Sweetgrass Festival

My daughter and I went to the Sweetgrass Festival in Mount Pleasant yesterday. Wow, is it getting big! We saw basket makers selling their beautiful baskets, plus gospel singers and comedic routines.

It's amazing how much good can come from an event like this--one that works to promote sweetgrass baskets makers and all that they mean to the Lowcountry. Nowhere else on earth can you find the quaint roadside stands we see on Highway 17. But these basket makers are being squeezed out by developments. It's happening everyday, more and more.

There is much left to do to protect sweetgrass basket making, a precious coastal treasure, but there are some progresses being made. The Mount Pleasant Sweetgrass Festival, I'm very happy to say, is one very important step in the overall scheme of things.

Can't wait to go again next year!

SCAD Alumni Gallery

I'm thrilled to have one of my paintings included in this month's Alumni Gallery at Savannah College of Art & Design. It is such a phenomenal school. You can see the online gallery here. Wade in the Water was also featured in the 2006 summer issue of SCAD's alumni publication, Alumni Connections.

Everyday Heroes

I had the following letter to the editor published in The Moultrie News on May 31, 2006. Here's to good veterinarians and my sweet little buddy.

I recently awoke to find that what I had feared and dreaded for so long had come true. My beloved cat, Espresso, who had suffered valiantly through hyperthyroidism and diabetes, had finally passed away at thirteen-years-old. Or so I thought. Much to my horror, he was still breathing but in a terrible state. I prayed to God to take him immediately, but when that didn’t happen, I knew what I had to do.

For the past few years, Espresso had been under the loving and expert care of the husband and wife team, Dr. and Dr. Burton, at Long Point Animal Hospital. They had seen him recently and told me to prepare for this day, but nothing could have. I got in the car and thought of taking him there, but it seemed too far away—Espresso was suffering terribly. So I drove somewhere I’d never been, Animal Medical Center of Mt. Pleasant on Houston Northcutt, in the hopes that it would be open at such an early hour. Thank God, it was.

I’m writing to give my sincere thanks to Dr. Senf and his staff for the gracious and comforting way they treated Espresso and me when there was nothing left to do except ease his misery. Dr. Senf was so warm and empathetic; it was as if angels were indeed there to help Espresso to Heaven and help me, left here on Earth.

I am forever grateful to Dr. Senf at Animal Medical Center and Dr. and Dr. Burton at Long Point Animal Hospital for taking wonderful care of a dear member of our family. Veterinarians like these have such an important job in our community, and to me, they are truly everyday heroes.

Nicole Seitz
Mount Pleasant