Ultimate Outsiders:
The Quest Becomes a Calling
It took us five years and some change, but Julian and I did it — we are now Ultimate Outsiders.
Gaga and Julian, Paris Mountain, June 24, 2021
We started on June 24, 2021, and four years and five months later, we made it to all 47 South Carolina State Parks.Who’s counting? (Me, of course.) It was slow going, but we made it.
If you remember, I began this trek while recovering from Stage III Multiple Myeloma and a stem cell transplant in February 2021. COVID-19 had rolled around. We were sheltering in place, and I was trying to find my gait — and my joy. Julian was on his Ipad way to much and prone to emotional meltdowns. I was prone to my own type of meltdowns.
So, I told Julian, “Let’s go to the parks.” Our first stop was the one nearest to us: Paris Mountain State Park.
I said, “Let’s go out there and find our way out of the walls closing in on us.” I was in a depression in the way only cancer can daunt you. Everywhere I turned, I saw my death. Some people were callous enough to remind me, “We’re all going to die someday.”
I had been handed a prognosis. Though I believed I could beat the odds, emotionally I battled every day to tell myself that I could — and I would
Julian skipping rocks at Jones Gap State Park, 2022.
The parks became a way to get out — not only of the house, but out of my own head. Nature has always been a place I could fall back on. We went to the woods, the beaches, the meadows.
Paris Mountain & The Past That Spoke
When people ask which park is my favorite, I try not to play favorites. But Paris Mountain will always be one — for many reasons.
It’s the only state park I took my twin daughters, Amber and Celeste, to with their dad when they were about Julian’s age. We rode paddle boats. I remember being as giddy as the girls because I had never been on one before.
Even though the park was only eighteen miles away from where we lived, it felt like hundreds of miles — and worlds — away. Because it was.
When I ventured there again with Julian, I had no idea I would learn more about our history and the segregation of South Carolina’s parks.
As always, it was my Mama who clued me in. She said she and Daddy went to Paris Mountain for their senior class trip. I did the research and the math — and informed her that wasn’t possible. In 1954, Paris Mountain was segregated. They would have gone to Pleasant Ridge Negro State Park
Fountain Inn Colored High School, 1954. My Mom, Jeanette Todd is second from the left on the front row. My Dad, Johnny Redmond is directly behind her in a bow tie.
And so, a history lesson unfurled as Julian and I continued our trek — a greater story inside our smaller story.
How Yesterday Holds Today at Paris Mountain State Park Blue sky above and the trail below. We two go, not just for us. At Lake Placid, we sit. I wonder about elders and ancestors who could not grace these grounds before. Laws: Whites only. My grandson’s hand in mine, a circle. As they hover, the past is present.
The Quest Becomes a Calling
Julian and I make history ontop of history. We have many favorite parks. Ceasar’s Head is quite lovely. Julian found a pathway under the mountain called, Devil’s Kitchen. I would have never paid attention to it. Nor would have never gone without his prodding.
Here is a poem I wrote about this moment. It is in the Song of Everything.
Who’s Leading Who? At Caesar’s Head, we amble up the path to the lookout. We peer at the bluest eye of the sky and at the other, the lake. We take in the emerald mountain peaks. We stare into the pearl-tufted clouds. Julian’s “WOW” makes this a moment. On the granite gneiss, I’m a giddy Gaga. He turns and points to a sign: Devil’s Kitchen. I am dubious about the name. I am dubious about the descent. “C’mon, Gaga, let’s go.” He forges ahead, and I follow, but I don’t want to taste anything that the devil has brewed. But I link my doubts to his little boy’s curiosity. I take a deep breath. We walk down the metal stairs and in between two slabs of cold rock the dark and the damp cradle us. We emerge on the other side— our smiles brighter than the daylight that greets us.
I didn’t set out to visit all the parks. A high school classmate, Hindi Garrison, told me about the Ultimate Outsiderquest. Being a Type A Virgo, this appealed to me — pun intended.
Nor did I plan to write books. But Lib Ramos, publisher of Good Printed Things, saw my Instagram post about the poems I was writing from our park experiences. She reached out and suggested a collaboration. It’s been organic and smooth — I relish our partnership.
Box Set: Buy Here
Our quest took what it took. 5 years almost. Earlier on, I had more time and less energy. But Julian and I made our way — no push. Later, I wanted to meet my deadline for the second release of the books, but the last two years have been fraught with health setbacks: respiratory infections, fatigue, inflammation and eosinophilic asthma that often put me in bed for a week at a time.
I’ve just bounced back after being very ill from August through October. I traveled anyway — for engagements, for readings — and we still went to the parks. Only to find out…
I’m allergic to all but two trees and two types of grasses. What’s triggering my asthma? Nature. Trees. Grass. Mold. Oh no. This is not hyperbole. I know I am poet and I am prone to exaggeration. This is no lie. No stretch for benefit of a tall tale. Nature is killing me. Or, making it inconvient for me to live—to breathe. Nature, the place I go for solace and healing. Only in Glenisland would I find out my beautiful beloved trees are a threat. I still love them so.
I’ll start allergy shots next month. For twenty-eight weeks, I’ll be at the allergist adding one more shot to the many it takes to keep me healthy.
Bloom Anyhow
Can you believe I still have the audacity to say, Bloom Anyhow!
I do.
Because I know this much: healing is not a straight path, and joy is not the absence of struggle — it’s what we find in spite of it.
For now, I’m taking the win — the Ultimate Outsider status. Julian and I have earned this moment in the sun.
We did it
Oconee State Park, October 26, 2025 with Park Ranger, Eric Szumlas.
Stay tuned for an upcoming documentary about our Gaga and Julian travels.
Congratulations!! I’m so inspired by you!!
May I ask your permission to share your story of this poetry series and this post with my English class at Blue Ridge Community College? Some of my students really struggle to know the value of poetry and their own writing voices in their young lives.