Love in the Low Country

Blogpost written by Bob

This is a fictional story I wrote while spending the winter in Charleston 

on s/v Rainy Days.  I've incorporated some of my 

photography in this story.  Well, it is more 
like I wrote the story around the 
photographs I had.

Charlie:  We moved to Charleston, South Carolina from Annapolis, Maryland five years ago to pursue a slower lifestyle near the end of my career as an architect.  My name is Charlie and my wife’s name is Sofia.  She is 20 years younger than me and we met at the gym after she was divorced.  I couldn’t resist her blond hair and pale blue eyes and the fact that she was in terrific shape.  We seemed to have a mental connection from our first meeting that grew stronger over time.  We had been married for five years when we moved south.

Sofia:  I’m Sofia and I met the love of my life, Charlie, several years after my divorce.  Charlie and I talked for hours the first day we met, going from the gym to lunch and, then later, to dinner.  We connected in an almost spiritual way.  He was attractive, kind, attentive, generous and a brilliant architect. It wasn't long before we were married and starting our new life together. 

I was ready for a new start in life when we moved to Charleston. My dream was to own an art gallery and this was my big chance. I rented a very small shop on Broad Street shortly after we arrived and featured some paintings from artists who I showed their work on consignment.  This was the only way I could afford to start an art gallery.  My only cost was the rent on my small shop.

Broad Street

I placed a mannequin of a woman outside the front door and dressed her to attract attention. It was a real attention grabber and my art gallery grew as a result.

A dressed-to-kill mannequin outside 
Sophia's art gallery.

Charlie:  I owned a sailboat most of my life and had graduated to my dream boat, a classic 1976 Hinckley Bermuda 40 yawl, named Moon Shadow. 

A classic Hinckley Bermuda 40 Yawl,
named Moon Shadow, under sail.

We briefly lived aboard Moon Shadow in Annapolis (mostly in the Spring and the Fall) but when we moved to Charleston, we rented a small studio apartment on Rainbow Row along East Bay Street. It was expensive and we could barely afford our apartment rent and slip payments for my sailboat at the nearby marina. Since we moved to Charleston I was doing writing and photography for Charleston Lifestyle, a glossy magazine about life in Charleston. As I approached 65 years of age, my dream of sailing Moon Shadow to the Caribbean occupied most of my waking hours. Magazines were quickly becoming obsolete media and I could see the handwriting on the wall, that I would not have a job much longer.

Sofia:  Charlie often described his dreams of sailing Moon Shadow to the Caribbean. I could tell it was important to him. Unfortunately my dream of owning an art gallery was still being realized and it would be very difficult for me to extricate myself from my dream to help him realize his dream. As I was nearing 45 years old, I landed an account from a local painter who was doing amazing work.

A seascape in the art gallery
window on Broad Street.

The demand for his paintings caused my small gallery to double in sales. I was finally making a wage that could support us.  I needed a bigger gallery!

Charlie:  The only outstanding need for Moon Shadow to be able to head south was new sails.  I priced up a complete new set of sails at the local North Sails loft at $25,000.  The likelihood of coming up with this much money at my current income with the high cost of living in downtown Charleston was pretty much nonexistent and I couldn’t put cheap sails on a classic Hinckley.

I could tell that our dreams were on a collision course.  We never discussed the different paths we were on. I guess we both thought that somehow we would work it out when my work ended in October. 

Sofia:  Our dreams were diverging and it bothered me that I was the stumbling block to Charlie realizing his dream.  One afternoon as I was closing up the gallery a well dressed middle-aged man came in through the front door.  He offered me $25,000 cash for my business and he would take over the consignments and the shop's lease. I thought about it momentarily and then accepted his offer. I would finally be able to help Charlie fulfill his dream. 

I drove to the North Sails loft and placed an order for the custom sails that Charlie had previously spec’d out.  On his 65th birthday I’d surprise Charlie with his new sails and the fact that I had sold my business. In the mean time, I would work in the gallery for a smooth transition.  On Charlie's 65th birthday I came home with all the sail bags in the trunk of my little car.

Charlie:  When Sofia came home from work she asked me to carry something in from the trunk of her car.  When I saw the new sail bags I held her in my arms and whispered into her ear "I sold Moon Shadow a few days ago and put the money toward a 5-year lease on a nice commercial storefront on King Street for your new gallery."

I based the general theme of this short story on 
O. Henry's  "The Gift of the Magi."  You 
might recognize some similarities.

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