gazing outward...

23. a certain slant of morning light...angled in the perfect way to illuminate the tail feathers of the flicker on our feeder24. the play of light on the water25. a glimpse of a male cardinal flitting through the live oak...his red a perfect contrast with deep green leaves

26. a gentle mourning dove gracing the birdbath for a morning sip27. angel oak...& our own dear little "baby angel"...last winter she was a scrubby reject tossed aside behind the gift shop! first a little about angel oak~~ this magnificent tree is a sight to behold & worthy of a visit if you are in the charleston, sc area. to stand beneath those ancient branches...you can almost hear whispers of things past. to see the lowcountry light filter through its leaves...you are certain you will see a fairy dance among them. that tree is just plain mystical.

every year they sell potted "baby angels" at the gift shop. for reasons usually related to our unfriendly-to-keeping-foliage-alive travel schedule, i have had to pass on taking one home. not last year. the early february weather was just right for transport & we were staying with friends who would not mind hosting a small tree on their grand porch...& so, i asked the kind lady in the gift shop if i might purchase one. at first she said that they did not have any...all the season's saplings had been sold. then she tilted her head to the side, thoughtful for a moment... yes? she remembered that a few of the scraggly saplings had been tossed aside earlier & there might be one or two with a hint of green on them. she graciously took me out back...& yes! there was one~~ it had exactly 2 green leaves! now mind you, live oaks are green year round, so this baby was knockin' on death's door. but i didn't care. home came our very own baby angel.

i feared she was a bit too "in the balance" for a planting into the ground last year, so she stayed in my porch garden & under my watchful eye for a whole year.what a beauty our "baby angel" has become!! she has even shared her potting space with a tiny new pine tree.very soon she will make her home among our larger live oaks, as we are re-foresting our small plot of land (it had been stripped of 17 live oaks during one of the 1996 hurricanes). live oaks are indigenous here, keeping us in the green all year round!