And it's Monday again

Back to work - I would definitely vote for a president who promised to introduce 3-day weekends. It seems we go so fast and so hard all weekend long trying to fit in everything that we can't do from Monday to Friday that by Sunday night we're exhausted. At least I am. Maybe I just need a more potent daily vitamin.

Grace and Peter were passing through Charleston today on their way back to New Jersey, so the remnant of the Charleston Nikken gang met for lunch today. What a good-looking bunch!

Sunday on Edisto Island

This has been a very adventurous weekend - albeit unintentionally. Today in my efforts to get a unique marsh perspective on Edisto, I almost succumbed to the pluff mud. In fact my boots are now buried somewhere, to be discovered in a couple centuries, studied and labeled as historic artifacts. I should have known better, but it's a reminder that it may look innocuous, but trust me, it can be dangerous. This image is of Sunnyside Plantation, Edisto Island. It was built in approximately 1870 and is significant as one of the few remaining, relatively intact, immediate post-Civil War sea island cotton plantations on Edisto.
The day before at a sidewalk cafe in Savannah, a gust of wind lifted my paper plate full of beef curry and rice (with peas, carrots, etc.) and distributed it evenly from my neck (including hair) to my knees. Since I was away from home and had no opportunity to change, I spent the rest of the day thus decorated.

Saturday in Savannah

The pollen season is in full swing. Familiar symptoms - runny nose, sneezing, itchy and buggy eyes (very attractive), etc. - just read the back of the antihistamine box. It was fun to visit my friend in Savannah. We ate brunch downtown and visited historic Wormslow. I spent time wandering around the city on Saturday morning, and although I took some "pretty" scenes of blooming azaleas, ancient live oaks, historical buildings etc. I also documented some of the flip side - dirty alleys and poverty, which of course you find in any city. I will upload some of the pretty ones to my regular website later, but these two come from the other stack.

Family comes to the rescue

Another day much like yesterday (meaningless, meaningless says the teacher ...) so rather than dig up another country scene, barn, avenue of oaks, etc. I had Leigh pose for me this evening before she headed out to music practice. Tomorrow I'm heading South to Savannah but I think the weather will be a little wild and not too photo-friendly. Oh well, in another couple of weeks I'll be headed way South - all the way to South Africa where I will surely snag some great images.

Today was dark and gray and I didn't get out of the office much except to run a mundane errand, so I borrowed another photo from my Edisto field trip last weekend. It's a great old barn on Highway 174 and I gave it some effects in Photoshop. I will be in Savannah this coming weekend visiting a friend, so hopefully I'll be posting some great pics of spring in the downtown squares. That's if the weather holds because there's a lot of rain in the forecast.

The Swedish Tall Ship Gunilla visits Charleston

Today's image was taken down at the Charleston Maritime Center this evening. You can't help feeling awestruck when standing beside this handsome 160ft. long vessel. She leaves Wednesday for Bermuda, so if you want to admire her up close and personal, you don't have much time.

Botany Bay Road, Edisto, SC

Today was a typical Sunday - church in the morning, Matt's soccer game in the afternoon (walked and bathed the dog in between) and then a trip to Edisto on a photo assignment. This photo was taken along the way to Botany Bay Plantation.

Happy Birthday Matt and Chambers

Matt was 22 today and we celebrated his and Chambers' birthdays this evening with some good food - of course. The other photo is of the Water Missions International Walk for Life finish this morning downtown.

The Old Navy Yard

This evening the CNPA met at a new location in the Noisette old navy yard. I allowed some time before the meeting to explore. Oh my gosh what a very cool place with so much photography potential. Old abandoned warehouses, industrial buildings, houses, railroad tracks criss-crossing through it all. It must have been a great place in its day. I hope it can all be restored because many of the buildings - well, they just don't build them like that anymore.

I love these long, light evenings

Daylight saving is not much fun when you wake up in the dark all over again, but it sure is wonderful to leave work with the sun still high in the sky and the evening filled with all kinds of "field trip" possibilities. I still didn't feel that great this morning, but I made it through the day alright. After work I headed out to Folly Beach to spend some time with a friend who lives out there, stopping only briefly at home to change and scoop up the dog. What a wonderful place we live in to be able to do this on a whim - be walking a beautiful, almost desolate beach on a sunny evening only 15 minutes from home. Definitely good medicine and I feel worlds better.

Here comes the sun ..

The clouds finally started clearing today, and I was able to get out of the office for awhile because our hydrosurvey guys were doing some work at Patriot's Point around the Yorktown. I figured we could use some images for our website and marketing material so I spent some time in the fresh air which was nice. Later on I got zapped with some kind of crud flu bug and I'm not feeling at all good .....

Sunday, March 15th

The seasons are in transition and from day to day it seems the weather cannot make up its mind what it wants to do. It's cold and miserable, then it's warm and hazy, then the morning fog doesn't lift until 10.30am. It won't be long until it's just plain hot again - for months and months. I know one thing - the lowcountry "noseeums" are back.

Everyone's Irish this week

It seems that St. Patrick's Day is one of Charleston's favorite holidays, and it was celebrated appropriately at the McCalls tonight. I'm sure it's still being celebrated - I'm just not one of those late night people. Come to think of it, I'm not an early morning person either.

Friday rocks!

For two days in a row I woke up an hour late. Yup - it was light outside when I woke up - that was a clue! Anyway, I made it to work by 8.05 both mornings, although I did do my make-up and teeth brushing in the restroom after I had got to my desk and switched lights on etc. The time change is messing with my internal clock. Looking forward to a relaxing weekend and not devastated that it's going to be rainy and cool. No weekend is a bad weekend! All the kids were over tonight for supper. Matt and Chambers just got back from the UK and they brought over some gifts and we looked at all their photos on the big TV.

Happy Birthday Diane

Today was my friend Diane's birthday, and since she's had a very challenging year - a year that would knock the stuffing out of most people - we organized a surprise birthday drop-in at her house this evening. Here are some of the ladies that came by.

"Fresh-out-of-inspiration" Tuesday

Monday was blah and Tuesday is not much better. Some days are just forgettable, no matter how much I know I'm supposed to appreciate every one. I haven't used my camera since Sunday either - so much for the "photo-a-day". But then I did take hundreds on Sunday. Here's one from the files to fill the space - sorry.

My shower gushes

Weird title I know but I was thinking in the shower this morning how much I appreciate a good gushing deluge. One of the things I hate about being away from home sometimes is having to writhe around trying to stay warm or rinse the shampoo out of my hair while a pitiful trickle drizzles apathetically out of a showerhead. Nothing fancy or expensive about my plumbing - it just happens to work great in my shower. This afternoon I photographed Katie, Tommy and Gracie down at Hampton Park. This is one of my favorites. Woody, their dog is in the background.

Pretty Saturday in the Lowcountry

It was a beautiful day - warm, sunny and a little windy. Perfect for just about everything except aerial photography. Too hazy. That is going to be an increasing issue as we go into the warmer months. I had to buy a new laptop recently and so today was spent uninstalling a bunch of useless sofware (they call it bloatware) that came with the computer, and installing the software that I need. There were the usual glitches and missing drivers but for the most part its done.

Otherwise I ran a couple of errands, swam some laps and spent awhile down at the marina this evening with friends. Clocks spring forward tonight!

First Art Walk of the season in Charleston

It was a beautiful day in Charleston, South Carolina, with temperatures in the 70's and lots of sunshine. After work, I headed downtown to meet some friends for the season's first Art Walk in the French Quarter. I was particularly interested in photography exhibits and the prices that are being asked for prints. I believe that I could compete with some of that work, but my question is whether they are selling anything right now. Here are a couple of images from earlier this evening. I'm getting ready to head out again for dinner downtown with Chris and Donna.

The Boathouse goes up in flames

At 1:30 this morning I was awakened by the sound of fire trucks and police sirens that sounded as though they were about to come through my front door. My first concern was that a fire had broken out in our condo complex somewhere, but when I looked out my window I saw flames leaping into the sky from just across the marsh. Harborview Road was choked with emergency vehicles and there were sounds of men shouting, the crackling of flames and the popping of explosions that sent showers of sparks high into the night sky. Nobody seems to know at this point what caused the fire which all but destroyed the newly built restaurant, but it sure is a shame.

Happy Wednesday - it's warmer today

I am going to stick my neck out and pronounce that we have suffered the last of winter's grip. I know that soon I will catch a scent of Spring when I take Logan out for his early morning walk. It's unmistakable - a smell that portends warmth and growth and heralds the onset of another season. Work is fine, a little quiet but still ok. Politics and the economy continue to dominate the headlines. The batchelor changed his mind, ditched his fiancee and sheepishly re-wooed his reject - all on national tv. Today's pic was taken at sunset at the old bridge over the ICW on Folly Road.

Monday - new week - YES!

So I decided to kick this week off on a positive note. It's good to be alive, good to feel good and healthy, good to have a great vacation to look forward to, and good to have a job. My gosh - the casualties of this recession are reeling in every walk of life. The calls that come in constantly - friends calling in favors - a friend was laid off, can you help? The DOW down another 300 points today. Wow, where will all this end? (a rhetorical question because no-one knows.) St. Philips is one of my favorite Charleston landmarks. This afternoon I was running an errand downtown, and it looked lovely in the afternoon light.