January 29, 2024

Apartment 1917
South Beach Club
Hilton Head Island, SC

Dear Debora,

Thank-you for your email, kind of you to have written. As you mentioned, the initial stage of our drive here from home was threatened by freezing rain but we escaped the region without consequence other than an exceedingly filthy car. And, as you also quipped, the acquisition of a new painting was sternly met with fleeting disapproval from His Lordship (though naturally in the end he succumbed to both the profligacy and the superfluity). I look forward to sharing a view of it with you upon our return in March. By coincidence the owners (the Schwartz family) of our rental apartment here have demonstrably an unqualified preference for the collection of art, many and varied renditions of which appear throughout the spacious and superbly well-appointed 3-bedroom unit.

You also alluded to bicycling.  Yesterday (with His Lordship cautiously following me from a close distance) I struggled with the beach bike we had rented the day previously. By staying within the immediate serene community I was able to expiate my athletic culpability. But not without its limitations. For one, I much prefer the security of a tricycle; I am never entirely certain that I shall succeed to maintain my balance on the bicycle especially when I have to stop or descend from maneuvering. However the more compelling reality is that I no longer have the strength to go too far in any event. As a result confining myself to the neighbourhood is no deprivation because we’re very close to Land’s End which is both secluded and exceedingly tranquil. I am nonetheless hoping to fulfill my checklist ambition to cycle upon the nearby beach for at least a short distance, just to say I did it. There comes a time when admission of limitation is de rigueur.

Meanwhile we’re blessed today with another brisk and windy sunshiny morning. I was up until 2:00 o’clock this morning, having drunk far too much coffee after dinner last evening and chatted until after midnight with a dear girlfriend from home whom I have known for many years. By further coincidence my mooring to terra firma was extended this morning upon receipt of an email from a friend and former client who is presently in Washington, DC on a year-long fellowship at the Library of Congress to research/write a book he’s been working on for a decade, “the first biography of the astronomer who discovered that we’re stardust”. His esoteric endeavour corresponds poetically with the heavenly atmosphere here on Hilton Head Island. Although the temperature is a bracing 15°C (feels like 12°C with the northwesterly wind gusts) I am properly outfitted in sweat pants and sweater, a sartorial acclimatization which suits me fine although it is the first time in years I’ve had to bend to the necessity.  We are notwithstanding thrilled to back on Hilton Head Island even though we previously enjoyed several years in Florida at Longboat key and Key Largo.

Cheers and best wishes to you and your gentleman friend!

Bill and Denis
Hugs & Kisses