A collection of photography and exploration focusing on Upstate South Carolina and beyond.
Looking back at my last post I realized I hadn’t included much information about the Fujifilm FinePix XP85 camera that I purchased recently. I’d made a few comments, but hadn’t really followed up with substantial information. With that in mind, here are a few more thoughts about the camera.
Over the Fourth of July weekend we went down to Florida to visit Laura’s sister Amy and her mother. Since we’ve been going down regularly to help out I’ve left a bit of paddling gear and our tandem kayak so that I can do the occasional escape.
I was on my way out for a quick paddle when my trusty Fujifilm Z33WP slipped out of my hand and hit Amy’s tile floor, point down. It cracked the corner of the casing. The camera still works, but it was no longer waterproof.
A combination of technical problems and family situations have meant that blog posts have been few and far between lately. Just about my entire line-up of podcasts has been put on hold. I’ve got the material, and I’ve got tons of draft posts and research. I just haven’t had a chance to put it together.
My, how time flies. Back in 2008 I spotted a couple of guys online on Flickr that posted photos similar to mine. They were planning a trip down the Edisto and invited me to tag along. That turned out to be an epic adventure. Seven years later and we’re still going strong, taking an adventurous trip somewhere the second Saturday of each month. These guys have become some of my closest friends, and it seemed right commemorate this auspicious occasion.
The “Rope Swing” part of the title should be obvious. Our ADD paddlers tend to stop at just about every sandbar, especially if it has a rope swing. As for the “Beer Commercial” part, that comes from various home brewers in our group, most notably James Brown, trying out their wares on our group. It’s not a serious paddling trip – basically a party on the river with kayaks as the mode of transportation.
Read More “Seventh Annual LowCountry Unfiltered Beer Commercial and Rope Swing Edisto Adventure” »
On our way back from Ireland Stephen asked me what my favorite thing was about the trip. I had to say that it was the pubs and music that impressed me most. I loved the atmosphere and life that radiates from those places. While they all seem similar and familiar, each is unique. If I could do one thing over, it would be to spend more time in the pubs listening to traditional music. Granted, we did quite a bit of that anyway.
As promised, here’s the brief day-by-day rundown of our trip to Ireland. I’m only going to include the time that I was there. My brothers went out a couple of weeks early and saw sights up in Dublin, Belfast and further north. I came out for the last part of the trip.
Stephen has shared his photos from that part of the trip, and I guess I could snag their journals. However, I’ll leave it to them to tell that part of the tale.
We were on our way back from Ireland, waiting in the Philadelphia airport, when we got the news about the massacre in Charleston. It was a sobering, shattering reminder of the world to which we were returning. Ireland had seemed idyllic. Everywhere you looked it was green and peaceful. Everyone we met was so friendly. … Read More “Reflections on Charleston and the Confederate Flag” »
Having a great time in Ireland with my brothers. However, I don’t have reliable Internet. Haven’t been able to update the blog or post photos to Flickr. I’m sure I’ll be catching up for weeks when we get back. The photo above is of a wedge tomb called Poulnabrone, located in the Burren. It’s 4000 … Read More “Hello from Ireland” »
It’s a story that’s been told to us many times by our father. Nearly 240 years ago our ancestor, William Taylor, Sr., loaded his family onto a ship called The Earl of Donegal and sailed for Charleston, SC. They left Belfast in 1767 and landed in Charleston in 1768. William was given a land grant for 350 acres in Laurens County. He donated a few of those acres for Rocky Springs Presbyterian Church.
The first home I can remember was on a farm that had once been part of that land grant. As children we scrambled over the rocks and stream that gave the the church its name. We would wander through the old cemetery and see generations of Taylor ancestors, starting with my great-grandfather and going back from there. With so many of our ancestors close at hand, it’s no wonder that our family developed a keen sense of genealogy.
I was looking for something to do for a Friday night. Laura was out of town, and I didn’t just want to sit around the house. Then my friend Mark Elbrecht reminded me about an event over at Taylors Mill. Not only was it a First Friday, which meant open art studios all around town, but the mill was having a “50 Years Later Relaunch Party” to commemorate closure of Southern Bleachery in 1965, and a reopening of many of the studios to the public. I decided to check it out.