A collection of photography and exploration focusing on Upstate South Carolina and beyond.
A spiritu fomicationis,Domine, hibera nos.From the lightning and the tempest,O Lord, deliver us.From the scourge of the earthquake,O Lord, deliver us.From plague, famine, and war,O Lord, deliver us. From the place of ground zero,O Lord, deliver us.From the rain of the cobalt,O Lord, deliver us.From the rain of the strontium,O Lord, deliver us.From the fall … Read More “Gimme Shelter” »
I was browsing through the University of South Carolina’s collection of Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps. These maps are highly detailed maps of towns and cities from the early 20th Century and are excellent for historical research. According to Wikipedia… Sanborn maps are detailed maps of U.S. cities and towns in the 19th and 20th centuries. Originally … Read More “We’ll Always Have Paris” »
For well over a year now I’ve been playing in a Bluegrass jam at Fireforge Crafted Beer in downtown Greenville. The jam is hosted by Matt Puriton and Sam Kruer and features some amazing musicians from around the upstate. Each week I’m amazed at the quality of music that comes out, and we have a … Read More “Bluegrass at Fireforge” »
Yesterday the Greenville Chorale celebrated the conclusion of its 60th concert season and its director, Dr. Bing Vick celebrated 40 years as conductor of the group. It was a stirring concert at First Baptist in Greenville with a varied repertoire played to a capacity crowd. It was also bittersweet for me. This was my last … Read More “A Farewell to the Greenville Chorale” »
I love ghost towns. I love seeing a place and imagining what must have been there, the lives lived, and activity of commerce that must have taken place. But even living cities have their ghosts. Some of these are obvious – abandoned buildings, forgotten cemeteries, old rail beds, and stairs that seemingly lead nowhere. Some … Read More “The Remnants of the City” »
Sometime back, Laura and I were driving down White Horse Road and it struck us just how many unkept cemeteries there were. I made a mental note to check on these, and subsequently several were added to my list of orphaned graveyards. One that struck me as particularly forlorn was located right next to an … Read More “Orphaned Graveyards – Bakers Chapel AME” »
One of the orphaned graveyards on my list belonged to the South Saluda Baptist Church in northern Greenville County. The church was located in what is now the Tall Pines Heritage Preserve. I visited this site two years ago, in February of 2019. At that time we found the graveyard in terrible disarray, with several … Read More “Orphaned Graveyard – South Saluda Baptist” »
Salem United Methodist Church sits prominently on White Horse Road, right where it intersects with I-185 on the west side of Greenville. The church has a history with our family. From 1963 until 1976 its pastor was the Rev. Bill Cooke. My brother, Stephen, and Bill’s daughter, Cynthia Cooke were married in the church in … Read More “Orphaned Cemeteries – Old Salem Methodist Church” »
I lost two of my mentors this past week, one from high school and one from college. Both inspired me as instructors, and both had an impact on my career as a Presbyterian church musician
Read More “Remembering Musical Mentors – Ramon Kyser and Anne Sheppard” »
No words. There are really no words to describe the experience of a total solar eclipse. Doesn’t mean I’m not going to try. At least I can show a few of the photos I took (nearly 10,000, if you include the GoPro time-lapse images) and describe the events at our house leading up to and during the eclipse. It was a most excellent eclipse party, and the experience is one I wouldn’t have missed for anything.