Monday night I was able to check off one of my goals for 2016 as accomplished…somewhat. I carried my banjo up to Robert Perry’s place between Pumpkintown and Pickens for their regular Monday night Pickin’ and Grinnin’.
Local, Miscellaneous
Furman graduation, Clemson graduation, Bob Jones graduation, Newberry College Graduation, Strawberry Festival, Greer Festival, Spartanburg Spring Fling, Reedy River Duck Derby, Kentucky Derby, Shape Note Singing, etc, etc, etc….
The list of events for the first Saturday in May for our area is truly mind-blowing. There was no way I could get to all of them, but I participated in as many as I could.
History and Genealogy, Local
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about locating several old cemeteries for the various textile mill villages in Greenville. In the article I said that I was disappointed that I had not been able to visit the Brandon Mill Cemetery, as it was overgrown and off-limits.
I had posted a link to the blog post on one of the Greenville discussion groups on Facebook, and it generated quite a bit of discussion. Teresa Slack posted a comment that they would be organizing a clean up of the Brandon Mill Cemetery. I knew that I had to attend.
Miscellaneous
What?? No posts for two weeks?? What the heck is going on? Of course, the only one complaining about this seems to be Facebook. Since I’ve got a separate page that somewhat mirrors this site, FB gets annoyed when I don’t update it on a regular basis…then wants me to pay to boost those posts. Yeah, right.
Anyhoo…the past couple of weeks have been crazy, so here’s a quick update…
History and Genealogy, Local, Rambling
So far I’d found two old textile mill village cemeteries somewhat by accident. These reminded me of an article in the Greenville News by Judy Bainbridge from 2009. The article was entitled “Woodside, other mill villages need care.” Bainbridge had listed several mill village cemeteries in town, and at the time I’d thought about trying to find them. Then I kind of forgot about it. That is, until my recent discoveries. Now I was ready to seek out these other forgotten cemeteries.
History and Genealogy, Local, Rambling
It’s strange how these discoveries start out, sometimes. I had popped out to run some errands – purchasing bulbs for a finicky light fixture in a bathroom, which required specialized bulbs from Home Depot. As always, I have at least one camera (besides my iPhone) with me in the car. I liked the way the afternoon light was falling on the buildings, so I decided to ride around Greenville a bit and take some photos.
My aimless wandering led me through the mill villages between Poinsett Highway and Old Buncombe Road. I soon found myself at the old American Spinning textile mill, exploring some of the shadier streets. That’s when I stumbled upon the old cemetery associated with the mill village. I had to get out and explore.
Miscellaneous, Music
Yeah, I guess it’s getting to be a habit. It’s Wednesday and I was back at the Pickens Flea Market. I had gone specifically to listen to the musician’s corner and see if someone was playing the banjo this time. What I found was music of another type entirely.
Miscellaneous
I would be remiss if I didn’t at least mention this anniversary. I started my first blog in April of 2003, so I’ve been blogging for thirteen years now. Guess I need to keep going to make it at least fourteen to avoid any bad luck. The domain RandomConnections didn’t come online until a year later, in May of 2004, but since I essentially folded the contents of that prior blog into this one, I think I can legitimately claim April 4, 2003 as the birthday of this blog.
Paddling, Photography
Another Second Saturday and time for a Lowcountry Unfiltered adventure. This was actually a cross-over event, with as many participants from the Church of the Double-Bladed Paddle group on Facebook as LCU participants. Granted, two of us were in both groups, but still. The venue was one for the books – Turkey Creek and Stevens Creek in McCormick County turned out to be a waterway with an identity crisis. It didn’t know if it wanted to be Upcountry or Lowcountry.
Read More “A River with an Identity Crisis: Paddling Turkey and Stevens Creeks” »
Local, Photography
It was a beautiful spring day, perfect for exploring downtown and the Falls Park area. Ken wanted to get some photos of the Rock Quarry Garden for a painting subject, so Tuesday morning of this past week I drove over to Clemson to get him for a downtown Greenville photo walk.