Lowcountry DVD uses simplicity to show off area's history, beauty

One of my favorite teachers, Bill Woo, taught me to prefer plain bread.

After editing a story I wrote for one of his journalism classes in college, Bill sent me an e-mail, telling me an anecdote about Ernest Hemingway. Hemingway was once asked if he liked raisin bread. Yes, he said; raisin bread is good -- but plain bread is better.

In his characteristically poetic way, Bill was trying to remind me that the best writing arises out of the simplest ingredients. Bill knew the most difficult writing is often that which seems short, uncomplicated, easy. So he insisted we get down the basics: Just write what happened. Write two sentences, not three. One word, not two. Choose the simple word, he once told me, the word ordinary people use.

Raisin bread is good. Plain bread is better.

Bill's remarks stirred in mind as I watched "Life in the South Carolina Lowcountry," a 30-minute DVD written and produced by Sun City Hilton Head residents Bill and JeAnne Burg and longtime Blufftonian Martha Crapse.

In gloriously straightforward language, the trio did what I've been unable to sufficiently accomplish: describe Bluffton and the surrounding Lowcountry in simple, declarative sentences.

So often, when far-off friends ask me, "What's Bluffton like?" I end up fumbling with too many words. I talk in some meandering fashion about the eclectic art galleries on Calhoun Street, the exponential growth of Beaufort County, the Fern Lake Freshie sandwich at the Sippin' Cow Cafe. I bombard my inquirers with details, but I'm never sure if my avalanche of adjectives has been adequate enough.

But JeAnne, the DVD's narrator, describes this region in crystal-clear phrases: There are nine rivers in Beaufort County. The town sits on a high bluff, overlooking the May River. Bluffton is world famous for its oysters.

She goes on to narrate her husband's photography of the Lowcountry over the past six months: pictures of Brighton Beach and the Heyward House Historic Center; of U.S. 278 and Hilton Head Island; of Spanish moss and great blue herons and floating docks, and of many other scenes.

With Martha as historian, the Burgs compiled the voiced-over slide show for new Blufftonians who want to know the basics about their hometown, or old-timers who want faraway loved ones to see what Bluffton is like. Martha said the team just wanted to show what was pertinent to the Lowcountry: the marshes, the tide, the oyster factory.

As the threesome spoke of their production, and as I watched it last week, it occurred to me that to describe the town they've known and loved -- the Burgs for nine years, Martha for nearly a lifetime -- they used short, uncomplicated, easy phrases; simple words, the words ordinary people use.

Raisin bread is good. Plain bread is better.

I think their half-hour salute to Bluffton taught me a few bits of trivia about the town. But more than that, it reminded me of the power of simplicity. Expressing ourselves simply often comes from clear thinking. This trio of friends had a sure understanding of Bluffton, and of the happiness they've found on the banks of the May River. Watch their DVD, and they'll express it in a few words.

It's as plain as that.