pretty rare plant that’s mostly found in central Florida. I felt very lucky to get to see it. There aren’t even that many observations on iNaturalist. I’ll remember this one!

The preserve has great trails that are very well marked, which makes it hard to get lost. There are a couple of boardwalks. I went on the Disappearing Swamp one, which looks a lot like depictions of when the dinosaurs were alive. Lots of ferns.

There I met a very nice couple. The man took one look at me and asked, “Are you doing your Merlin?” I had to say yes. We had a great conversation about birding on the island. I told them about the Prayer Trail and they told me about an Osprey nest right by where I’d parked my car! We went and looked at it, but saw no birds. They’d seen baby heads a few days ago. Still, that was fun, and I got to meet new people!

Once I finished walking, I went to the Harbour Town shops just to check out the yachts and the expensive clothing.

I purchased the pinkest t-shirt I’ve ever seen. It’s Lily Pulitzer, too. I always wanted one of her blindingly colorful items.

All in all, Lee got to be alone and I got to see lots of nature and meet people. It’s great to accommodate all of our needs!