Isle of Palms Spring 2016

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Instead, they rose to the whispering wind and saw their days
end with pink sunsets over trouble-free waters.
The Goat Man and his wife collected the discarded
debris that drifted onto the shores and into their lives.
They eventually accepted handouts from people on passing
yachts. The Holloways were always gracious and courteous
to those who offered sandwiches and leftovers from a day
of picnicking on nearby Dewees Island.
During the Goat Man’s 32 years of self-imposed exile,
people in nearby communities who didn’t have to scavenge
for their food knew the Holloways were out there, across the
waterway, but, for the most part, they denied the possibility
that the Holloways’ simple nomadic lifestyle might have
been perfectly sane. The famous Charleston rumor mills
spread the seeds that the Goat Man and his wife were out of
their minds and out of touch with civilization.
Over the years, the legend of the secretive Goat Man
and his wife has been told right around bedtime, at
dusk, so that children and adults who are a little scared
to explore unique possibilities during the day can dream
of the unbelievable at night. Little children thought
the island was haunted because their parents told them
strange voices echoed through the trees and in the thick
underbrush. Some children dared to challenge their fears,
crossing the water into the unknown, only to discover
that the alien sounds were the soulful singing of a content,
solitary man.
In 1961, after 30 years of living in the natural elements,
the Goat Man accepted a small hut as a Christmas gift
from generous neighbors who were concerned that the
Holloways were too old to live an unsheltered life. But
their existence soon changed. The Goat Man caught
pneumonia and died, leaving Blanche to carry on the
legend and tradition alone.
Blanche survived Henry in solitude on Goat Island for
almost a year. She died from burns suffered in a fire caused
by a wood-burning stove that also was a handout from
civilized do-gooders. According to the legend, the Goat
Man and his wife were buried together in the Lutheran
Church Cemetery in Mount Pleasant. Their paradise was
overrun by looters searching for hidden wealth and buried
treasure. But the Goat Man’s paradise wasn’t measured
by material things. There was nothing looters could take,
either before or after the Holloways passed on. Their
wealth was their ability to challenge the unknown and to
abide by the laws of Nature.
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