A collection of photography and exploration focusing on Upstate South Carolina and beyond.
I have been participating in several musicians’ circles lately, playing either the banjo or my melodica. Through this participation I’ve discovered even more circles, each with their own flavor or emphasis. Last Thursday I joined up with yet another group of musicians, this time focusing on old time Appalachian folk music.
I was at the Henderson County Library doing some research on The Kingdom of Happy Land. As I was leaving I passed by the library’s auditorium and noticed folks gathering for some sort of presentation. Having just given a talk at a library myself, I was curious. As I glanced at one of the flyers a man at the door said that it was a meeting about photo identification. I decided to check it out.
A few weeks ago I gave my talk on the Hidden Towns Under South Carolina Lakes at the Taylors Branch of the Greenville County Library. After the talk someone came up to me and asked if I’d ever heard of the “Kingdom of Happy Land.” I had not. After chatting for a bit I decided I needed to see if I could find this kingdom. Last Thursday things had finally settled down from all our traveling and the Fourth holiday, so it was a perfect time for an expedition. I went to see if I could find the Kingdom of Happy Land.
I’ve been offline for the last week or so. Laura’s mother passed away on June 13 and we have been in Washington State on Samish Island for the funeral. I only had my phone for Internet access, so I’ve not been able to upload photos or do much blogging. I’ll try to catch up with things in these next couple of posts.
On Tuesday of this week Laura’s mother, Merline Wright, lost her battle with Alzheimer’s. For the past year she had been living in the Harbor Chase Memory Care facility in Vero Beach, Florida. She was 87.
It was a Second Saturday, and time for another Lowcountry Unfiltered trip. However, there was a problem. I wasn’t anywhere within range of my fellow paddlers. Even so, fellow paddler Craig Lee and I were able to do an LCU trip…sort of. We spent a spectacular day paddling the wilds of Ocala National Forest on the Juniper Springs Run.
It’s been a crazy couple of weeks. Before I do another paddling post I thought I’d do a quick update. Lots of family stuff going on, new instruments, and a bit of travel have occupied my time recently.
I was determined to celebrate Water Wednesday this week. Even if I had to go by myself, I was going somewhere. I really needed the solace and relaxation of being on the water. Fortunately, Jeff Holland was able to join me for an exploration of Lake Keowee and Estatoe Creek.
NOTE: I’m running a bit behind with the blog posts and I’m trying to catch up. This was from last weekend. Also, this is the first post since making some changes to the site, so I’m hoping this goes smoothly.
The Scots were back in town! That meant parades, weird music, weird athletics, and even weirder food. This year we participated in the Great Scots Parade, as we usually do with the Upstate Minis, and I made the Saturday trek up to Furman to see the games.
