Columbia Living Magazine Sept/Oct 23

Sept/Oct 2023

Autumn Awakens

Columbia’s hottest fall fashions and the Midlands’ most popular seasonal attractions

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26

Autumn Awakens Megan Pinckney Rutherford, businesswoman, wife, and boy mom, wears fall’s hottest fashions to the Midlands’ most popular seasonal attractions.

39

The Fireworks are Free A major life change brought this Columbia native to TownPark in the downtown Bull Street District. It worked out beautifully.

32

2023 College Football Preview

USC and Clemson teams gear up for an exciting season.

Story by Katherine Pettit

Story by Willie T. Smith III

Photographed by Crush Rush

Best practices for protecting your identity and your privacy Abacus Shareholder Stephen Scott

Abacus’s client, Eloisa, was celebrating her 50th birthday on a long-planned trip to New Zealand. Out of the blue, Eloisa’s sister called with vacation-busting news. The police had found copies of Eloisa’s identity information in the hotel room of an identity the ring. Over the following months (and now years), Eloisa fought a rear-guard action to prevent abuse of her identity: a false tax return filed for an early refund, multiple fraudulent credit cards opened in her name, and even pizzas ordered on a fraudulent credit card for delivery to a prison. Each of us falls into two categories now, those who have had an experience of identity the or those who have and just don’t know it yet.

How can I protect me and my family from a cyber attack or identify the ?

The first step is to freeze your credit. Freezing your credit is the strongest method to protect your identity. Contact these three credit bureaus to freeze your credit: Equifax.com, Experian.com, and Transunion.com No one can get credit in your name (including you) when you freeze your credit. You receive a four-digit PIN to unlock your credit for any necessary credit needs such as purchasing a car. Be sure to freeze your elderly parents’ and children’s credit, too.

Select a password manager. LastPass, 1Password, Dashlane, or Roboform all store and create strong, unique passwords. These programs sync across all your technology devices: phone, computer, iPad, etc.

Enroll in two-factor authentication for accessing your on-line banking, credit card and brokerage accounts. This process, which requires both a user id/password and a code sent to a device such as your phone to access your information, safeguards your accounts by adding a layer of security. https://twofactorauth.org

Sign up for www.haveibeenpwned.com. This website highlights whether your email address or passwords have been part of a data breach or hacking event. You can sign up to receive alerts of any new breaches.

Delete old or unused online accounts. Do some spring cleaning of your unused or unwanted online accounts. https://backgroundchecks.org/justdeleteme

Keep up to date. Enough is Enough, is a non-profit dedicated to making the internet safer for children and families. The website has excellent, timely resources for internet safety.

I am concerned about keeping my personal information private. What are some best practices to safeguard my privacy?

Periodically review your personal and your children’s social media settings. Although tempting, resist sharing background information that might allow another individual to piece together a virtual identity with your information.

Shred documents. You should shred any documents that contain your personal information. You might prefer using a security stamp or roller to redact private information on these documents instead of shredding.

Remove your personal information from the web. Complete a Google search on you and your family members. If you are uncomfortable with the amount information listed about yourself or your family, you can enroll in a service, like Reputation Defender, to remove this data from the web. The cost ranges from $10 per month up to $10,000 per year if you are an individual with a strong public presence. These services cannot eliminate information but can help manage the challenge.

Never use public WiFi. Countless individuals have had their emails and other private information hacked simply by using public WiFi. Abacus recommends a virtual private network service (VPN) such as Private Internet Access or Nord VPN.

A week does not go by that Abacus doesn’t receive a call from a client seeking advice on identity the or other internet scams. Many of our recommendations have a “hassle” factor that keeps clients from implementing the strategy until it’s too late. Just as you would secure your home, take steps today to lock the door to your financial life.

Stephen J. Scott CFP® | Columbia, SC

Photo

Publisher and Editor in Chief

Katie Gantt

■ ■ ■

Account Executive

Anna Marie Dempsey

■ ■ ■ Graphic Designer

Megan Epperson

■ ■ ■

Contributing Writers

Pierce Bowers

Kristine Hartvigsen

Meredith Grace Hawcroft

Warren McInnis Hughes

Donna Keel

Ed Madden

Katherine Pettit

Anne Wolfe Postic

Willie T.Smith III

Photographers

Pierce Bowers

Jay Browne

Forrest Clont

Donna Keel

Heather Marie Photography

Crush Rush

■ ■ ■

Distribution Coordinator Les Gibbons

■ ■ ■ Customer Service (803) 443-1233

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Dear Reader,

Welcome to the fall issue of Columbia Living Magazine. It’s my favorite time of year! A reprieve from the summer heat is always a welcome change, though let’s be honest, sometimes it doesn’t hit until closer to the holidays. But we can hope! And we can still enjoy the best fall activities and attractions the Midlands has to offer in high spirits. Some of my favorites are, of course, the South Carolina State Fair, Clinton Sease Farms in Lexington, and college football! This issue is chock full of all of that and some!

I had the best time coordinating my first-ever fashion shoot as a publisher or as an editor. Though I love fashion and even briefly owned a boutique in Aiken a few years back, I always avoided doing fashion spreads because I was intimidated by the amount of leg work I heard they entailed. But with the right team, there is nothing to fear. Big shout out to our model, Megan Pinckney Rutherford, and her team at Shades of Pinck for their hard work on the project, to Crush Rush for capturing some amazing shots, to the various shoot locations for letting us use their spaces, and to the boutiques we sourced looks from. I’m really happy with how it turned out and hope it gets you in the mood to refresh your wardrobe for fall and indulge in some good family fun. Check it out starting on page 26.

Southern Drawl, starting on page 19, profiles State Fair general manager Nancy L. Smith and features some colorful and invigorating photography from years past at the event that is celebrating its 154th birthday and makes an estimated $45.5 million impact on the state’s economy each year. It’s the candy apples for me!

Our college football feature by sportswriter Willie T. Smith III recaps USC and Clemson’s 2022 seasons and features interviews with coaches and players about 2023. Both teams have high hopes this year, and I know we are all looking forward to that final showdown at the end of the season. Check it out starting on page 32. I hope you enjoy this issue and all of the fun fall activities that await over the next couple of months.

Katie Gantt, Publisher

See page 19

staff picks

All Good Books

Independent Booksellers from All Good Books in Five Points

share their recommended reads for autumn.

Math on Trial: How Numbers Get Used and Abused in the Courtroom

by Leila Schneps and Coralie Colmez

Don’t worry; it’s not too “mathy”! Using ten cases, the authors illustrate problems and errors in how mathematics has been used in trials, ranging from the infamous 1898 Dreyfus affair to the Amanda Knox case that finally ended in 2011. They demonstrate how bad our intuition is about probability, how mathematics can be overwhelming to jurors even when it is dead wrong, and how even wellintentioned “experts” can go down mathematically convincing but wrong paths. For the non-mathematical reader, the book makes a compelling argument that math in the courtroom can be tricky, thoroughly misleading, and intimidating even when presented by well-intentioned witnesses, but mainly when used to deceive.

-Review by Raven McCrory, co-owner

Warrior Girl Unearthed

by Angeline Boulley

I fell in love with Angeline Boulley’s writing in Firekeeper’s Daughter and was thrilled when Warrior Girl Unearthed gave me similar feelings. Perry is a fierce and inspiring character you can root for. As the numbers of missing Indigenous women rise around her, and greedy grave robbers profit off Indigenous sites, Perry begins questioning everything and seeks to bring people and heritage items back to their rightful homes.

-Review by Julie Hansard, bookseller/barista

The Memory of Animals by Claire

Fuller

In 2020, I got very interested in novels about pandemics, so I was happy to find Claire Fuller’s most recent novel, The Memory of Animals. I picked it up for its gorgeous cover, but the writing is just as lovely. The outside pandemic drama is rather understated and takes a backseat to Fuller’s exploration of what it means to live in the past and the bonds that form when we get stuck inside. And for fans of Remarkably Bright Creatures, there’s a powerful relationship between protagonist Neffy and an octopus. Other pandemic novels I’ve enjoyed are Ling Ma’s Severance and Karen Thompson Walker’s The Dreamers.

-Review by Leanna Herbert, bookseller/barista

Frida in America

by Celia Stahr

Celia Stahr offers a wonderfully engaging account of Frida Kahlo’s time in the United States. We are familiar with the evocative and often haunting works that center the artist herself, and Frida in America contextualizes them by helping us form a more nuanced understanding of the artist’s interior life during the time of their creation. Stahr offers a portrait of the painter that is a must-read for anyone interested in feminism, art, or a better understanding of what informs a person’s way of being.

—Review by Siri Cortez, bookseller/barista

Contemplative Studies

Artist Journeys from Academia to Fine Art

By KRISTINE HARTVIGSEN

Painting inspired by ‘The Listener’ by Walter de la Mare

art seen

Wilma Ruth King is an archivist of sorts, capturing and preserving on canvas moments that touch her sentimental heart. These moments could exist on

different points on the time-space continuum, so she populates her work with clues that can transport the viewer virtually to a particular moment. One example is a painting of her grandfather’s hand holding his pocket watch. Above his hand, a persimmonbranch descends heavy with ripe fruit.

“I never saw my grandfather without that pocket watch. It seemed part of him,” she said. “And the persimmon brings it all together. The persimmon had nothing to do with my grandfather’s portrait, but it put a place and time stamp on it.”

King works primarily with acrylics on canvas and almost exclusively from memory, rarely using photos or other visual references when painting. She has always considered that words, thoughts, and images work together to tell stories. She often uses the term “thoughts” almost like they were an instrument of her art, such as a paintbrush or palette. The former college academic is a highly intellectual thinker whose thoughts, indeed, are represented in her paintings.

“I have always embraced contemplative studies. That is the process that I do when I sit down to paint,” she said. “I try to read a book a week, at least. Some of my favorites are Bible stories. Old Testament stories are so wonderful. And I also enjoy mythology.”

A former university professor, educator, and lecturer, King observes that there are fewer coincidences in life than natural, complementary dualities at work in both the physical world and beyond. She has studio art and journalism degrees and spent much of her professional life teaching communications and graphic design at colleges in Virginia, New York, Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Texas. For 16 years, she was among 14 Black faculty members at Western Kentucky University. The competitive rigor of higher education was exhausting, and she left a tenured position to eventually return to the Columbia area in 2015 and be her mother’s primary caregiver.

“I don’t know that I would ever return to higher education. It’s very cutthroat. I was a tenured associate professor. I made it through the ranks,” she said, “but it got to a point where it was too much.” While King was born in Lexington as a military child, she spent much of her childhood experiencing different places, even living as far away as Alaska. In fact, she lived in 11 different states in her formative years. During her academic career, she also studied abroad, including nine impactful months in Italy. While in Italy, she had incredible access to some of the world’s most treasured artistic masterpieces.

At one point, she stayed with nuns in a monastery near the Sistine Chapel and was able to view, in person, the exquisite frescoes of Michelangelo. Of the paintings she has completed herself, King’s favorite was inspired by a memory of walking with a friend in a park in Florence, Italy.

“I kept smelling this fragrance. It was really wonderful — citrusy but also floral at the same time. It was somehow familiar, but I couldn’t

place where I had smelled it before,” she recalled. “I asked my friend what it was, and he reached above my head, picked a magnolia flower, and gave it to me.” It was another of life’s dualities, this time intercontinental in nature. She was astonished to find a plant common to South Carolina blooming in this foreign country. “In that painting, I am holding out my hand, and he is reaching up to pluck the magnolia for me,” she said. “There is an Italian landscape in the background. The magnolia was not supposed to be there, but I am happy it was.”

After her mother passed away about five years ago, King contemplated picking up a paintbrush again but struggled with where to begin as she processed her loss and a long absence from the medium. One of the first images that came to her mind was her grandmother’s house on Corley Street in Lexington the site of many vivid, happy memories. “That house was the first thing I painted,” she said.

“That painting is still hanging in my house.”

King finds abundant inspiration, from the natural beauty all around to the vagaries of everyday people to scholarly literature. She has painted pieces inspired by the poems of Rudyard Kipling and Walter de La Mare. One literary work, a novel titled The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky, has had a powerful impact on her that continues to resonate.

“That book is kind of a mantra for me,” she said. “The character, Prince Myshkin, is basically ridiculed for just being a nice person who loves people. He believed that beauty would save the world.” Indeed, the naïve, ultra-compassionate protagonist is a devout idealist whose goodness is manipulated and usedagainst him. It is a sad commentary on innocence versus the dark side of human nature.

In recent months, King’s star has been rising in the Midlands. This past February, her work was featured in a special Valentine’s Day-themed exhibit titled “Love Hurts/Love Heals” at the Community Hall Gallery at 701 Whaley Street. That exhibit inspired a bigger idea that King submitted in her successful proposal to the SC Arts Commission, which this year awarded her a $1,210 Emerging Artist grant to produce an eight-painting collection titled Love Heals: The Margins and Time In-between. The concept is driven by King’s introspection following her mother’s death.

“After her death, I had to find my purpose, and that meant acquainting myself with a whole new reality — that entire neighborhoods and cultures had disappeared as if destroyed by devastation or war, and replaced with visions and forecasting from generations that had no interest or need for my childhood memories, nor for the contributions of generations that formed me,” she wrote in her Arts Commission proposal. “But I wanted to continue to tell the stories of my parents, their lifetimes, their influences. I had to rely on memories or collaborative storytelling with family and friends to fill in voids. Most often, the fusion of these memories and recollections are didactic approaches manifested in the art that I enjoy creating.”

King fully embraces the collaborative storytelling that emerges in her work. With these new pieces, shewants to focus on people struggling with various challenges, such as illness or age. As a contributor to North Carolina-based organization Artists for a Cure, King regularly produces portraits of young children living with cancer. The organization takes requests from all across the country. Their stories consistently touch her.

In anything she does, King immerses herself entirely in her work. “I am in every painting. They are a part of me,” she said. “But I hope they can give broader meaning so it’s not just about me.”

A portrait King painted for the non-profit Artists for a Cure.

Artist Wilma Ruth King

Great State Fair

This is what South Carolina is all about.

By WARREN MCINNIS HUGHES | Photos by FORREST CLONT

Nancy L. Smith fondly remembers her childhood visits to the South Carolina State Fair when her father would take a day off from work to bring the family for fun and excitement. Years later, that excitement has not waned for Smith, who now views the fair with new lenses as general manager of the event that welcomes nearly a half million to the fairgrounds in Columbia each fall. The South Carolina State Fair is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization and will celebrate 154 years October 11-22.

“We celebrate everything that is good about South Carolina and her people, all at their South Carolina State Fair,” said Smith, who assumed the role of general manager of the state’s largest event in 2018. Smith began working for the fair in her 20s as a seasonal helper in the Moore Building, setting up exhibits for preliminary judging before the gates ever opened. Working the fair every year was like a family reunion and, as Smith says, “I knew I had caught the “fair bug.” Everyone in the Home and Craft

Department looked forward to their fair days together in October.

When then-manager, Gary Goodman, offered Smith a full-time position in 2000, there was no hesitation.

“I knew immediately the fair industry was for me. Since that time, it has never been a job. It has always been my career,” Smith said. Smith held various titles at the fair in her early years, including director of entertainment and exhibits, marketing and advertising director, and office manager. In 2005, Smith started the first sponsorship program at the SC State Fair. She was named assistant manager in 2007, and while in that role, and now as general manager, she has sought to grow an innovative fair that remains true to its agricultural roots.

“Whether viewing the beautiful display of canned items in the Moore Building, the bins, and bins of fresh sweet potatoes and sugar cane in the Ellison Building, or the smell of hay (and more) as I take a morning stroll through the livestock barns to visit the cattle, swine, chickens, rabbits, sheep and more, it all

speaks South Carolina and tells a story of its own, like no other event could tell,” Smith said. “This is what South Carolina is all about.” In recognition of her commitment to agriculture, the South Carolina Association of Agricultural Educators recently presented Smith with its John W. Parris Agricultural Leadership Award, recognizing continued support for agriculture in a state-level position.

Smith’s initial years as general manager did not come without special challenges. Her first year included a hurricane, when the fair closed for a full day, a first-ever in the fair’s then 149-year history. She had the privilege of celebrating the 150th anniversary of the fair in 2019. And then, in 2020, the unbelievable happened: COVID. But Smith says she learned many things during that unprecedented time. “I learned to be a better manager, and I learned to appreciate even more the great team we have at the South Carolina State Fair,” she said. “I also learned how very much the people of

» Birthplace: Columbia, SC; Lived in Elmwood Neighborhood; grew up in Calhoun County

» Family: The late Mary Swygert and William Lyles Smith

» Professional Background: Graduate - Institute of Fair Management; Certified Fair Executive designation - International Association of Fairs and Expositions (IAFE) in 2006; CFE (Certified Fair Executive)

» Title: General Manager, South Carolina State Fair

» Membership/Leadership: C urrent President, South Carolina Association of Fairs and second vice president, Mid-West Fair’s Association; 2020 Chair of International Association of Fairs and Expositions (IAFE)

» Recognition: Recipient - John W. Parris Agricultural Leadership Award by the South Carolina Association of Agricultural Educators, 2023; Fair Person of the Year - 2021, South Carolina Association of Fairs; the Honorary State FFA (Future Farmers of America) Degree in 2010; Honorary American FFA Degree, 2018

» Community/ Religious Affiliations: First Presbyterian Associate Reformed Church in Columbia; SC Philharmonic’s Advisory Board, 4H Advisory Board

» Favorite Quotations: Her “wake up” call: Philippians 4:4: ”Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I will say, rejoice.”

» Hobbies/ Interests: Poetry lover; avid birder

South Carolina love and appreciate their SC State Fair. This was very evident in the emails, calls, and letters received during our first - and hopefully, one and only - 2020 Drive Through State Fair.

Smith’s dedication to the fair’s proud place in the state’s history and to her ongoing leadership has drawn high praises from SC State Fair Executive Committee president, J. Cantey Heath, Jr. “For over 150 years, the South Carolina State Fair has been inextricably linked with the advancement of the Palmetto State. Nancy’s dedicated and innovative leadership well complements that rich heritage. Our future promises to be a bright one,” Heath said.

One of Smith’s favorite parts of the fair, along with its family-friendly tradition, is the educational and agricultural impact of the fair on the state as well as the lives of many young people.” From its inception, the South Carolina State Fair has been committed to preserving and promoting our agricultural roots, providing a vibrant platform for farmers, educators, and communities to come together,” Smith said.

With more than 40 years of experience

in the industry, Smith has witnessed the positive impact programs such as Future Farmers of America (FFA) and 4H have made in the lives of young exhibitors. “When you see them show their animals, it really instills a sense of pride, as you know the fair played a part in making that a reality,” she said. Supporting education, along with agriculture, has remained at the core of the fair’s mission, and the fair has continued to give back through its Ride of Your Life Scholarship program, now in its 27th year. Smith was thrilled to be at the helm this year when the fair’s scholarship giving soared to $500,000 per year from a previous high of $300,000. With this increase, the SC State Fair has awarded almost $5 million in scholarships since the program started.

“The SC State Fair’s continued growth and year-long offerings allow us to always stay true to our commitment to education,” Smith said. That commitment to education is mirrored by an even larger economic footprint statewide, with an estimated $45.5 million impact on the state’s economy each year. As a Columbia native, Smith both personally and professionally views her years with the South Carolina State Fair as the ride of her life. “From the ‘fair standpoint,’ I like to ride the Skyglider at night when I get to see, hear, smell, and take in all the sights and sounds and ‘flavors’ of the fair. It’s a beautiful scene,” she said.

“I feel the SC State Fair is a gift that has been given to me for this time. I consider it a precious gift and an extreme honor to be a part of the best tradition in South Carolina. The fair means so many things to so many people. My “Mama” always taught our family to “be thankful for the many blessings the Lord showers upon us from day to day.” I consider the SC State Fair one of those many blessings, and I am truly thankful.”

The South Carolina State Fair, a self-supporting 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, was organized in 1869 and is dedicated to preserving the state’s agricultural roots while supporting statewide education. In addition to the 12-day South Carolina State Fair, the charitable organization manages annual football parking, is a popular event venue, and hosts Carolina Lights — Columbia’s downtown drive-through light show.

Right Reasons

South Carolina Obesity Surgery Center Celebrates 25 Years of Success Stories

By JENNIFER WILSON

South Carolina Obesity Surgery Center at Lexington Medical Center is an accredited center for weight-loss surgery from the American College of Surgeons and the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery. Its team includes the most experienced bariatric surgeons in South Carolina. The practice is celebrating its 25th anniversary. Here is one of its success stories.

LYNN KELLY

In 2001, Lynn Kelly was working as a labor and delivery nurse in Columbia in size 4X scrubs. At 5’ 3”, she weighed 299 pounds. As a busy 37-year-old working mom and wife, the Richland County woman says she wasn’t following healthy habits. Like many of us, her weaknesses were carbs and sugar.

“I didn’t have health issues, but as a nurse, I knew they were coming,” she said. “I always wanted to be healthier, looking and feeling better.”

That year, Lynn underwent gastric bypass surgery at the South Carolina Obesity Surgery Center. She lost 165 pounds in one year. And she’s kept it off ever since. That’s more than two decades of success.

Today, at age 59, she’s a size four.

THE ROAD TO WEIGHT-LOSS SURGERY

“I was a little chubby in middle school and high school,” Lynn said. “Not crazy fat. But I tried dieting along the way.”

It didn’t work.

In college at Winthrop University, Lynn put on more weight. Then she got married, became a nurse and had two children. All the while, she admits to eating the wrong things. One day, her nurse manager said she wanted everyone to wear matching scrubs. “I was a size 26. I’ll never forget that. I needed the 4X scrubs. That’s the biggest I’d ever been.”

Lynn began researching gastric bypass surgery and found South Carolina Obesity Surgery Center. Leading up to her surgery, Lynn met with clinicians from the practice who taught her about the diet and lifestyle changes she’d need to make.

Weight-loss surgery is a tool, not a magic quick fix.

“You’ve got to be in it for the right reasons. If you think you’re just going to snap your fingers and not participate, you’re wrong,” Lynn said.

The surgery reduced Lynn’s stomach to a three-ounce pouch. Back then, the procedure included a large abdominal incision – there was no minimally-invasive laparoscopic surgery as there is today.

After the operation, portion control became essential.

“If your mind has not made the connection that you can only have a small amount of food when you used to eat a whole pizza, you’ll be sick,” she said. “A hammer won’t drive in a nail if you just lay it there. You’ve got to use the hammer to drive in the nail. Think of the surgery as a tool that you need to make it function for you.”

Cravings are still there. And if you overeat, you can gain the weight back.

Lynn Kelly in 2001, before weight-loss surgery

ACCOUNTABILITY LEADS TO SUCCESS

“I knew if I stayed accountable, I could achieve what I wanted.”

Lynn weighs less than 135 pounds today. She’s been a size 4 for more than 20 years.

“Lynn’s success is based on her dedication to maintaining a healthy diet over the years. The surgery works to reset your weight to a healthy level over the year after surgery, said Glen F. Strickland, MD, FACS, of South Carolina Obesity Surgery Center, who performed Lynn’s surgery. “Maintaining that weight is a daily choice. Some people do it and others not so much.”

Lynn’s daily meals include three small portions of foods including grilled chicken, tuna fish, and sugarfree gelatin. In addition, she’ll take a bite or two of other foods, then give the rest to her husband.She only drinks water and coffee. And she exercises on a mini trampoline.

Lynn is thankful.

“I’ve been so happy that I’ve been part of the program for almost the entire 25 years it’s been established,” she said. “I wouldn’t do anything differently. And I could not recommend them more highly.”

Today, Lynn is a grandmother to three children.

“You’ve got to know how bad you want it. And I wanted it really bad,” she said. “To be here for my children – and my future grandchildren –who I’m here for now.”

Lynn Kelly, 2023

by CRUSH RUSH

Well St y led

Fall Fashion

Fall Fashion

wife, and boy mom, wears fall’s hottest fashions to the Midlands’ most popular seasonal attractions.

Awakens Autumn

Megan Pinckney Rutherford, businesswoman,

Photographed by Crush Rush

Megan wears a dress from Slate on Devine. Accessories are her own. Photo taken at Clinton Sease Farms in Lexington.

Megan wears a skirt and top set from Scout & Molly’s located in Trenholm Plaza. Accessories are her own.

Photo taken at Clinton Sease Farms.

For a date night at Lula Drake Wine Parlor on Main Street in Columbia, Megan wears a dress from Scout & Molly’s. Accessories are her own.

Megan wears a top from Scout & Molly’s and pants from Slate. Accessories are her own. Photo taken at Clinton Sease Farms in Lexington.

For an alternate date night look at Lula Drake Wine Parlor, Megan wears a jacket from Slate on Devine. The outfit and accessories are her own.

Megan wears a pink short and sweater combo from Slate on Devine with her own accessories to the State Fair.

COLLEGE

2023 FOOTBALL PREVIEW

By WILLIE T. SMITH III

Photos by CLEMSON ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT AND USC ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT

The South Carolina football program hasn’t come close to where Shane Beamer envisions it in the future, but the Gamecocks head coach likes where it’s headed. Following a meandering campaign for most of 2022, USC closed with a bang. With the season teetering on mediocracy, the Gamecocks manhandled then nationally fifth-ranked Tennessee 63-38. That was followed by a comefrom-behind 31-30 victory over instate rival Clemson, ranked seventh in the country at the time, in Death Valley to end the regular season. Following those performances,

even a Gator Bowl loss to Notre Dame hasn’t dampened the hopes of Carolina fans. Beamer Ball still has a long way to go to obtain the status its namesake has planned.

“Our challenge has been to be better in every single area of our program, every department than we were in 2022, and we are well on our way to doing that,” said Beamer. “We are going to be a young football team. We expect to play true freshmen at every single position this upcoming season. So, we have to continue to grow up and get better in a hurry.”

While Clemson won 11 games and captured its seventh Atlantic Coast

Conference title in the last eight years, it also dropped three games and missed the College Football Playoffs for the second consecutive season.

Most colleges would throw a parade with that resume. But, in Tiger Town, it appears the program has slipped a tad since the days Deshaun Watson and Trevor Lawrence were under center. Heck, some have had the gall to predict Clemson is no longer the leader of the ACC pack.

Coach Dabo Swinney is confident his squad will remain among the nation’s elite, but it’s not standing pat. The Tigers enter the season with their third offensive coordinator in

Seniors Tyler Davis (left) and Ruke Orhorhoro

three years as Garrett Riley was hired away from Texas Christian University (TCU) to get the unit back on track. “I’m not trying to prove anybody wrong,” said Swinney. “I’m just trying to be who we are. It’s not like we live in some cage. People hear the good, hear the bad. At the end of the day, external opinions and narratives can be fuel for the fire, but it can’t be the fire. Because, if it is, you are up and down, up and down based on whatever the narrative is.

“We’re a team that’s in the (national championship) conversation. We’re good enough. I’m never going to be a guy that’s going to sit here and say we stink, and I don’t know if we can win five games

this year. I always think we can win. It’s just how I think. I’m not sitting here if I think any other way.”

Despite their eye-opening lateseason wins, the Gamecocks suffered a few head-scratching losses earlier, falling to Missouri by 13 in WilliamsBrice Stadium and Florida by 32 on the road. Standout tight end Jaheim Bell (Florida State), running back Marshawn Lloyd (Southern Cal), and defensive end Jordan Burch (Oregon) have transferred, while cornerback Cam Smith was a second-round pick in the National Football League Draft. There are a lot of holes to fill.

“We have got 38 new guys on our football team, and I know in today’s college football, rosters turn over more

than they ever have, but 38 is a really high number when you talk about incoming freshmen and transfers,” said Beamer. “So, we have gone from two wins to seven wins to eight wins, but it’s going to take that much more in every area. Our challenge has been to be better in every single area of our program, every department than they were in 2022, and we are well on our way to doing that. We are going to be a young football team. We expect to play true freshmen at every single

Junior Barrett Carter

position this upcoming season. So, we have to continue to grow up and get better in a hurry.”

The Gamecocks cupboard isn’t bare, however. Spencer Rattler had an up-and-down season at quarterback after transferring from Oklahoma but finished on a high in leading his team to its impressive finish.

Possessing possibly the strongest arm in college football, if he can limit mistakes, the sky is the limit. Juice

Wells is one of the top wide receivers in the country. Seniors Xavier Legette and Ahmarean Brown also return at the position, while Arkansas transfer Trey Knox takes over at tight end.

“I feel like at the beginning to the middle of the year, we might have been doing a little too much that we didn’t need to be doing,” said Rattler. “Towards the end, we limited some stuff, some personnel groupings. We had a lot of personnel groupings that limited us a lot. But there’s no

excuses for that. We tightened down the playbook to plays that play to our strengths, to my strengths, our receivers’ strengths, (offensive) line strengths, all of that. Nothing really changed too much. The changes definitely helped toward the end of the season.”

Riley isn’t the only major change on the Clemson offense, as Cade Klubnik opens the season as the starting quarterback. DJ Uiagalelei, who started most of the 2022 campaign

Coach Beamer

QB Spencer Rattler

at quarterback, transferred to Oregon State after losing the starting job to Klubnik in the postseason. He was named most valuable player in the ACC Championship game but struggled in his only start, against Tennessee, in the Orange Bowl, where the Tigers were defeated 31-14.

“Specifically, talking about (the Tennessee) game, we needed to finish drives,” said Klubnik. “I think that’s what it started with, but I think, honestly, I’m just so proud of those guys for that game. I think that game is going to push us to the places we want to be this year. It’s putting a little bit of a bad feeling in our stomach all year. Obviously, we had a very successful year if you look at the overall picture of it: ACC Champion, 11-3 finish. That’s an amazing year, but to finish with a loss it’s always going to leave something a little dirty in your soul.”

There will be help on that side of the football as junior tailback Will Shipley rushed for 1,182 yards and 15 touchdowns in establishing himself as one of the top players at his position in the country.

Despite what happened in the past, Riley made sure everyone was pushed in the fall prior to naming starters.

“I think there always is,” he said of the competition. “No matter what you did last year and no matter what you did in spring football, you’ve got to come out and be able to do that in fall camp where we have enough confidence in you to move forward and continue to give you reps. That’s just how it always works. Everybody in here has seen starters that started the first game and then get pulled

at halftime. That’s the nature of the beast. So, I think they always know that there’s always competition.”

Beamer brought in Dowell Loggains as offensive coordinator after Marcus Satterfield left to take the same position at Nebraska. He comes to the Gamecocks with both college and NFL experience.

“He’s coming in with his new offense,” said Rattler. “He’s been coaching quarterbacks for years in the NFL and has a lot of experience. The offense is very quarterback friendly and plays to our strengths. He knows what our strengths are, which is good. He loves our offense, loves our group, and keeps teaching us every single day. We’re still putting together with camp here in two weeks. We’re excited to get in there and keep improving.”

There has also been a change on the defensive coaching staff as former USC star defensive lineman and

Last season, junior Will Shipley rushed for 1,182 yards and 15 touchdowns in establishing himself as one of the top players at his position in the country.

NFL performer Travian Robertson is leading the defensive line.

Carolina also returns the nation’s best special teams led by coach Pete Lembo. Senior Kai Kroeger returns as the country’s top punter.

Although the Gamecocks face one of the country’s toughest schedules, Beamer is excited to see the team’s progression.

“It’s a hungry group,” said Beamer. “They have shown they are not satisfied with just eight wins. They know that we have a higher ceiling here at Carolina, and everything they

have done since January embodies that. We have had a great summer in the weight room with Luke Day, our head strength coach, and his staff. I like the way that these guys are working.

“It’s a big thing with us, and a big message is no complacency. We can’t assume that because things went well for us last season, because we won eight games and accomplished a lot of firsts, that it’s just automatically going to go that way again because we have got returning players.”

Swinney understands there

are teams itching to take away Clemson’s top spot in the ACC but isn’t sweating it.

“I think we can compete with anybody, and I don’t really get too caught up in whether we’re picked to win in this league,” said Swinney. “It really doesn’t matter. What matters is what we do Labor Day night (against Duke), and that’s what I focus on. I have no problem with other teams being talked about as great because they’ve earned it.”

FireworksFree

A major life change brought this Columbia native to TownPark in the downtown Bull Street District. It worked out beautifully.

By KATHERINE PETTIT » Photos B y JAY BROWNE

Liz Harbison had two big surprises after moving into a new TownPark townhome. The lifelong Columbia resident and USC graduate knew she’d be close to the Vista, her favorite restaurants, her church, and the University of South Carolina campus. And she was downsizing by design. With her three children grown and the recent loss of her husband, Will Harbison, a Pensacola native and Columbia attorney, it seemed smart to consider the next phase of her life and what it would look like. Less maintenance for sure. A smaller

footprint to make homeownership less demanding. Amenities nearby. TownPark, in the BullStreet District, checked all those boxes and more. But it wasn’t until she actually moved in and spent her first winter, spring, and summer in the house that she realized how very safe she felt here.

“I quickly met my neighbors, and they are lovely, caring people,” she said.

“The property is well structured for getting around.” The homes on her street are easily accessible, with owners who range from young professionals to families, empty nesters, and retirees.

Everyone looks out for everyone else.

The second surprise was quite unexpected. “The fireworks in the summer at Segra Park, when the Fireflies play baseball, are beautiful and festive,” Liz said. “I can enjoy them from the privacy of my rooftop deck.”

There’s also the convenience of Page Ellington Park, with 20 acres, including a two-acre pond, the restored Smith Branch Creek, green space for picnics and afternoon strolls, and a fenced dog park – perfect for Billy, her canine companion. The cats (Eloise and Leslie Knope) enjoy access to the cozy area that opens from her living area but generally stay close to home, and Leslie Knope is restricted from enjoying the rooftop terrace after an exploration from the rooftops that took her three doors down the street and required a cherry picker to try to coax her home (which failed) and the removal of a bit of her neighbor’s decking to get her out and back home again. “I think she enjoyed the adventure but couldn’t make the same jumps back to her terrace,” Liz laughed.

life and entertaining.”

The door in the garage opens into the home – great for rainy days. The first floor is open and contains the kitchen, living area, and dining space. “There is just enough outdoor space behind me for sitting outside or giving the animals access to the outdoors,” she said. It’s enclosed along the back with part of the original brick wall that secured the area many years ago. There’s a powder room for visitors.

The kitchen is the showstopper. Liz and Marnie reworked the wall behind the stove to include open shelving and the striking backsplash, 3-inch by 12inch subway tiles by Daltile in Venice Statue. The tile has a glossy, handpainted appearance with irregular edges that reflect the beauty and tradition of a handmade tile.

“The kitchen is a focal point of the home, so we sought to elevate the area with customized cabinetry, finishes, and appliances,” Marnie said. “We added distinctive funky pendants over the island and incorporated a favorite whitewashed wood and iron light fixture

Now everyone seems quite settled and pleased with their new home. It’s a great choice, and Liz has enjoyed decorating and furnishing the rooms with the help of longtime friend and designer Marnie Clayton, who works as a realtor and interior designer for The Moore Company and sold Liz’s home in Gregg Park as well as the BullStreet townhome. The two go way back. Liz managed MACK Home, a retail store and design showroom owned by Marnie and Anna Kemper, and is working with Marnie again at her design firm, Marnie Cie.

“Marnie and I found a few new pieces at Market to combine with some well-loved vintage and antique furnishings I kept from my old home,” she said. Indeed, a curated eye is apparent throughout the rooms, beginning with the ground floor. The entrance is warm and inviting, with a brick exterior and flowers.

The front outdoor space is compact, which is exactly how Liz likes it.

“Liz has great style, and after knowing her for so many years, I have a good sense of her aesthetic,” Marnie said. “We wanted her new space to showcase her collected, loved pieces, and also be a comfortable shelter for

The kitchen is a showstopper. Liz and Marnie reworked the wall behind the stove to include open shelving and the striking backsplash.

over the dining table. The open living space is elegant and functional.”

Most of the walls throughout are painted with Benjamin Moore White Dove in a highgloss finish. Liz chose a contrasting color (Sherwin Williams Black Fox), for the doors and trim. The gooseneck faucet is an upgrade as well, practical yet stunning. Plenty of cabinet space houses her pantry, dishes, glassware, serving pieces, and more. Open shelves display treasures.

The island offers a bit of separation from the living area, even as it invites conversation between guests and the cook.

Liz’s eclectic taste is striking in the white modern table with nature accents against the wall. It’s a focal point, with seating around the space. The dining table is expansive and follows the white theme.

Modern, with a touch of tradition. On the wall is an oil painting, one of several in the home painted by her late husband’s brother, a professional artist who lived in New York.

Two doors allow access to the small outdoor area: one for the cats and the dog, and the other, for their human friends who want to enjoy fresh air in a private setting.

The stairs lead to the second floor and the primary bedroom with its en-suite bath and spacious shower, plus the walk-in closet. A comfortable chair offers a bird’s eye view over the brick wall and onto the bustle of Calhoun Street. It’s visible, but not intrusive. Accessible, but somehow far away.

Down the hall is the second bedroom and another full bath. It’s currently home for her son, soon graduating from the university, which is a pleasant walk away.

The final stairs lead up to a comfortable room with two closets which can serve as an office, guest bedroom, or TV room – perhaps all of the above, depending on the need at the time. A queen-sized foldout sofa would fit nicely here.

But that’s not all the third floor has to offer. The rooftop deck looks toward the heart of BullStreet and beyond. It’s private, but not closed off. Furnished with inviting outdoor furniture, it stands ready to welcome the morning, grab an alfresco lunch, or serve as the backdrop for cocktails and conversation at the end of the day.

Clearly, New Urbanist principles embraced by the BullStreet District are at work here. Walk to games, greenspace, restaurants, shops, and gathering places, while being comfortably nestled within 181 acres in

The open living space is elegant and functional. Most of the walls throughout are painted with Benjamin Moore White Dove in a high-gloss finish.

Liz’s eclectic taste is striking in the white modern table with nature accents against the wall.

the middle of downtown Columbia. Then, return home to an aesthetically charming classic-meetsmodern vibe. Back inside, the home envelopes Liz with treasures from her past and newcomers for the new space. They blend seamlessly together, just like life at its best.

Does Liz miss doing laborious yard work on the weekends? “Absolutely not,” she said, laughing.

“Tending to my new tiny garden is exactly what I wanted for the next phase of my life.”

A Story of the City

When Ed Madden was named the first poet laureate for the City of Columbia in 2015, he also became the first city laureate in the state. Beyond the expectations that he write, read, and promote poetry, Madden innovatively engaged the community by making poetry a public art and amplifying the voices of local and young writers. His post officially began with a

commemoration of the historic burning of Columbia during the American Civil War and ended with the selection of a new city flag. His new book, A Story of the City: poems occasional and otherwise, showcases the poems he wrote for Columbia and about Columbia during his tenure as poet laureate. We got a sneak peek into the book and have printed three of its poems here for readers to consider, along with commentary on each poem from Madden himself.

Ed Madden,inaugural poet laureate for the City of Columbia

of a City A Story

This was my first official poem as the city laureate, which I wrote for Mayor Steve Benjamin’s annual State of the City address on Jan 20, 2015. I wanted to suggest the idea that there are multiple stories that might be told about the city, knowing that the poems I would write in this position would only be one version. I was the first laureate for Columbia and the first city laureate in the state.

I did want to suggest the burning of Columbia during the Civil War (that soot-shod ghost) as the commemoration of that historical event would be coming up soon. I was at that moment thinking about a poem for the official commemoration on Boyd Plaza less than a month away.

In the closing stanza, I wanted to suggest the importance of Columbia as a capitol city, a place where the local and the state intersect. I imagined it as a place of singing and signing (cultural and legal-political languages) but also as a site for speaking and shouting (sanctioned official discourse and unofficial protests). More importantly, I wanted to emphasize the value of stories and storytelling throughout the poem— what stories we tell and how and why we tell them— and the relation of that practice to how we define who we are and who we want to be.

I figure only poets and English teachers will really care about the form, but I did write it in an irregular blank verse (unrhymed pentameter), a very traditional form sometimes associated with serious poetry in English. This was the beginning of a project— an honor, an opportunity—that I took very seriously. This was the first poem I wrote for the position. It remains one of my favorites.

In the story, there is a city, its streets straight as a grid, and in the east, the hills, in the west, a river. In the story, someone prays to a god, though we don’t know yet if it is a prayer of praise or a prayer for healing—so much depends on this—his back to us, or hers, shoulders bent. We hear the murmur of it, the urgency.

In the story a man is packing up a box of things at a desk, a woman is sitting in a car outside the grocery as if she can’t bring herself to go in, not yet. Or is the man unpacking, setting a photo of his family on the desk, claiming it? And is the woman writing a message to someone— her sister maybe, a friend? In the story, a child is reading, sunlight coming through the window. In the story, the trees are thicker,

and green. In the story, a child is reading, yes, and his father watches, uncertain about something. There is a mother, maybe an aunt, an uncle, another father. These things change each time we open the book, start reading the story over. Sometimes a story about trees, sometimes about a city of light, the city beyond the windows of a dark pub, now lucent and glimmering. Or sometimes a story about a ghost, his clothes threaded with fatigue and smoke, with burning—you smell him as he enters the room, and you wonder about that distant city he fled, soot-shod, 22 looking back in falling ash at the past.

Sometimes it’s a story about someone singing. Or someone signing a form, or speaking before a crowd, or shouting outside a building that looks important, if only for the flag there, or the columns, or the well-kept lawn. By now it’s maybe your story, and the child is your child, or you, or maybe we’re telling the story together, as people do, sitting at a table in a warm room, the meal finished, the night dark, a candle lit, an empty cup left out for a prophet, an empty chair, maybe, for a dead friend, a room filled with words, filled with voices, the living and the dead, someone telling a story about the people we are meant to be.

Written for the January 20, 2015 State of the City address by Mayor Stephen K. Benjamin.

I wrote this poem for the mayor’s 2017 State of the City address (Jan 31, 2017). Mayor Benjamin often passed along some idea he was thinking about, which helped me to write a poem that might fit with the overall emphasis of the event. I wasn’t bound to this, nor required to write something to support his speech, but I appreciated the opportunity to write in tandem so that my words might in some way echo or speak to his. That also suggested to me that as mayor, he took the position of city poet laureate seriously.

For this one, he told me he was thinking about the passage from 1 Corinthians about all of us being members of the same body. At the time—when Black Lives Matter marches not only took over city streets but veered onto the interstate, and when women’s marches (national and state) protested anti-feminist politics—a message about a city that could find unity in our diversity felt especially valuable In the fall of 2016, I had participated in a “welcome table” series of conversations about race and reconciliation at USC, and one of the exercises from those workshops (the neighborhood assessment) found its way into the second part of the poem.

I early on drafted as series of phrases thinking of the city itself as a person, a body. As I finished, I revised those lines and moved them to the end of the poem.

Both “Body Politic” and “The lesson that night” were originally published in The State newspaper.

I was also invited to read this poem at the 2017 Mayor’s Bike and Walk Summit (May 4, 2017).

Politic Body

Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. I Corinthians 12:15

When thousands of women with pink hats and placards fill the streets, think about how a city handles bodies, guides them down sidewalks and streets, between walls of stone and state, about the way a mass of bodies is a way of saying something, as when a march exceeds its brief circuit of the city and ends up on the interstate, as if to say these bodies matter, precarious, here and now. A city is a body, the old philosophers say, a leader the head, the soldiers his hands. A church, they say, or palace is like a brain, a place to pause, reflect. Or it’s the heart, stained glass and cold walls, glimmer of something larger. But that’s too easy a figure of order and power. A city is many bodies, moving, touching, talking, gathered together, a place where differences matter and meet, a song written to the beat of many feet.

In the neighborhood assessment, the teacher asks us to think about how bodies move, how and where they go. 82 How many banks or payday lenders within a mile of your house, she says, how many grocery stores, libraries, schools? These are moral questions. How far is health care from where you are,

if you had no car? Are there sidewalks where you live? She turns her hands up as she asks—as if they could be filled. What can people do? What do they have access to?

Sometimes, the prophet says, your body is your only weapon, he says, you put your body in the street to say what needs be said. Sometimes, he says, you tuck your body in so the wheels don’t turn. You hold your hand up, empty. You lift your hand above your eyes, as if to shade the sun, as if you’re looking into the distance, when you’re just looking to the future, for what’s not yet here. Hold your hand out to someone—we do it all the time— consider how we greet each other in handshake or bro hug, fist bump or bussed cheek, what we do when we meet, the grammar of hands and bodies, of who we are and what we think of one another. A mass of bodies is saying something— whether it’s a market shutting down Main, a dinner on a bridge, a great crowd of witnesses watching a flag come down, or maybe a room of people sitting together, listening to a man who asks them to imagine 83

Written for the January 31, 2017 State of the City address by Mayor Benjamin.

The Lesson that Night

In late spring 2016, a reporter from The State contacted me and asked me if I would be willing to write a poem to mark one year after the Charleston shooting at Mother Emanuel church. I was honored and nervous: I had to do this right, I had to do the moment justice. I worked and reworked this poem. I read a lot about the shooting and its aftermath, trying to figure out what to say. In all of my reading, I was struck by the passage from the Bible that the church members were studying that night, a verse from the Parable of the Sower in Mark 4. Specifically, it was the reference to seed sown on stony ground, which comes up quickly but has no roots and doesn’t last. I couldn’t help but feel that that lesson applied to the moment: we so quickly responded, but would our conviction, our resolution to change our state and its culture, would that last? Did it take root? I ran my drafts by other poets for suggestions, my friend Ray McManus and my colleague, Nikky Finney, who made a critical recommendation, pushing me to be direct. Finney’s poem about the Confederate flag coming down, “A New Day Dawns,” had appeared in The State the year before. I used the Bible verse and a line from her poem as epigraphs. Who are we now?

Have we really changed? Are we committed to change?

I sent the poem to the newspaper. I got on an airplane to London, where I was pursuing research at the London School of Economics. When I landed, my newsfeed was full of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando—making me feel greater weight, having written a poem about living in a state where someone could take a gun and aim their hate. I didn’t know what the newspaper would do with the poem. They ran it on the front page on June 17, 2016, superimposed over a photograph of the Mother Emanuel church steeple. I was stunned. I was shaking as it read it again on that image. When has a poem appeared on the front page of a newspaper?

I later performed the poem as part of Words and Shadows, These Rivers of Truth Have a Long Way Yet, a performance and poetry project organized by visiting artist Jerome Meadows at 701 Center for Contemporary Art (Sept 28, 2016), and I read it at the gallery opening for The Holy City: Art of Love, Unity, and Resurrection, in Charleston (May 29, 2017).

June 17, 2016, a year later

“And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground.”

Mark 4:16

“Who are we now?”

Nikky Finney, “A New Day Dawns”

How hot it was that sun-beat week, watering the yard every day, the curled leaves and dry ground, green wings of zinnia breaking the soil. They sat together around a green table, prayed, sang, then opened the gospel— the lesson that night was seed sown on stony ground. What can we know of the human heart, entangled in all that we’ve been taught? A boy from here sat with them about an hour, then aimed his hate and opened fire.

How quick we were to act, focused on that festering flag, quick to take it down and move forward, move on— these aren’t the same. After weeks of heat, it rained the day the governor said to take it down. Are we somehow different now? How would we know? ~

We furled a flag. We furled a flag. A girl was slung across a room, a man who ran shot in the back. The broke and broken schools remain. What has changed, beyond that square of empty sky where it once flew, the opened door of clouds and blue?

The lesson that night was stony ground. Not birds, not thorns, not the good soil. What grows up quick among the stones. What has no roots, what withers away. A friend calls change a perennial plant. A second year takes nurture and luck. If it comes back another year, a better chance that it will stay. Water well the just-sown and just-up. Water long in morning light. Water long and soak the roots to learn the lesson of that night. Learn the lesson of that night.

Food & Drink

dining out in the kitchen restaurant guide

BOUGIE PASTA

his expertise.

See page 50

Chef Pierce Bower of Dorsia Pasta Co. lends

A Food Lover’s Paradise

Kao Thai Cuisine recently moved to a new location on Main Street and is offering Pan-Asian delicacies to the patrons of downtown Columbia. After five successful years of operation on Senate Street, the restaurant was excited to go even bigger and better at a site that would provide increased foot traffic and exposure. Kao closed the doors on their original location in June 2023, and the team rushed to pack and prepare for the grand opening on Main Street on July 28th.

Baleigh Landreneau, Kao’s general manager since July 2020, was grateful for her staff’s assistance during this transition and described them as “a great blessing.” The team’s hard work has paid off, with the restaurant bustling every night since opening. “It’s been fabulous – more than we could have ever hoped or expected,” Landreneau said. Familiar faces have continued to frequent the restaurant in their new location and along with patrons who are visiting Kao Thai for the first time. “Our intention,” Landreneau said, “is to treat this like a brand-new restaurant and provide a memorable experience for repeat customers and newcomers alike.”

The new location is darker, moodier, and more intimate. The restaurant is designed to provide a comfortable atmosphere where guests can relax and unwind after a busy day. Since the private space can reach capacity most evenings, Kao recommends making reservations online. Guests are always welcome to walk in, however, and two tables are designated for walk-ins on a first-come, first-served basis. Twelve seats are also available at the bar.

The menu, full of fresh, modern Thai comfort food, adds to the relaxing ambiance. Landreneau described Thai food as “a wonderful balance of sweet, spicy, and savory all at the same time.” Thai food is simply prepared in a way that allows each of the intricate flavors in a dish to shine through. This results in incredible aromas, bold flavors, and satisfied taste buds. Much of the flavor at Kao’s is derived from the house-made sauces and curries, made according to the owner’s family recipes from Thailand.

Pork Belly Burnt Ends over Congaree Milling Co. Grits

B y MEREDITH GRACE HAWCROFT

After five successful years of operation on Senate Street, Kao Thai Cuisine relocates to Main.

The menu at Kao’s is varied and extensive; there’s sure to be something for everyone. One of the most popular dishes is the classic tangy Pad Thai; chicken, shrimp, thin rice noodles, egg, bean sprouts, green onions, and ground peanuts are stir-fried in a secret sauce and garnished with a lime wedge. Another delicious top-selling dish is Drunken Noodles. Stir-fried wide rice noodles mingle with onions, bell peppers, carrots, and fresh Thai basil leaves in a sweet and spicy garlic sauce. The Pad Khing is Landreneau’s personal favorite. The dish is prepared with fresh ginger root, scallions, white onions, shiitake mushrooms, red bell peppers, carrots, broccolini, and white pepper in an aromatic dark brown sauce. Landreneau opts for tofu as her protein of choice, making for a delicious and filling vegetarian option. Kao Thai Cuisine is proud of its numerous healthy options that fit any lifestyle, including vegan, vegetarian, keto, and gluten-free.

The restaurant offers refreshing libations to pair with each of these dishes. Before becoming general manager, Landreneau served as bar manager and created a cocktail program. Ten tropically influenced craft cocktails provide balance to spicier dishes. The delightfully creamy Mapow Mojito is a bestseller. Shipwreck coconut rum, sweet cream, pineapple, fresh lime, and mint create a combination that tastes like a cross between a pina colada and a mojito. Kao also has a solid wine offering, select sakés, and craft and local beer options, including Asian beer.

The staff at Kao Thai Cuisine are excited to serve guests on Main Street. Landreneau said, “People can really notice the feel of community when they eat here. We have the most wonderful team bonded by their work and truly care about customer experience. We want to give every customer a family feel when they dine with us. We want them to feel seen and appreciated.”

To experience the atmosphere and culinary joys of Kao Thai Cuisine yourself, consider dropping by during happy hour on weekdays from 4:30 – 6:30 pm. Drink specials and $5 appetizers make a perfect excuse to treat yourself to a night on the town.

kaothaicola.com

1307 Main St. Columbia, SC 29201

803-569-6881

Individual Kale and Mushroom Lasagna pg 53

DORSIA PASTA CO.

Pastas Bougie with

Recipes By PIERCE BOWERS

Photos By PIERCE BOWERS & HEATHER MARIE PHOTOGRAPHY

Chef Pierce Bowers founded Dorsia Pasta Co., a boutique operation creating “bougie pasta” in Columbia for restaurants, upscale markets, and the finest kitchens since September of 2021. He also offers private pasta classes and cheese wheel events –and they book up fast. In this issue of Columbia Living Magazine, he lends his expertise to our readers with four original recipes.

Makes one serving

4 oz cleaned kale

4 oz sliced fresh mushrooms

2 oz caramelized onions

2 oz diced or shredded mozzarella

2 cloves diced garlic

2 large sheets of fresh pasta

Individual Kale and Mushroom Lasagna

1. In a large, oiled sauté pan over medium heat, sauté the mushrooms, kale, and garlic until wilted. Just a few minutes.

2. Drain.

3. Boil pasta sheets in salted water for 3 minutes. Transfer to an ice bath.

4. In an individual oiled crock, take cut-out pieces of the pasta sheets, and layer in the crock.

5. Add a layer of kale/onions/mozzarella/ mushrooms. Repeat until the crock is full.

5. Add a layer of mozzarella on top.

6. Cook in a 325° oven until the internal temperature is 185°.

7. Serve piping hot.

Pumpkin Bucatini w/ Ricotta Cheese

Makes one serving

2 oz roasted pumpkin (or any hard squash) puréed and seasoned.

2 large egg yolks

4 oz parmesan cheese, grated

2 oz crispy diced pancetta or bacon

2 oz butter (unsalted)

4 oz bucatini

Salt/Pepper to taste

1. Boil Bucatini in a large pot of salted water until al dente.

2. In a large mixing bowl, add pumpkin purée, egg yolks, parmesan cheese, and butter.

3. Adding the hot pasta along with a ladle of hot pasta water, rapidly stir and incorporate the hot pasta into the egg/cheese/pumpkin mixture until the yolks emulsify around the pasta, being careful not to scramble the yolks.

4. Season to taste and plate immediately. Add crispy pancetta and more parmesan on top.

Garganelli w/ Canellinini Beans, Pesto Breadcrumbs, Burrata pg 52

Dorsia Pasta Co. offers pasta making classes to the public. Pictured here are examples of Chef Bowers’ work.

Makes one serving

2 oz drained canned cannellini beans

2 cloves diced garlic

2 oz toasted breadcrumbs

1 oz basil pesto puree

4 oz garganelli (or Penne type pasta)

2 oz burrata cheese

Garganelli w/ Cannellini Beans, Pesto Breadcrumbs, Burrata

1. Toss breadcrumbs with pesto evenly distributing and lightly toast in a 250° oven until golden brown.

2. Cook off garganelli in boiling, salted water until al dente.

3. In an oiled sauté pan over medium heat, lightly brown garlic and add beans and butter.

4. Add drained garganelli to pan and cook 1 additional minute adding pasta water to sauce if necessary.

5. Plate and top with pesto breadcrumbs and burrata. Drizzle with olive oil and additional parmesan cheese.

Littleneck Clams Manhattan

Makes one serving

6 littleneck clams (cleaned and purged)

4 oz spaghetti

2 garlic cloves diced

2 oz crispy diced pancetta or bacon

2 oz white wine

4 oz tomato puree

2 oz clam juice

2 oz butter (unsalted)

pinch of salt/pepper/chili flakes

1. In a large, oiled sauté pan, add clams and cover with a lid until clams start to open. Add garlic and brown lightly.

2. In a large pot, add spaghetti to salted boiling water. Cook until al dente.

3. Add back to the sauté pan, add white wine, tomato purée, and clam juice. Reduce for three minutes. Incorporate butter.

4. Add drained spaghetti to the sauté pan. Cook for one more minute after tossing. Season to taste.

Use our restaurant listings to find the best eating and drinking in Columbia.

Locations: (BL) Batesburg-Leesville; (C) Chapin; (D) Downtown; (DS) Devine Street; (F) Five Points; (FA) Forest Acres; (I) Irmo; (L) Lexington; (N) Northeast; (R) Rosewood; (V) Vista Area; (W) West Columbia.

American

Café Strudel (L) 309 S Lake Dr., 4900895 (W) 300 State St., 794-6634. Great atmosphere and food.

Cola’s Restaurant (V) 1215 Assembly St., 451-0051. The dinner menu is eclectic and evolving and includes lamburger, beef short ribs, shrimp succotash.

Liberty Tap Room & Grill (D) 828 Gervais St., 461-4677 and (I) 1602 Marina Rd., 667-9715 American and ethnic steak, chicken and seafood. Downtown offers a handcrafted brew pub. Lake Murray accessible by boat or car. Lunch and dinner.

Sound Bites Eatery (D) 1425 Sumter St. 708-3085. A variety of fresh options and delightfully curated creations. Lunch.

Tombo Grille (FA) 4509 Forest Dr., 7829665. Forest Acres dinner hotspot serving incredible food, wines, and high-gravity beer.

Upper Crust (N) 843 Polo Road, #4, 8886282. Pizza is the specialty, plus fresh salads, sandwiches and funky quesadillas.

Asian

Basil Thai (D) 702 Cross Hill Rd. Suite 300A, 782-0716. Award-winning cuisine with a welcoming feel. Lunch and dinner.

Boku Kitchen + Saloon (D) 916 Gervais Street, 708-8577. Colorful and inviting, the décor enhances its Pan-Asian cuisine and artfully crafted cocktails. Small plates and full-sized entrees also offer lighter options.

Duke's Pad Thai & Noodle Bar (W) 904 Knox Abbott Dr., Cayce, 661-6455. Cozy family-friendly restaurant with a bright neighborhood vibe brings fresh Thai flavors and a customizable noodle bar for dine-in or takeout.

Mai Thai Cuisine (WC) 2249 Sunset Blvd., 939-4795. Traditional Thai dishes and a bubble tea bar.

Miyo’s (D) 922 S Main St., 779-6496; (FA) 3250 Forest Dr., Suite B, 743-9996; (I) 1220 Bower Pkwy., Suite E-2, 7817788; (N) 715 Fashion Dr., 788-8878; (V)

701 Lady St., 255-8878; (L) 5594 Sunset Blvd., Suite D & E, 957-9888. Unique Asian flared foods, sushi, fine teas, and specialty entrees. Hours vary by location.

SakiTumi Grill & Sushi Bar (V) 807 Gervais St., Suite 103, 931-0700. Serving up award-winning sushi with fresh ahi tuna. Grill menu includes steak, chicken, and beef. Dinner.

Camon Japanese Restaurant (D) 1332 Assembly St., 254-5400. Hibachi-style seafood, steak and chicken. Dinner.

BBQ

Hudson’s Smokehouse (L) 4952 Sunset Blvd., 356-1070. Voted some of the best BBQ in all of Columbia, offering full menu and Southern buffet. Lunch and dinner.

Little Pigs (N) 4927 Alpine Rd., 7888238. Large buffet with everything BBQ and all the sides. W-Sun.

Shealy’s (B-L) 340 East Columbia Ave., Batesburg-Leesville, 532-8135. Full menu, plus buffet for Q tasting. Buy the sauce, too. Closed Wed and Sun.

Deli/Café

DiPrato’s (F) 342 Pickens St., 779-0606. New York-style delicatessen serving Mediterranean and Italian cuisine with signature sandwiches, soups, and salads. Lunch.

The Gourmet Shop (F) 724 Saluda Ave., 799-3705. A local favorite, serving homemade sandwiches, soups, salads, and desserts. Menu includes turkey pesto, chicken salad, and smoked salmon. Lunch.

Momma Rabbit’s (L) 5082 Sunset Boulevard, Lexington. 356-1330. Great food with a Southern flair has made this family enterprise into a dining destination.

Rosewood Market and Deli (R) 2803 Rosewood Dr., 256-6410. Wide variety of menu selections such as coconut shrimp, gumbo, pasta, soups, and salads. Low carb healthy dishes available.

smallSUGAR (V) 709 Gervais St., 7227506. Serving breakfast and lunch every day. Fresh bakery products, breakfast bowls, lunch bowls, sandwiches and more.

Caribbean Legacy Caribbean Bar & Grill 215 O’Neil Ct., 708-8481. No-frills Jamaican food serving wings, oxtail, meat curries, and other Caribbean staples in a casual environment.

Pon Di River Caribbean Bar and Bistro 2344 Broad River Rd., 638-4220. Caribbean comfort foods w/ delicious island flavors.

Fine Dining

Al’s Upstairs (W) 300 Meeting St., 7947404. Romantic, elegant Italian restaurant overlooking the Columbia skyline. Entrees include fresh fish, steaks, chops, pasta, and lamb. Dinner.

Hampton Street Vineyard (D) 1201 Hampton St., 252-0850. Offering an array of cuisines with seafood, pastas, beef, and chicken. Menu changes quarterly. Lunch and dinner.

Motor Supply Bistro (V) 920 Gervais St., 256.6687. Serving up innovative food with a menu that changes twice daily. Lunch, dinner and Sun brunch.

Ristorante Divino (V) 803 Gervais St., 799-4550. Authentic Northern Italian cuisine, serving homemade pastas, seafood, duck, and beef. Dinner.

Saluda’s (F) 751 Saluda Ave., Columbia, 799-9500. Upscale second-story bar and restaurant provides fine dining, fine wine pairings, and a cozy-classy experience overlooking the iconic Five Points fountain. Dinner.

Terra (W) 100 State St., 791-3443. Great neighborhood restaurant serving wood-oven pizzas, quail, red drum, steaks, and salads. Dinner.

French

Black Rooster (WC) 201 Meeting St., West Columbia, 724-2853. Casual “Frenchish” restaurant with an amazing rooftop bar overlooking the river. Steak Frites, Mussels, and much more.

Italian

Alodia’s (I) 2736 North Lake Dr., 7819814. Authentic Italian dishes with a romantic flair, including time-honored favorites and updated versions of the classics. Lunch and dinner.

Il Giorgione Pizzeria & Wine Bar (DS) 2406 Devine St., 521-5063. Experience Italy firsthand at this authentic pizzeria & wine bar. House-made Panini, pizzas, pasta, mozzarella & desserts. Lunch and dinner.

Travinia Italian Kitchen (L) 5074 Sunset Blvd., 957-2422; (N) 101 Sparkleberry

Crossing Rd., 419-9313. Contemporary Italian cuisine serving fresh pasta, soups, chicken, pizza, veal, and seafood. Lunch and dinner.

Villa Tronco (D) 1213 Blanding St., 2567677. Enjoy casual fine dining in Columbia’s oldest Italian restaurant. Old world charm with authentic recipes. Lunch and dinner.

Mediterranean

Gervais & Vine (V) 620 Gervais St., 799-8463. Spanish-styled Mediterranean wine and tapas bar offering a wide selection of beers, outside seating and a menu with culinary influences from across the region. Dinner.

Mexican

La Fogata (C) 105 Amicks Ferry Rd., 932-2475; (I) 11210 Broad River Rd., 542-7273 (W) 2805 Sunset Blvd., West Columbia, 791-8540. Fresh Mexican food served up by genuinely smiling faces.

San Jose Mexicano Restaurantes (BL, C, FA, I, L, NE, R) Locations can be found throughout the Midlands. Fresh, authentic Mexican food with all the flourishes, including lunch specials, combination plates and desserts. Hours vary.

Seafood

Blue Marlin (V) 1200 Lincoln St., 7993838. Serving dishes with a Cajun and Creole influence. Menu includes seafood, steaks, and chicken. Lunch and dinner.

Pearlz Oyster Bar (V) 936 Gervais St., 661-7741. Fun, eclectic restaurant serving the freshest seafood in a casual dining atmosphere. Dinner.

The Oyster Bar (V) 1123 Park St., 7994484. Columbia’s original oyster bar, serving the freshest Gulf oysters, steamed or raw, soups, and shrimp and grits. Dinner.

Southern

Mr. Friendly’s (F) 2001 Greene St., Suite A, 254-7828. Serving new Southern cuisine including seafood, chicken, beef, and wild game. Sophisticated yet casual, extensive wine list and a wide variety of micro-brew beer. Lunch and dinner.

Poogan’s Southern Kitchen, 4605 Forest Dr. #1. 803-745-8220. An expanding southern legend that remains true to its lowcountry roots. Lunch and dinner.

Steaks and Seafood

Chophouse of Chapin (C) 301 Columbia Avenue, Chapin. 723-2351. Steaks, plus seafood and pork, served with seasonal items and sauces. Dinner.

Cowboy Brazilian Steakhouse (D) 1508

Main St., 728-0887. A unique, all-youcan-eat Churrascaria located in the historic Kress Building. Featuring a full salad bar, Brazilian hot dishes and 16 different types of meats sliced at your table. Full bar and wine cellar. Dinner.

Griffin Chophouse (L) 924 E Main St Lexington, 957-0863. Start with brisket candy, then choose from great cuts of beef, homemade appetizers, innovative salads and more. Lunch and dinner.

Halls Chophouse (D) 1221 Main St., Columbia, 563-5066. Family-owned high-end dining with a rich interior setting, offering up steaks cooked to perfection and choice seafood dishes. Dinner.

Rusty Anchor (C) 1925 Johnson Marina, 749-1555. Located on Lake Murray. A picturesque and unique lakeside dining experience, specializing in fresh seafood and steak. Outside dining available, full bar. Dinner.

Ruth’s Chris Steak House (D) 924-A Senate St. (in the Hilton Hotel), 212-6666. USDA prime beef, chops, chicken, and fresh seafood. Reservations recommended.

Intensely

Story and Photos by Donna Keel

In Puglia, Italy’s most southerly region, there’s a choice of seas – the Adriatic which drifts down the east coast and rounds the tip of the jutting peninsula or the Ionian Sea which merges into the Adriatic at Santa Maria de Leuca and continues its journey up the west coast.

The five-hundred-mile coastline is dotted with alluring fishing villages and some of the freshest seafood to be found on the mainland. You can easily drive from east to west coast towns on the same day, stopping along the way to visit any one of nine villages within the Grecia Salentina area where Greek is still spoken and taught in school. As you drive inland the fields of wildflowers will dazzle and you’ll be enticed to stop to gaze at the hills rich with fruit, olive, and nut trees.

Seafood, cheese, wine, nuts, olive oil, and fresh vegetables create stunning feasts in this land of cucina povera – a land rich with the simplicity of ancient recipes that only require a few of the freshest ingredients to create extraordinary dishes that will have you returning to the table over and over.

The sea ... always the sea, beckoning, cajoling, whispering to come, to set sail, to venture out.

Puglia’s been on my radar since 2010 and on a recent trip – my fourth, I spent a month with my husband Ray on the Adriatic Sea. This trip was both a working vacation for me and a chance to introduce Ray to Otranto – the place that captured my heart on my solo adventure so many years ago. Even with my work schedule, we managed to squeeze in a lot of delicious food and wine and some fun activities.

While there are numerous small towns steeped in magic and shrouded with legends, Otranto and Lecce are two of my favorites. They are full of ancient history, interesting shops, and remarkable attractions worth a visit.

On a previous trip to Otranto, I signed up for a mosaic class – one of those life lessons of discovering that we are all broken into small pieces with the ability to put ourselves back together – piece by piece – into a new wholeness, creating a self that is better and stronger than our previous one. Before and after classes, I spent my time in the cathedral pondering the magnificent mosaic floor designed by Pantaleone in 1163.

Last year during my book tour, I discovered Officina Mosaico and met the owners Chiara Lodi and Antonio Pisino, who are mosaic masters. When I returned this spring, I signed up to create a mosaic

under their tutelage. Chiara and Antonio embrace their artist talents with reverence and enthusiasm. Positive energy resides in this space of creative intensity.

If you don’t have the time or patience to take a class, you’ll still want to purchase a one-of-a-kind work of art to take home with you. As I worked in the quiet of the studio, memories of my first attempt to create a mosaic joined me and held my hand as I cut the tiny pieces of tesserae that would form my starfish mosaic. This tiny shop in the walled city of Otranto is magical.

The Cathedral in historic center of Otranto

Mosaic class offers a deeper life lesson.

Also magical are the dishes we created in our next food-inspired adventure. With more than forty years of cooking together, Ray and I have enjoyed cooking lessons from many different people, places, and cultures.

The Awaiting Table Cooking School in Lecce is somewhere between an Italian nonna and a Cordon Bleu chef. We’ve cooked with both.

Silvestro Silvestori is the chef, certified sommelier (AIS 2010), and olive oil expert (FIS 2022). The Awaiting Table is celebrating 20 years with students from 59 different countries.

There are numerous courses available from half a day to a full week. We chose a half-day fish course that lasted 5-6 hours. We met in the main square of Lecce. After a quick introduction to our classmates, we visited the best fishmonger in town. Tips on how to choose a fishmonger and how to choose the freshest fish were plentiful as we thumped and eye-balled the morning’s catch.Next was the market to purchase an assortment of breads and vegetables.

With all our purchases, our cooking team from Canada, Holland, and the US walked to the home of Silvestro where we gathered in his large, functional kitchen. On our walk, we were accompanied by Ciccia (short for Salsiccia or sausage in English) Silvestro’s sweet dachshund who quickly became the darling of our group.

We spent several hours making pasta with only three ingredients (durum wheat, rye, and water).Cleaning, chopping, and preparing vegetables were next on the list, including an interesting technique of dry-grilling sliced eggplant which we’ll try at home. Tomatoes are quartered and cooked down with garlic, onions, red pepper flakes, and parsley for the pasta which was topped with shrimp and squid. The only unfamiliar vegetable was Cocomero, a cross between a cucumber and a melon. Peeled and sliced it has a refreshing, clean taste with only salt and mint for seasoning.

The big challenge was the seafood. But being from the South Carolina Lowcountry, we’re pros at peeling and deveining shrimp. The couple from Holland had never seen shrimp poop

before.Another new experience for me was cleaning squid. Removing the entrails, the cartilage, the beak, and the skin was not for the faint of heart. But it’s exactly the kind of challenge I want to experience in a cooking school.

After our preparation, we gathered in the dining room. Silvestro provided in-depth information on the regional wines of the Salento area of Puglia. We sampled three different rosato wines. Each was delicious and much needed after hours of sweating in the kitchen.

We tasted three different olive oils that are available for shipment to your home. There are QR codes for discerning which oil to use with what food and how to use it.

We began the meal with fresh peas that were sweet and tender, served with chunks of bread and olive oil ... a taste of spring. Each course was presented by a classmate and the cooking process described before we devoured every morsel on our plates.

It was such a fun day. If you’re a fan of hands-on cooking with a highly skilled chef, we recommend Silvestro’s Awaiting Table.

At the end of the day, we drove back to Otranto, our stomachs sated, new memories made, and new friendships discovered. We returned to the sea to dream of new adventures as our sails unfurled in this magical land of dazzling light and endless fields of flowers that expand our hearts, our minds, and our visions.

Showroom e laboratorio: Officina Mosaico

Piazza Basilica 12, 73028 Otranto (LE) Tel: 347 1753447 | 338 6966406

officinamosaico@gmail.com

antonio.pisino@gmail.com

chiaralodi@gmail.com

http://www.officina-mosaico.it

Dottor Silvestro Silvestori Founder /Director/ Sommelier AIS Via Idomeneo 41 Lecce, Italia, 73100

https://awaitingtable.com WhatsApp (messages only): (39) 33476769

Donna Keel

Armer (center) is a photographer and author, of Italian-based stories, including Solo in Salento and the upcoming Cat Gabbiano mystery series.

Finding Joy in Recovery, Another Life Lesson from the Golf Course

By ANNE WOLFE POSTIC

During a recent round, my golf partner told me about a sermon she’d heard. (I get most of my church secondhand due to an ungodly love for sleeping in.) Anyhow, the priest said he was often asked what heaven was like. Much like any human, he didn’t have an exact answer. Still, he imagined a place where everything was perfect, earthly ailments healed, difficult relationships warmed, ill-fitting pants comfortable, rainy days sunny (unless you love a rainy night), lost keys found, and… well, you get the picture.

As we made our way through the front nine, we wondered what golf would be like in paradise. Would every skort fit perfectly? The shorts component would never ride up, the waistband would lie flat, and each skort would lengthen our legs to model-like proportions. Would each day be not too hot, not too cold, and just humid enough to give our skin a glow? Would we miraculously be able to make a hole-inone every time, even on a par five? Though the skorts and the weather would be amazing, 18 aces — one spectacular shot on each hole — would be kind of joyless.

Joy in golf comes from improving over time. Or hitting a bad shot that bounces off a tree and somehow lands on the green, just a short putt away from the hole. And a great recovery shot is, as they say, the one that keeps you coming back. You tee off on a par 4. Your drive is impressively long, although misdirected. It lands on the next fairway, before rolling into the rough, a blanket of pine straw. The outlook is bleak, and you need a long club to have even a prayer of hitting the green on your second shot. You pull out a dusty 3-iron, a club you rarely use because you are no pro. Lining up your shot, you fear the worst and hope to land somewhere better, on the correct fairway, at least. But that 3-iron does its thing, and the ball threads a patch of trees, sailing onto the green. You putt twice for a par that makes your heart sing.

That second shot, the one from the pine straw, is known as a recovery shot, and there are infinite possibilities, ergo, no way to practice for every eventuality. As any avid golfer

will posit, the game is full of life lessons. Recovery is joyful. When a headache disappears, the lack of it is delightful, more than if you never had a headache, to begin with. Recovery from addiction, a difficult journey, emotionally and physically exhausting, is a path to joy. Addicts in recovery don’t have perfect lives. Yet they’re often some of the most content people, acutely aware of what they’ve overcome. Figuring out how to make a perfect pie crust, which can then be used to make myriad pies, quiches, and tarts, is all the more satisfying after a bit of a struggle.

Progress is something to celebrate along the way. Consider the mother-to-be who, after multiple miscarriages, finds herself six months along with a healthy baby. Each day of that pregnancy, though stressful, is beautiful. Or how about the struggling math student who, over the course of a semester, brings his grade from a C to a B+ after connecting with a great tutor and putting the work in? Or the golfer who finishes a round two strokes better than she’s ever scored before.

By the time we reached the 18th hole, my partner and I concluded that heavenly golf would look a little different for everyone. Each time I played, I’d believe I broke my previous record by two or three shots. My outfit would be flattering, comfortable, and chic. The sun would shine, but there’d be a light breeze and no risk of sun damage. And why not throw in at least one of those elusive aces? After buying a round for everyone, tipping the guys at the bag drop at least $100, and soaking in a relaxing bath, I’d fall asleep smiling. But if it went that way every time, it would be meaningless.

My senior quote, recorded for posterity in the yearbook, comes from French poet Guillaume Apollinaire.

“La joie venait toujours après la peine.” Was I pretentious? Yes. Is it true, though? Also, yes. Joy does often follow pain. After all, how could I be proud of myself for becoming slightly less pretentious if I didn’t have that embarrassing reminder of my achievement? I’ll take my joy with an appetizer of pain any day.

Getting You BETTER SOONER.

If you’re dealing with injuries or pain, you can count on the experts at Lexington Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine to get you moving again. Our highly specialized physicians offer comprehensive care for patients at five convenient locations throughout the Midlands. Whether for diagnostics, treatments, consultations or physical therapy, our team is here to get you better, sooner.