C. Fawley Fjeran

LowTide Yesterday at 8:06am  ·  Life does not have to be perfect... Her son was sitting in a wheelchair facing her. Mother and son chatted while waiting their turn to see the doctor when my mother struck up a conversation--here we go again. I am thankful for the story shared. The young boy, just 11 years old, has Osteogenesis imperfecta. His twin brother does not have the condition, but his older brother also inherited the disease from their father. The boy's mother shared that after she and her husband had  their first child and learned their firstborn had inherited Osteogenesis imperfecta, they decided they would ensure he was also their lastborn; they would not risk passing it along to other children. Her husband had a vasectomy, and on the very day of his procedure, she discovered she was expecting another child. Two, to be exact--fraternal twins! Also known as brittle bone disease, Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is very rare. There are fewer than 20, 000 cases in the U...

LowTide November 18 at 7:00am  ·  A Field of Dreams Shanksville, Pennsylvania holds an open meadow surrounded by brilliant color in the fall. Hawks occasionally soar above visitors as we view the beauty of wildflowers under a crisp blue sky. Properly called a borough, Shanksville is a tiny town of only 0.2 square miles with a couple hundred residents. The borough incorporated in 1913, is named after Christian Shank, a German immigrant, who settled in the area in 1798. Technically the term borough refers to a  self-governing walled town, but the term is used loosely in the States. The bucolic meadow outside Shanksville, previously known only to locals, reflects a field of dreams--dreams of past, reality of the present, and a changed future. Standing near the field after September 11, 2001, we witnessed the painful present and mourned the loss of life. A permanent memorial now serves to honor the passengers and crew of United Flight 93. Each September, we remember the lives...

LowTide November 12 at 8:42am  ·  Tweaking... It was an outright blizzard. The windchill was -70 degrees with downdrafts eliminating every fire we tried to start in the fireplace. Perfect weather for snow skiing. The next day we hit the slopes. It was my first time ever. Who needs lessons when you can slap on some skis and figure it out as you fly down the side of a mountain? Right. We rode the gondola to the top of the mountain, and I quickly learned a technique called plowing: point the toes of your skis inward to slow your speed. "Don't be afraid of growing old. You'll still do stupid things, only slower." I carefully made my way to the bottom of the run without incident. What a relief! "I'm not doing that again. I'll stick to the bottom half of the mountain with gentle slopes." Guess again. The gondola raced back to the top without stopping at the beginner slope. Wait, what? The second run was worse than the first. By this time, skiers crowded th...

LowTide November 11 at 7:00am  ·  After Midnight What is it about cats and young children after midnight--the witching hour? My cat, Sebastian, has digestive issues. We've diagnosed, treated, observed, rediagnosed, and retreated. Now I think the treatments could be causing additional symptoms. Who knows? Who's on first? Last night was particularly bewildering. Sebastian and I were napping on the sofa when it started. He woke abruptly and immediately started hissing. The internal issue was making an external debut. This was followed by intermittent crouching, racing around, and licking--obvious discomfort and distress. Looking for a safe place, Sebastian proceeded to dash behind a china cabinet filled with an array of breakables in the breakfast room. Apparently, he remembered doing this as a younger, thinner cat. Now it's 1:00 in the morning, and I have a fat cat with bowel issues stuck behind a china cabinet. Go ahead, laugh. I did--eventually. At the time I thought, this ...

LowTide November 5 at 7:00am  ·  Thanks to Daylight Savings Time, or more accurately, the end of Daylight Savings in the fall, we can turn back the hands of time. Maybe we can literally turn back the hands, but we cannot change or erase anything that happened before turning back. If only. Erasers, Whiteout, Fix-a-Flat, Drano, Bondo and other products help ease mistakes; Clairol, eyecream, spandex, laser treatments, and facelifts can bring back a more youthful appearance. I let my hair turn grey for my 60th a nd occasionally think about covering it up again. The thought circles around but I keep coming back to, "I'm sixty-something--what of it?" "It is what it is." Appearance isn't everything. Bring it on Father Time. And yet, it's fun to imagine, if I could actually turn back time, what would I change? And why? ~ LowTide explorer, Carolyn Fjeran

LowTide November 4 at 7:02am  ·  What's in the Box? "Develop a pictorial notebook of prose and poetry," instructed our English teacher in my senior year of high school. My notebook quickly filled with thoughts and pictures that inspired each poem and essay. I saved the notebook, pulled it out of the storage box, and flipped through the pages everytime we moved. The last time I moved, a well-intentioned friend convinced me I would not miss the box filled with bits of magazine articles and other papers if I threw it away without looking at what was inside. "If you can't remember what is inside the box without looking, you'll never miss it." Wrong. Unfortunately, worn down from the chore of moving, I followed the fateful advice. Later when I started looking for the notebook, I shook my head. It must have been in THE box. The next search was for a journal that I kept during my mother-in-law's terminal illness. It held thoughts, feelings, perspectives, an...

LowTide October 28 at 6:30am  ·  The beach is my first choice... "You've been summoned," a.k.a. "Be there, or else." Official Court Business. No need to reply. I appeared in court only one time as a witness to a crime. Leaving a Sam's Club, I witnessed what seemed to be a careless driver backing out of a parking space with a shopping cart wedged between her vehicle and the car next to her. She was in the process of ramming the cart into the adjacent car when we began calling out to her to stop, which she did . She got out of the vehicle, and after observing the damage, she acknowledged that she needed to find the owner. "I'll go back inside. " Very good. She started walking back towards the Sam's Club entrance. I turned and headed for my vehicle, but before I hopped in, I saw her speeding off. What?! I've never witnessed a hit-and-run in action. I noted the name of the company on the side of her van and the license tag number. We, rathe...

LowTide October 23  ·  Rainy days and Mondays... Maya Angelou was known for saying, "I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights." I love rainy days when I have the luxury of curling up with a good book, hot drink in hand, near a simmering fire. On the other hand, in downtown Atlanta, it isn't much fun toting materials up the street, water dribbling off the umbrella down my back, with  gullies of dirty water rushing down the streets. If we must be out and about on rainy days, colorful raincoats, umbrellas, and Wellies surely make it better. ~ LowTide explorer, Carolyn Fjeran

LowTide October 21  ·  Starlight, star bright... I admired the midnight sky for many years before I learned these twinkling lights could be from stars that are no longer alive, a fact I quickly dismissed. Although, the 9,000 stars we can see with the naked eye from Earth are likely still alive, there is a reality that light from a star millions of light years away can be seen after a star expires. Last week, a young woman's world turned dark when she lost her battle with cancer. In fact, she barely  had time to fight the dastardly disease. Eight weeks after learning she was ill, they laid her body to rest. The day after she passed, her son scored the winning run that brought his team to victory. An image shared on Facebook reflects him standing, head lifted, pointing to his mother in heaven. The beauty of our light is that it still shines long after we are gone. ~ LowTide explorer, Carolyn Fjeran

LowTide October 18  ·  Giving thanks for swamp water... Marshes, bogs, and swamps are types of wetlands that support site-specific native plants and wildlife. Protected by state and federal laws from dredging or filling, wetlands improve water quality, temper flooding, and maintain surface water during dry spells. You'll appreciate wetlands as you sit down in a few weeks to your Thanksgiving dinner with a delicious side of cranberries. Why, yes, cranberries grow in bogs! I was surprised to learn  that blueberries also grow in blogs. In Georgia, native blueberries grow in woodland areas. Maybe if given a choice, they would grow in bogs, but Georgia is home to marshes and swamps rather than bogs. In contrast, one-fifth of Scotland is covered in peat bogs. I found a website that sells Scottish burning peat to add aroma to your home. I will further explore this before I give it a try. Scotland's peat bogs are world known for flavoring malt whiskey. Our Scottish friend introdu...

LowTide  added  2 new photos . October 14  ·  Who takes time to read historical markers? History buffs? Curious travelers? I'm absorbed with the visual surround: vistas of landscapes and wildlife habitats, and macro shots of buds and flower. Who has time to stand and read a marker, especially when fellow travelers are leaving you behind? So, I take pictures of everything, including markers, and read the inscriptions early morning sipping coffee on a comfy sofa. This morning, I am inspired by a Georgia historic marker, De  Soto in Georgia, found along the river walk in Augusta. There were forty foot-soldiers who made it across the river because they were tied together--united against the current. It's a sure bet that had they crossed individually, the current would have swept away many of them. In recent news, we heard of heroic efforts to save victims from the riptide by creating a human chain to reach them--success! Joining hands saves lives. How will you face ...

LowTide October 11  ·  Slow and steady wins the race... "I like your pin. What is it? A turtle?" "She wears turtle pins. Have you heard the story behind it?" "No, I haven't." "Tell her the meaning behind your turtle pin." "Nursing school is really tough. In class, I repeadedly told my students not to give up, that slow and steady wins the race. The students started giving me turtle gifts as a reminder, and now I have a collection of turtles." "That's a great reminder." Persistence, no doubt, is an admirable quality but I've always wondered if the slow turtle actually wins the race. He crosses the finish line but does he win the trophy? I read that box turtles travel no further than one mile in their life time--slow and steady. At Callaway Gardens Discovery Center, visitors can feed fish, and theoretically feed turtles, from the bridge. The fish quickly snatch whatever hits the water before the turtle slowly turns h...