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Month: December 2016

2016 Paddling Year in Review

Posted on December 31, 2016 By Tom No Comments on 2016 Paddling Year in Review
Paddling

Dawn Paddle on the Indian River-29

2016 was a really, really crappy year for a lot of reasons. However, one area where it wasn’t so crappy was for kayaking. I visited lots of venues and got in over 200 miles of paddling. Not too shabby, considering there was lots to conspire to keep me off the water this year.

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2016 Holiday Wrap-Up

Posted on December 29, 2016 By Tom No Comments on 2016 Holiday Wrap-Up
Family, Miscellaneous

Wright Christmas Ornaments-001

The holidays are always a whirlwind, and this year was no different. As has been our custom for the last several years, we spent most of the time in Florida. Quite a bit has happened over the past couple of weeks, so I’ll just do a quick summary.

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Lessons and Carols, Theme and Variations

Posted on December 19, 2016December 20, 2016 By Tom 2 Comments on Lessons and Carols, Theme and Variations
Music

Lessons and Carols

One of my favorite services is the Festival of Lessons and Carols. To me it doesn’t seem like Christmas until I have attended at least one service. I have an academic fascination with carols, and I love traditional settings, as well as seeing the way composers and arrangers have brought new life to these ancient texts. This weekend I was privileged to participate in two services in two different settings. This time, though there were some fascinating twists to the traditional service.

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Robot Uprising – Siri vs Alexa

Posted on December 16, 2016December 16, 2016 By Tom No Comments on Robot Uprising – Siri vs Alexa
Gear, General Technology

Amazon Echo Dot

Yesterday I completed one more trip around old Sol. Yep, it was my birthday. My gift this year was an Amazon Echo Dot, one of the new home A. I. units. I’d actually been playing with the system for a couple of weeks. I thought I’d take some time to share my thoughts on this, and its competitor (sort of), Siri.

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Return to Andersonville Island

Posted on December 8, 2016December 11, 2016 By Tom 3 Comments on Return to Andersonville Island
Geocaching and Maps, History and Genealogy, Paddling, Photography, Rambling

Return to Andersonville Island-109

Just because it’s December doesn’t mean that we stop paddling. Heck, for this particular trip we even went swimming, but that’s getting ahead of things a bit. Fellow explorer, and now fellow paddler Mark Elbrecht proposed a trip out to Andersonville Island to see if we could spot the ruins that everyone says are there. Bennie Waddell had just gotten a new kayak, and I lacked only 6 miles to push me over the 200 mark for the year. Of course, agreed to come along. Turned out to be a great trip with unexpected finds and unexpected excitement. But, I guess the word “unexpected” is redundant. Regardless…

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The Ephemera of Life

Posted on December 5, 2016December 5, 2016 By Tom 3 Comments on The Ephemera of Life
Family, History and Genealogy, Miscellaneous

Ephemera of Life 1

Closing out the various properties that belonged to my parents has meant going through boxes and boxes of things we’ve discovered in attics, closets, the garage, and anywhere else someone might hide a box of junk. Most of it is just that – the sort of stuff you save because you think you have to. Some of it looks like trash, but can contain some real nuggets of insight. While probably meaningless to anyone else, to us these bits of paper have revealed another side of our parents, including concerns and other thoughts often unbeknownst to the children at the time. Even though Mom’s been gone for two years now and Dad for five, it’s been like getting to know them and at the same time mourning them all over again. The process has been fascinating, and I thought I’d share some of the discoveries we made while sifting through the ephemera of their lives.

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Amazing Grace

Posted on December 1, 2016December 1, 2016 By Tom 10 Comments on Amazing Grace
Family, History and Genealogy, Local

2010 0930 26

This past Tuesday night my Aunt Grace Ellenberg passed away. She was 95. The older sister of my late mother, she led a long, amazing life of adventure that defied the expectations set for a young farm girl from Ninety Six, South Carolina. Grace was a teacher and world traveler, a complex person with a profound Christian faith coupled with a keen intellect and desire to learn.

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November Passings – RIP Sub

Posted on December 1, 2016December 1, 2016 By Tom No Comments on November Passings – RIP Sub
Local, Miscellaneous

Tommy Sublett "Sub"

Earlier this week I learned of the passing of C. T. “Tommy” Sublett, aka “Sub.” Sub taught US history at Laurens District 55 High School, in a career that spanned 42 years. Not only was I a student, but he taught several of my siblings and my nephew. He died the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, just shy of his 76th birthday.

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