A collection of photography and exploration focusing on Upstate South Carolina and beyond.
This past week we received word that Tony Arrington passed away on Sunday. He had been in declining health for the past several years and dementia had robbed him of his once great intellect. Tony was 82. Tony was one of Laura’s colleagues in the Chemistry Department at Furman University. He was also an alumnus … Read More “Remembering Tony” »
I felt like I had been cooped up for far too long. Two weekends in a row I never left the house and I was starting to get cabin fever. I posted the following on Facebook: I think today I’m going to toss a banjo, camera, and metal detector in the car and just see … Read More “W. L. England’s Wholesale Groceries” »
Alan Russell and I usually do a photo trek on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. As educators we usually had the day off and it made for a great mid-winter escape. Now that we’re both retired we can go pretty much any day we want, but we still try to stick to our annual tradition. … Read More “Calhoun County MLK Day Ramble” »
In 1985 I had gotten settled into my teaching career and was starting to accrue a bit more money beyond simple survival. I had one small keyboard, a Casio CZ101, but I wanted something with full-sized keys. I made a trip down to a huge music store in Atlanta and purchased a Korg DW-6000. On … Read More “An Old Synth Comes Full Circle” »
Let’s face it. The past two years sucked big time. I didn’t do as much blogging, but how do you summarize life in a pandemic? We coped as best we could, with sickness and death all around us and political instability and division threatening everything else not touched by COVID. Despite this we’ve led a … Read More “Anxiety-Free Goals for 2022” »
I have a love/hate relationship with the song “I’ll Fly Away. I sing it at just about every jam session I attend and, quite frankly, I had gotten a bit tired of it. During the pandemic I sang it at one funeral and heard it at two others. Every time we do it at the … Read More “I’ll Fly Away Redux” »
My big red kayak has been sitting on top of my pickup truck waiting to get wet while I’ve been languishing in home improvement purgatory. I wanted to explore some places with fall colors but each time I thought I could get away something would come up. Finally, this past Tuesday, I was able to … Read More “Exploring Lake Adger” »
This month the Lowcountry Unfiltered group decided to explore the Charleston Harbor. It was a great day, but not without its challenges. We battled wind, rain, tides, tricky currents, and crazy boaters, but still got to see some interesting history from the water. Our plan was to meet at Remley Boat Ramp, paddle under the … Read More “Exploring the Charleston Harbor by Kayak” »
The Etowah River in Northern Georgia has been on my paddling wish list for a long time. This past weekend I finally joined some friends to run the river, which includes a quarter mile through an old mine tunnel with rapids. It was a challenge, and I found that I had been away from whitewater … Read More “Chasing Gold on the Etowah River” »
Jim Leavell and I fully intended to join our Lowcountry Unfiltered friends for the Williman Island kayaking trip. We were going to use Jim’s wife, Judy’s truck. Unfortunately, Jim let road rage get the better of him, so Judy’s truck is in the shop. I was going to borrow Stephen’s trailer, but the afternoon that … Read More “A Close Encounter with the Lizard Man, or The Somewhat True Story of What Happened to My Truck” »