Welcome to the GVAG Blog

The long white bridge is the height of southern romance. It

Magnolia Plantation: A Garden Frozen in Time

  Magnolia Plantation is one of South Carolina’s premier attractions. Located on the Ashley River near Charleston, it bills itself as America’s last large-scale Romantic-style garden. It fits the definition. It is a garden where form, balance and symmetry are thrown to the wind, where views are calculated to appeal to emotion rather than reason and…

Read more
Yum yum!

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

  I don’t normally post more than once a week but the wildlife here on Kiawah Island keeps giving me pictures to share. Yesterday I spotted this Great Blue Heron fishing… and enjoying the catch.    

Read more
Do you think they are gathering for a caucus? Politics is all people are talking about here in South Carolina, so why not the birds as well?

The Wild Life on Kiawah Island

Strictly speaking, the headline on this week’s blog post should read wildlife instead of wild life. Because for the last few weeks life here has been anything but wild. Instead, the days have passed gently, giving me a very welcome break, with time to read, think and bike around the island, enjoying everything I see.…

Read more
These palms have an inner glow that warms the soul.

Patterns and Politics

  For the last week I’ve been enjoying warm snow-free days on Kiawah Island, a vacation spot off the coast of South Carolina. One of the joys of being here (apart from the weather, of course) is seeing plants I can’t identify. This isn’t because they are rare, it’s because they are unfamiliar, and in vacation…

Read more
Can anyone identify these trees?

Crocus on my Mind

  For the last few days I’ve been driving south, from Montreal to South Carolina. I was expecting the days to get warmer and they have, but not by much. Along the Skyline Drive in Virginia, snow was very evident, up close …     … and in the distance.     Seeing so much…

Read more