You Don't Have to Be a Tree Hugger

What makes Charleston and its environs more beautiful than practically anywhere else on earth? [Hint: it's not its lovely, painstakingly-restored 19th-century houses, found only in relatively small areas.]

On either side of the entrance to my home just outside of Corpus Christi, Texas, stood two small but healthy trees. There among the mesquite and palms the species looked vaguely familiar, so I had to ask.

Well, yes, they were stunted versions of the gloriously full-size and moss-draped live oaks I knew from the Lowcountry. Corpus reminded me of Charleston in many ways--a Naval Base, beautiful beaches--but it lacked large trees, thanks to its semi-arid climate.

What a difference those trees can make!

So when I hear about hundreds of trees being cut down in "buffer zones," even if it's in Berkeley County, I fear for Charleston's future. As reported Saturday in the Post and Courier [see Felled trees net man 110 tickets] , so do others: "[Berkeley] County officials say clear-cutting has become a widespread problem; developers can cut down 100-year-old live oaks on their property without penalty. The article suggests that "Charleston County, which has a tree removal ordinance, also is grappling with the problem."

Some of us are old enough to remember when the "Savannah Highway" near its intersection with Wappoo Road was lined on both sides with those grand oaks. We can remember the heavy equipment moving in to remove them and the locals who said nothing could be done to stop their removal. We can remember the appalling raw look when they were gone. Many of us have never gotten over it.

Yes, old houses can be beautiful, but even a run-down shack surrounded by gorgeous live oaks partakes a little of heaven. I learned that in Corpus Christi, where a run-down shack was just, well, a run-down shack.

Prell Shampoo and the $19 Conditioner

If you admit to remembering Prell as the leading shampoo along with Breck, you date yourself. You even understand references to John Edwards as the "Breck girl."

Last week I was reminded of Prell for the first time in years as I watched one of those morning talk shows that purported to show how to save money in the New Year. I don't remember how much Prell cost, except that it cost more than the other brands my mother wanted me to use. It did produce better results. Whether they were better than results from today's heavily researched and promoted products, I have no idea.

What stuck in my mind about the program, however, was not the cost of Prell. The two women advised buying a cheaper shampoo and a more expensive conditioner. Needless to say, what they considered cheap was what I considered expensive. Their advice was to purchase shampoo that cost only about $4 per bottle and conditioner that cost only about $19 per bottle (as opposed to those expensive ones!).

I had already discovered the advantage of purchasing the cheaper shampoo and more expensive conditioner, just in a different price range. Yes, my advice, for what it's worth, is to go with the $1 or less bottle of shampoo and the $4 bottle of conditioner. That's $5 as compared to $23 per supply. Of course, with BOGO and coupons, I never pay as much as $5.

Those women need to get out more. Come to think of it, on their salaries it doesn't matter!

Well, Golly! Everything Old Is New Again

Flash!! Stop the presses--or is that computers? We have incoming news of startling import. . . [drum roll, please]:

Professional educators have discovered single-sex education!

What, you say. How can that be?

Apparently, when they have tried everything else that doesn't work, they occasionally go back into the dim, dark recesses of the past and discover something that did! Amazing.

So we are treated to headlines such as "Federal Rules Back Single-Sex Public Education" in the New York Times and to an editorial on "Single-Sex Education" in the Washington Times, and, to top it all off, a survey reported by the SC Department of Education "Students say single-gender classrooms boost self-confidence, ability to succeed"

Well, duh.

The Twelve Days of Christmas? Over

Christmas ends with Epiphany, January 6th. Those of us who decline to put up our Christmas trees at the beginning of Advent and choose to leave them up until after New Year's to celebrate the Twelve Days of Christmas have become the minority in a commercial and secular holiday season.

How many trees are out on the curb on December 26th? Count them next year. They're a measure of what's gone wrong with the celebration of Christ's birth.