We wanted to say a special thank-you to everybody for all of your thoughts and prayers. It has meant so much to us just knowing that you are there for us. Memphis Addison Pope is a very big part of our lives and she is sure to be for you as well. Thank-you all.

What more is there to say?

Hey guys just wanted to let everybody know that I am doing well. We are very excited and can't wait to share little baby Memphis with you all. Thanks for all of the continued support. Owi that was a contraction. There is a little pressure on my buttock. I feel the baby lower and lower as time moves on. Andre is keeping me occupied by making me watch old Bugs Bunny cartoons on the computer. Once again thanks for all of the thoughts and prayers.

--Heidi and Memphis Pope

They gave Heidi some oxygen for the baby. She looks like Luke after the attack on Hoth. That is a good sign for Memphis, "The Force Is Strong With This One."

Still chatty, just getting tired from the epidural.

Stay tuned.

Lots of people here. Tons of fun.

Hey check us out!!!

Heidi, Memphis In Waiting and Kala

My friend debuted the WINK Greeting Card line at the Capital Pride Fest in Washington D.C. To co-inside with the release of the actual product I also helped her release the website. It was a lot of last minuet work, but I think it came together nicely.

To say the least it was a big hit. Lots of great comments about how this (the card line) is so needed within the lifestyle.

My partner and I were your first customers at the Pride Festival in Washington, DC and I wanted to thank you so much for developing this line of greeting cards! For so long I have had the same challenge you express on your website of finding appropriate cards for myself, friends and family that speak to our experiences as queer identified people. Thank you again for taking this on and know that I will give you as much publicity as I can to support your business! I can't wait to see your cards in mainstream stores across the country!

Take a look and let me know what you think. I am proud of the work I have put into and I know my friend is as well.

Here goes the ad I did for the program.

The Mermaid Of The Swamp
River Rat
Calypso's Keep / Kalypsó Keep
Charon's Secret
The Ferrymen Of Hades
Njord Watch
Seas the Day

Today started my first day of trying this. For lunch I went up to Piggly Wiggly and found some Radd Dews BBQ! Ohh how lucky. I bought a pint and decided to make this my main meal for the week at work. When I got home form work Heidi and I went to both Food Lion (a NC based company) and Piggly Wiggly to scout out some food for dinner. Since we did not have that much money I only bought a few products. I am not going to waste any of the food that I have at the house at present. I figure that I can just combine the new local based products whit what I already have and gradually progress to an all local diet.

Some would say that living in the South has both its advantages and disadvantages when it comes to being a localvore. For instance there is an abundance of pork products made locally. From BBQ and sauces to pork skins and sausage. This makes me a little concerned for my general health but I sure do love me some pork. The south also has a good number of farmers markets and even at my front door there is a sea of possibilities. All of these things make me very excited.

So why am I doing this? Is it to save the world, to make a statement? These may both be a byproduct but the real reason is that I want to try and get back to simpler times. Not even 50 years ago the people of Horry County ate what they grew, produced or traded. There were not so many choices. The choices you had were direct result of knowing and supporting your neighbor. You worked together as a community, you shared and you prospered. I think that today we have to many choices, we are too greedy and have no sense of community. While I know that what I am doing will have not real affect on or even get me close to simpler times it will give me a sense of what it was like. How far off I will never do but I do enjoy the fact that I am supporting my neighbor, my local butcher, farmer, or restaurant. If It does have some impact on the environment or it makes a statement about society than even better.

Please be forewarned that I am not in it to save animals or some shit like that. I don't really care if I fall off the wagon in some sort of fashion. I am not in it to listen to you bitch at me if I am not doing it right. These are my rules and I am making them up as I go along. Its my experiment that is able to go awry at anytime. But I am open to new information that you may know about local products, so please pass them along.

Here goes my grocery list:
Margaret Holmes
• Hoppin Johns
• Season Butter Beans
• Tomatoes
• Red Beans & Rice
• Cabbage
• Greer Peaches

Blenheim Ginger Ale

Carolina Pride
• Pork Sausage
• Beef Wieners
• Turkey Breast
• Smoke Sausage
• Kielbasa Sausage
• Bacon

Charleston Favorites
• White Stone Ground Grits

The Egg & I Farm - Lemar, SC
• Dozen Eggs

I look forward to finding more and more products and how they will take over in place of national brands. We will have to wait and see.

None of us have ever been on a white water adventure before so It was a great family experience. I booked everything online at . It turned out perfect. They were a smaller outfitter and it ended up being just us three plus the guide on on own raft. We tackled 3 class four rapids and a few class three as well along the Pigeon River. It really was a great time for the Pope boys to get together and have a little fun.

After returning home on Sunday , I decided to call up Mikey and see if he wanted to take the canoe out for a little bit. After a short stop at the inlet where we experienced our first low tide canoe trip (we were stupid) we headed over to the Intercoastal/Waccamaw. I have always heard of Sandy Island but never knew exactly where/what it was. To sun it up, it is a an island located in the Waccamaw River system that has a little community on it. There is a public school boat that takes kids back and froth from the island to the bus stop as well as waterway taxis that do the same for the islanders. It was a fun trip and we even got to see Brookgreen Gardens back door.

Below is a map of our route.

View Larger Map

After the half day on the water we went back to the house and had a little cook-out of hot dogs and baked beans. It was a great little break form the norm and I look forward to doing more on the rivers.