October is for....

 

Hurricanes and Tropical Storms Are Not Finished

So, we had our first major scare of this hurricane season in September, but we are not out of the woods just yet. We must still continue to be diligent and keep our guards up, our families safe, and our property protected. Let's keep hoping they all pass as the last few have. For more information, please click here.

Now That's Interesting

Want to know more about the Live Oak trees?

Live oak or evergreen oak is any of a number of in several different sections of the genus Quercus that share the characteristic of evergreen foliage. These oaks are generally not more closely related to each other than they are to other oaks. The name live oak comes from the fact that evergreen oaks remain green and "live" throughout winter, when other oaks are dormant and leafless. The name is used mainly in North America, where evergreen oaks are widespread in warmer areas along the Atlantic coast from southeast Virginia to Florida, west along the Gulf Coast to Louisiana and Mexico, and across the southwest to California. Evergreen oak species are also common in parts of southern Europe and south Asia and are included in this list for the sake of completeness. These species, although not having "live" in their common names in their countries of origin, are colloquially called live oaks when cultivated in North America.

When the term live oak is used in a specific rather than general sense, it most commonly refers to the group of species which includes the southern live oak, the first species so named, and an icon of the Old South.

According to the Live Oak Society the oldest southern live oak is believed to be the Seven Sisters Oak located in Mandeville, Louisiana with an estimated age of 500–1,000 years old.

The southern live oak is the official state tree of Georgia.

A small grove of live oaks on a prairie is known as a mott. It's great to get to know a little more about these grand old trees.

Seeing Our Community Flourish

Just want to acknowledge and thank Interim Board President Sarah Yuncker and her husband Brian for some great work on the front entrance area. I had the pleasure of helping them remove some older bushes, and overgrown foliage, plant new grasses, replace new sprinkler heads, and getting the sprinkler system on the entrance island, sign island and the areas around building 7100 up and running. The entrance sign was painted, the name of our community... (Indigo blue), as well as the light cream color on the background and green on the pineapple motifs. New grasses were also place in front of the pool house and older foliage was removed. We want to thank the many community members and Kiawah River Estates members that stopped and offered their support for the new changes. We appreciate the support and hope to continue the landscape updates in the near future.

Just A Reminder

Please remember, there are 38 snake species in South Carolina, only six of which are venomous. Keep your eyes open for any movement in the brush. Be diligent.

Many snakes provide an important service keeping rodent and other pest populations under control. The venomous species tend to be secretive and are less frequently encountered. All snakes are nonaggressive when left alone. Click here to download the South Carolina Department of Natural Recourses Guide to venomous snakes of South Carolina (SCDNR) (image of download to the right). 

Our Next-Door Communities

During a recent Town of Seabrook Island council meeting the developer of a proposed private club on Betsy Kerrison Parkway withdrew their request for annexation. 

"We don't know what the next step for this property is, but today this is a big win for Johns, Kiawah, and Seabrook Islands." 

"We want to thank the residents of Seabrook Island, Kiawah Mayor John Labriola, and the Johns Island Task Force for their leadership on this issue."

What is even more significant than this win is that all three communities came together in a united front to accomplish the win.  This united front was a result of the increased development pressures we are jointly experiencing. (The Johns Island Advocate)

Good Luck 

Just want to say congratulations and good luck to my/our neighbor John Howe. John and his late wife Linda lived at 7114 Indigo Palms. John recently sold his condo and will be relocating to places unknown. I tried to get it out of him but was met with a wall of silence. Many of you know him most likely better than I did, so you understand, hahhahah...... A somewhat funny story. When I first met John, I introduced myself and said I was his new neighbor. We talked for a few minutes, and then asked where he originally lived. With a straight face and that somewhat very dry humor, he said..."Guess"... I knew this was a small world, so I undertook the task of attempting to wager a guess. After he gave me several long- winded siliques, John just continued to finish by say "no not there". After about 10 years or so I thought, he finally said Timonium, Maryland. Funny thing is that was about a mile or so from where we were living. So I guess it is a small world. I wish John good luck in his future endeavors.

Final Image of the Month

Sunrise on KRE - Kathy Tracey

Thank you for this beautiful image from Kiawah River Estates. Kathy took this while on one of her three bike rides a day through our neighboring community. As she told our two daughters, "there is no place better to live than the low country of South Carolina".

The blog will be short this month. I have been busy with various activities that have taken away from my writing time. With the holiday seasons approaching, I may combine November and Decembers blog, and return to full, hard hitting, kicking butt and taking names blog in January... hmmmmm or maybe just some dog photos and fun stuff......