E ditor’s N ote W
hen I was younger and living on the banks of the Mississippi River, New Orleans was a frequent road trip destination. I fell in love with southern Louisiana and the things that, to my mind at least, embodied it – Cajun food, Zydeco music, the fleur de lis (which was also a symbol of the little Missouri town where I grew up), Spanish moss, Saint’s football, boiled crawfish, and alligators. Coastal Georgia is where my heart is now, but that area is part of my youth and I’ll always have a fondness for it. On one of those road trips, a friend bought me a gator stuffed animal and it was the start of a collection of alligators – art, figurines, books, post cards, anything gator-related. With the exception of those horrible alligator heads for sale in tourist shops. No thank you. When Jekyll Island’s wildlife manager, Joseph Colbert, invited me down to tag along on their alligator fieldwork, I jumped at the chance. Although the magazine’s focus is primarily saltwater-related content, alligators, as one of our few apex predators, are an important part of our coastal ecology. And I just love these prehistoric-looking reptiles! Getting to learn more about them was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. I hope you’ll enjoy A Walk on the Wild Side (page 14), and develop a better understanding of these often-misunderstood creatures. Also this month, we’ve had a new addition to our household, and in turn to the Southern Tides “staff.” Last month, we lost our black lab, Meeka, to bone cancer. It was devastating and we continue to
This is our Nixie! It's hard to tell from this picture, but in addition to huge ears, she has huge paws too! Photo by Amy Thurman
mourn, but even beyond our own grief we were worried about our two older male dogs, Manning, a huge yellow lab, and Charlie, our little King Charles spaniel. Meeka had been the pack leader and her loss altered the dynamic in our home. We’d talked about getting a puppy later this year, but seeing these two old boys mope around had us re-thinking the timeline. Maybe a puppy was just what they needed to lift their spirits. So I reached out to my friend Rhonda Thayer who works with Hero Dog Rescue in the Atlanta area. (You might remember Kenny and Rhonda from April’s Sailing for a Dream feature.) I told her we were interested in a female German Shepherd, at least six months old, figuring it would take her a few months to find us one given how sought-after the breed is. But just a few days later she sent us a picture of a six-month-old female they’d just gotten in. One look at that sweet face and we were utterly smitten! Arrangements were made and about a week later, Kenny and Rhonda brought her to us. She’d been named Jade by her previous owner but we wanted a name with meaning and decided on Nixie, meaning water spirit. We left it to her and were prepared to stick with Jade if she didn’t respond, but within two days she was answering to the name. Nixie it is. At six months, she’s 22 inches tall at the shoulder, her paw covers my entire palm, and she’s yet to grow into her ears, so there’s no doubt that at full maturity she’s going to be huge. And although she looks like a full-grown dog and is extremely intelligent, she’s still very much a puppy with a puppy’s exuberance and energy! Manning is quickly becoming attached and plays with her until she wears him out, Charlie is still a bit possessive of Todd and I, but he’s coming around too. Even the cat, Spartan, has gotten over the initial trauma and begun playing with her. Although the timing was a bit sooner than we expected, it was clearly meant to be. I’m looking forward to having her ride along on occasion and introducing her to y’all! I hope you enjoy this issue and are having an amazing summer! See you out there!
Amy Thurman
I told Joseph I wanted to take a hands-on role on our outting so he insisted I learn to determine a gator's sex, which I'm doing here, while Yank Moore holds the gator still. Photo by Michelle Watts
June 2018
Southern Tides Magazine
Editor in Chief
amy@southerntidesmagazine.com 5
