Living (or, should I say, vacationing) as we do on Hilton Head Island it is quite impossible not to be taken in by the Lucifer that is the weather. There is spiritual legitimacy to the magnetism because so much of what we enjoy doing here and what vitalizes us involves out-of-doors affairs. I hesitate to identify my base activity as an elevated exercise because bicycling is the only thing I do repeatedly; and, mine is but a casually conducted leisure activity to expiate my guilt and to photograph the magnificent scenery throughout the island. It fulfills my inner need for self-expression and identity. Bicycling is also my major source of socialization even though I seldom talk with anyone. There is something about tourism which, unless it involves drinking, doesn’t invite correspondence with others; mostly people are understandably within the bubble of their traveling companions. Nonetheless I entertain myself to watch people, sometimes to judge them, often to imagine what are their circumstances and sometimes with outright curiosity. For the most part however it is a perspective kept well at a distance.
I was initially reluctant to pursue my bicycling régime this morning because I knew the temperature was climbing and thought it might be better to sit by the pool. But the hesitation soon vanished not for any reason other than that I wanted to see what awaited on the beach where the crowds are daily growing. It helped preserve my resolve when I got to Coligny Park Beach that I got a drink from the fountain. The water there is exceedingly fresh and cold. It is my Lourdes.
Lourdes water is water which flows from a spring in the Grotto of Massabielle in the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes, France. The location of the spring was described to Bernadette Soubirous by an apparition of Our Lady of Lourdes on 25 February 1858. Since that time, many thousands of pilgrims to Lourdes have followed the instruction of the Blessed Virgin Mary to “drink at the spring and bathe in it”. Lourdes water is considered non-liturgical holy water.
Although never formally encouraged by the Catholic Church, Lourdes water has become a focus of devotion to the Virgin Mary at Lourdes. Since the supposed apparitions, many people have claimed to have been cured by drinking or bathing in it, and the Lourdes authorities provide it free of charge to any who ask for it.
When the clouds began to appear my usual inclination to recline on the soft sandy beach vanished. I hadn’t a strong need for persuasion because I was still glowing from yesterday’s lounging by the pool. Tanning is best approached cautiously. And I was enjoying the abandon of wearing a top when so many others were so obviously devoted to the rays – especially as I am already getting brown as a nut after three months of incremental exposure. It is an instant identification of the margin between interloper and resident. I embarrass myself!
When I finally got to Sea Pines Beach Club – after having taken in excess of 150 photographs – my knees were reporting the wear of the outing. It’s a casualty I suffer increasingly as each day passes. Once again I blame the weather! As long as the sun is shining so brilliantly I haven’t the courage to forgo a daily cycle. Old habits – bad habits – don’t die easily.
By entire coincidence when I sat upon the bench at Sea Pines Beach Club, strengthening myself for the last leg of the tour, His Lordship appeared in the distance, clad in his sun-protecting gear. We sat together upon the bench for a moment, sharing the latest intelligence of our respective ventures, then as is our custom pushed off in alternate directions – though within a half hour they both led to the same result. Now it’s late afternoon espresso and for me Beegie Adair as I perform my routine diary record.
