Monday was an absolutely stunning day.  The air was clear, and the temperatures were much cooler than they had been.  We decided to take the convertible up to the Blue Ridge Parkway and have a picnic.  We knew it would be crowded with other Labor Day travelers, but we couldn’t resist.

Initially, the drive did not disappoint. The views from the overlooks were much more spectacular with the low humidity.  There was a steady stream of traffic, but it wasn’t too bad.  We stopped at one overlook for our picnic lunch, then continued on up to Mount Pisgah.  That’s were things went crazy.

As soon as we pulled into the parking lot for the Mount Pisgah trails, steam started billowing from under the hood. There hadn’t been any other warning. The temperature gauge looked fine. However, something wasn’t right.  We opened the hood and let it cool for awhile, then decided to hike along one of the trails for a bit to give it some more time to settle down.  We decided that the best thing to do would be to head back down the mountain, since continuing would take us further from civilization. (more…)

I hadn’t planned to go paddling this weekend. However, someone posted a last-minute trip on the Greenville Canoe and Kayak Meetup group for Lake Cunningham, and I made a last-minute decision to join them.

It turned out to be really last minute, because I overslept, and almost didn’t make it.  Fortunately, Lake Cunningham is close, so I tossed the boat and some gear in the back of the truck and headed out.  I kept it light – one camera, no GPS, and very little extraneous stuff.

Eventually 20 boaters showed up at the put-in on Lake Cunningham – quite a crowd.  Both skill levels and boat types were quite varied.  There were a couple of us that had paddled the lake extensively, so I wound up as one of the defacto guides for the trip.

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Photo – Mount Carmel Presbyterian Church, Mount Carmel, South Carolina

Saturday afternoon my sister Glynda and I had ridden up toward Saluda, NC, for lunch.  She and I both love exploring, so on the way home we were taking several side roads and rambling over the countyside.  Our route took us past Ebenezer Church near Tigerville.  That led to a discussion about the name Ebenezer, and about Biblical place names in general, and how so many of these have worked their way into our own geography.

A Biblical place name such Ebenezer, Beulah, or Shiloh is often indicative of an older, usually historic congregation.   The word “ebenezer” itself is an excellent name for a church – according to 1 Samuel 7:12, it was a stone to commemorate what God had done for Israel – a place to give thanks and dedication.  However, in today’s society the word is more likely to conjure up a Dickensian miser, and the word “Beulah” is more likely to bring forth unflattering images of a large woman, rather than a vision of the land of Israel, as Isaiah had intended.  (Although, the word did originally refer to a married woman, so the comparison may not be as far-fetched as one might think.)

Modern churches tend to pick names that are more evocative of today’s sensibilities – New Spring, Grace, New Life, etc., etc.  – or they are more place specific or pick names of neighborhoods, such as Brookwood.  I can’t think of any newer congregation that has selected one of the old Biblical names. (more…)

Back last spring Furman University put up an official disc golf course.  Sunday was a beautiful (albeit, hot) day, so I decided to spend the afternoon playing a round.

Background

As a student here a quarter of a century ago we played quite a lot of Frisbee golf.  We used standard-sized Frisbees (there was no other brand) and picked a target for our next hole, be it a tree, bench, or hapless passer-by.  Then we would estimate how many throws it would take to get there, and that would be our par.  It was informal, but it worked.

Furman took its first steps toward an official course about fifteen years ago.  This first venture was wasn’t much more than what we had done when I was a student.  A map was drawn up indicating which objects (again, mostly trees) would be used as targets.  The course wound around the mall and PAC building, for the most part.

A few years ago there was an attempt to create a true course on campus, but for whatever reason, that didn’t go through.  Finally, in February of this year it was announced that the course would be built. (more…)

Perhaps it’s that I’m the son of a school principal, and had run of the various schools that I attended growing up. Perhaps it was the many reunions and covered dish suppers our family attended in various country community centers. Perhaps it was even because I spent college summers working maintenance – painting and waxing all of the schools in our district. It might, in some small part, have something to do with my own long career as an educator. Whatever the reason, I’ve always had a fascination with school architecture. Just about any school can be interesting, but what catches my attention most are the old wooden framed country schools.

Driving through the country these are easy to spot.  The architecture is distinctive.  The buildings tend to be squarish with hipped roofs.  If it’s got an old bell tower, all the better.

Well, OK, they don’t all have to be white frame. There are some cool old brick schools, too.

Recently I was doing some research on the South Carolina State Archives website. There is a marvelous collection of photographs of old schools taken between 1935-1950 for insurance purposes.

Browsing this collection got me thinking about these old schools. They are great subjects for photography, and an excellent symbol of a bygone time. I wanted to see if I could find more of these old schools, and that meant making a list of potential targets using Google Earth. (more…)