Random things from life as I see it.

A little more North Carolina Tobacco -

2011-09-07T21:01:00.002-04:00

This is a follow on to my previous post, except it has to do with what happens in between the time we see the gorgeous green leaves off country roads and when they finally become cigarettes. I was invited to witness what is probably the last live tobacco auction in existence, most are now silent auctions. This is pure Americana. The Auctioneer is a world champion retired from RJR. It is unlike any other live auction you have ever or will ever hear. They have their own language and cadence, the best auctioneer at Christies couldn't keep pace. There is a certain romance to this business that is completely disconnected from the political push and pull of the industry itself.

Out in NC tobacco country in late August

2011-08-28T10:08:00.004-04:00

Needless to say that we have a certain nostalgia for tobacco in this part of the world. Some actually say that we consider it a vegetable. You may have seen my previous post (guest post actually) on the old tobacco auctioneers and my post from visiting a tobacco warehouse. Many of you found that fascinating as a piece of emblematic americana that is fast disappearing. Anyway one of the best drives to take here in northwest North Carolina is up around Hanging Rock State Park and Pilot Mountain - Highway 66 (not me in the video - just one I grabbed from youtube) for those who want to give it a shot. These are from a couple of days ago, I hope you enjoy them.

Blue Hill, Maine 2011

2011-07-15T10:54:00.000-04:00

This year was a shortened trip as we were without Karen who had to tend to her shop. However, we had a wonderful time all the while missing her. Blue Hill is just such a pleasant place, full of interesting and dynamic people. I had the pleasure of meeting author Peter Behrens and exchanging some emails with Martha White (E.B. White's granddaughter) who has pushed me in the direction of doing a book on Maine in similar fashion to my first book of photography. Anyway, turns out that Peter Behrens is a classic car nut as well and has a terrific blog AutoLiterate that all of you will appreciate. And, of course, spent some time at MERI and did one of the eco-cruises out in the Eggomogin Reach.

As usual I did a slideshow set to some music, give it a minute or two to load! Click here for slideshow.

Old friends just get better.

2011-04-15T16:39:00.001-04:00

You may have read my previous post about this group of old friends. I am pleased to say that we only waited three years before getting together again. Each year that passes seems to ground us a little more. There are no expectations, there is no pretense or anything that would present itself as not real. It's hard laughter, it's honest opinions, it's truth. Every now and again the universe smiles and opens the door to these kinds of friendships. Just another entry in the annals of a blessed man.

"Some of the most rewarding and beautiful moments of a friendship happen in the unforeseen open spaces between planned activities. It is important that we allow these spaces to exist."

Here is to my friends and to the unforeseen open spaces.

Link to the slides.

Back from Boca Grande, FL 2011

2011-04-02T12:07:00.001-04:00

I know, I know - you are tired of hearing how much I love this place, so I won't bore you with the details of fishing with Captain Tommy Locke or eating at the Loose Caboose or playing tennis with my son or going for ice cream at the Pink Pony or just sitting on the deck and enjoying the warm gulf breeze and watching the flora and fauna of the island. So, here are just some pics from this last week.

Click here to see the slides - sound on.

A Day at the Zentrum

2011-03-12T14:18:00.000-05:00

All I can say is WOW - what fun! I accompanied a friend to take delivery of his new BMW at The Zentrum in Greer, SC and was given the opportunity to throw a few of their cars around the track at the performance center.

Click here to see the slideshow.

Diving with Whale Sharks Video

2011-03-05T08:34:00.002-05:00

Finally figured out how to rip, edit and post! I had to place it on iWeb as the blogger upload kept failing and trying to embed it from FaceBook did not work because of my security settings. So, please click the link and allow it to load for a minute or so as it is a big movie file. For those of you using Chrome - make sure you have the QuickTime plug-in. The Chrome browser can still be a little buggy. It works fine with all other browsers however.

Video of our dive with the Whale Sharks at the Georgia Aquarium.

GOOGLE CHROME SEEMS TO NOT PLAY NICELY WITH QUICKTIME - YOU WILL NEED TO USE EITHER INTERNET EXPLORER, SAFARI, FIREFOX OR OPERA. SEEMS A BIT ODD THAT GOOGLE WOULD NOT HAVE RESOLVED THIS ISSUE GIVEN THE BROAD USE OF QUICKTIME.

West Virginia

2011-02-27T09:36:00.003-05:00

I had the opportunity to spend the night in Charleston, WV this last Friday. I was signing copies of my book at Taylor Books - a really wonderful shop. Anyhow, I was really struck by this capital city that is fighting to reinvent itself, since coal is not what it once was. I am familiar with this kind of work being that my hometown is doing the same; it was built on tobacco (RJR), Banking (Wachovia) and textiles (Hanes). Anyway, I took time on Saturday morning to drive highway 60 out of town to Fayetteville, WV to the New River Gorge. What an amazingly beautiful drive, although depressing at points seeing what has become of the small towns along the river. I did not photograph the rows of trailer homes or closed businesses - it didn't feel right. What has happened there and what has happened here is just yet another reminder that nothing is forever. To quote Amos Lee "Time, it swallows everything, from the mighty to the meager things..."

Where the mountain river flows
And the rhododendron grows
Is the land of all the lands
That I touch with tender hands;

Loved and treasured, earth and star,
By my father's father far--
Deep-earth, black-earth, of-the-lime
From the ancient oceans' time.

Plow-land, fern-land, woodland shade,
Grave-land where my kin are laid,
West Virginia's hills to bless--
Leafy songs of wilderness;

Dear land, near land, here at home--
Where the rocks are honeycomb,
And the rhododendrons . . .
Where the mountain river runs.

Louise McNeill

Diving with Whale Sharks

2011-02-23T07:09:00.000-05:00

I wish I could post the video. It was an amazing experience and very well worth the trip to Atlanta. The Georgia Aquarium is not only beautiful and certainly entertaining, but one of the best educational resources we have in this country to talk about ocean health and how it impacts all of us. Call, order tickets and go. If you are a certified diver, get in the water with the whale sharks - you will be amazed.

Link to the Georgia Aquarium.

Botany Bay Plantation, SC

2011-01-17T10:18:00.002-05:00

There are no words to adequately describe this place. I will simply say - get thee down to Edisto Island, SC (just south of Charleston) and plan on spending a long and amazing day if not two - on foot.

The 4,687 acre Botany Bay Plantation Wildlife Management Area (WMA) is located adjacent to the waters of the Atlantic Ocean in the northeast corner of Edisto Island in lower Charleston County, South Carolina. The area lies near the North Edisto River just south of the intensely developed resort islands of Kiawah and Seabrook and just north of the rapidly developing Edisto Beach area. The SC Department of Natural Resources acquired this property and opened it to the public in 2008.

The area's location near the North Edisto River places it within the boundary of the ACE Basin Focus Area, one of the largest remaining relatively undeveloped wetland ecosystems along the Atlantic Coast. Botany Bay Plantation WMA with Botany Bay Island (under conservation easement with The Nature Conservancy) and Deveaux Bank form a core area of protected habitat in the eastern corner of the Focus Area.

The biological features of Botany Bay Plantation WMA are characteristic of Sea Islands along the lower Southeast coast. The undeveloped coastal habitats of the management area are important to numerous wildlife species. The beach is utilized for nesting by the federally-threatenedloggerhead sea turtle and the state-threatened least tern. The maritime forest and coastal scrub/shrub areas provide nesting and foraging habitat for neotropical songbirds including painted buntings and summer tanagers. The uplands support a wide diversity of wildlife. The tidal marshes and managed wetlands contain a variety of fish and shellfish resources and provide foraging habitat for numerous wildlife species.

The cultural resources on Botany Bay Plantation WMA are extremely significant. Cultural resource sites dating from as early as the Late Archaic Period through the 19th century are present. Several sites including the Fig Island Shell Rings, outbuildings from Bleak Hall Plantation and elements of the Alexander Bache U.S. Coast Survey Line are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Charleston, SC Book Signing at Blue Bicycle Books, 420 King Street

2011-01-06T21:17:00.003-05:00

Please join me at Blue Bicycle Books on January 15th from 1-4 pm!

Blue Bicycle Books Charleston's only independent book seller!

Or, if you cannot make it, it's on Amazon.

Better Homes & Gardens selects Karen Gray Design for 2011 Quilt Sampler

2011-01-02T09:36:00.003-05:00

********CLICK HERE TO PRE-ORDER YOUR COPY AND KIT**********

All of you are aware of how wonderful and talented my wife is. Anyway, it seems that the people at Better Homes and Gardens also think so!

FOR RELEASE AFTER JANUARY 1, 2011

Local Quilt Shop Featured in
Better Homes and Gardens® Quilt Sampler® Magazine

DES MOINES, IA – Karen Gray Design, a quilt shop in Winston-Salem, NC, has been chosen as one of the 11 featured shops across the United States for the Spring 2011 issue of Quilt Sampler® magazine, published by Better Homes and Gardens.

Quilt Sampler, published twice a year, has been profiling North America’s top quilt shops for the past 14 years. Quilt shops submit a detailed application on their history, business promotions, charitable work, teaching schedules and design philosophies. A panel of quilt experts led by Jennifer Keltner, group editor of American Patchwork & Quilting® magazine, narrows down the applications to 10 featured shops for each issue. The team also selects an "encore" shop that was featured in a past issue to revisit. The names of the selected shops are kept secret and unveiled at either the spring or fall International Quilt Market.

Competition to be included in Quilt Sampler is keen. Nearly 3,000 quilt shops are
eligible to apply for this year’s honor. Karen Gray Design and the other 10 shops chosen were photographed and interviewed by a team from Quilt Sampler, and a multi-page profile of the shop will appear in the issue, which will be available on newsstands on May 10, 2011. Employees of each quilt shop also design an original quilt for the magazine, and the full-sized pattern for the quilt appears in the issue of Quilt Sampler.

Quilt Sampler has proven to be a huge success, and early, out-of-print issues are collector’s items. Chosen shops are inundated with visitors and requests for the shop’s quilt patterns and fabrics. Quilters are known to try and visit all the shops in each issue, getting the signature of each shop owner in their copy of the issue.

Karen's website

Karen's blog

She's Home. 1972 BMW 3.0 CS

2011-01-01T09:09:00.001-05:00

Remember my post from December 2008? Well, she is finally done. And yes, I am so shallow that an old car makes me happy.

Welcome home Gertie

Birds & Trees

2010-12-06T19:25:00.000-05:00

So, while I was down in Hobe Sound, FL, I had the good fortune of finding a favorite perch used by several birds. Here are a few samples of what a few of these characters were up to possibly not being aware that they were being watched. Once again, the pelican, is the most fun and I think the most expressive bird alive. Now, what this pelican was trying to say is left to interpretation. As for the trees, I love the stretch of road that leads to and from the island covered in Banyan Trees. It makes for a suitable point of demarcation from reality and the other a fine place to sit and watch the sun set. As with other locations I post here frequently, this is yet another that has a deep family connection that goes back three generations and is the keeper of childhood memories.

November

2010-11-14T18:05:00.001-05:00

Was 65 and perfect here in NC today. Caused me to get out and roam to see what November had to offer. I found myself around the Deep Creek Dam and ultimately on a perch looking north to the foothills from Dennyville (I know all of you know exactly where that is - I'll let you google it)

My November Guest

My Sorrow, when she's here with me,

Thinks these dark days of autumn rain

Are beautiful as days can be;

She loves the bare, the withered tree;

She walked the sodden pasture lane.

Her pleasure will not let me stay.

She talks and I am fain to list:

She's glad the birds are gone away,

She's glad her simple worsted gray

Is silver now with clinging mist.

The desolate, deserted trees,

The faded earth, the heavy sky,

The beauties she so truly sees,

She thinks I have no eye for these,

And vexes me for reason why.

Not yesterday I learned to know

The love of bare November days

Before the coming of the snow,

But it were vain to tell her so,

And they are better for her praise.

Robert Frost

What makes a teacher?

2010-10-27T18:26:00.003-04:00

Those of you who know me know that I was never much of an academic. For most of my time in the hallowed halls I viewed my work as something to be endured and pushed through in order to keep one or more people in my life off my back. Most of my teachers and ultimately professors simply had me regurgitate information and those that asked for original thought really only wanted to see if I had discovered what they wanted me to see, not what I actually thought or found. This all changed one fall at the University of St. Thomas when my roommate charged through the door and exclaimed - "you have to to take Graham Thatcher's class, you'll love him." This turned out to be an understatement. The rhetoric class was already full, or at least theoretically it was with 30 people or so. Graham ultimately let about 50 of us in. He asked us to stand on the shoulders of all the great philosophers and orators that had come before and handed us a copy of William Safire's "Lend Me Your Ears". He then proceeded to set our minds on fire with all the possibilities that came with powerful persuasiveness. Looking back, the experience could have been a classroom scene from "The Dead Poets' Society" with one or more students Yawping from a desktop; throwing conventional approaches to classical teaching theories on speech and rhetoric out the window of a speeding bus. I was never better as a student. My work was mine for the first time. Unfortunately, like Robin Williams' character in Dead Poets' Society, Graham faced the ugly side of academia and had to resign as head of the Communications department. I resigned shortly after. Graham has since gone on to build a successful business portraying everyone from Clarence Darrow to Justice William O. Douglas in a series of one-man two-act plays recounting these great legal minds and their amazing use of rhetoric to help shape our nation and it's laws. He is so good at his portrayals, that his audiences are usually comprised of mostly lawyers who get CLE credit for attending!

I had the privilege of attending his first performance at St. Thomas, reenacting the "Monkey Scopes Trial" as Clarence Darrow in 1993. I mention this because just last night I got to see him again in Charlotte, NC performing "The Impeachment of Justice Douglas". Over 17 years had passed since I had seen my old professor, but sitting in that front row last night, I was once again a student, only this time the homework, not assigned by him, was to go and find my speech.

Thanks for being a real teacher Dr. Thatcher - God knows there aren't enough of you.

October?

2010-10-21T23:20:00.003-04:00

It has hardly felt like October lately, but I did catch a good whiff of it this last Sunday out at the farm. I suspect that this weekend will have some time dedicated to preparing for Halloween and some final yard work. Trying to choose between loving the fall over the spring here in NC is like trying to decide between the mountains and the beach or coming to a final decision on the finest sunset I have ever seen. It can't been done, at least not conclusively. I can say this much; that being outdoors some place like the farm, or up in the mountains or the outer banks during a change of season is a humbling and beautiful thing. Its good to be in awe of the seasons, it reminds us of how small we really are and that for all the power, intelligence, creativity we may posses, we cannot recreate these changes at will. Its good for us to be reminded of who is really in charge. Click here for more October photographs - Music by U2.

Nothing Gold Can Stay

by Robert Frost
Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold,
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

The Buzzard

2010-10-18T07:56:00.001-04:00

This rather graceful menace was circling above me yesterday as I roamed the farm. There were two actually. I was walking, I wonder if to them I looked as if I was about to drop dead in my tracks and they would have an answer to the question of dinner. Nonetheless, watching them glide and arch was something.

(Can't find any poetry about a buzzard, so this will have to do...)

Vulture by Robinson Jeffers

I had walked since dawn and lay down to rest on a bare hillside
Above the ocean. I saw through half-shut eyelids a vulture wheeling
high up in heaven,
And presently it passed again, but lower and nearer, its orbit
narrowing,
I understood then
That I was under inspection. I lay death-still and heard the flight-
feathers
Whistle above me and make their circle and come nearer.
I could see the naked red head between the great wings
Bear downward staring. I said, "My dear bird, we are wasting time
here.
These old bones will still work; they are not for you." But how
beautiful
he looked, gliding down
On those great sails; how beautiful he looked, veering away in the
sea-light
over the precipice. I tell you solemnly
That I was sorry to have disappointed him. To be eaten by that beak
and
become part of him, to share those wings and those eyes--
What a sublime end of one's body, what and enskyment; what a life
after death.

The sea answers all questions......

2010-10-11T19:14:00.000-04:00

The sound of the sea is the most time-effacing sound there is. The centuries reroll in a cloud and the earth becomes young again when you listen, with eyes shut, to the sea - a young green time when the water and the land were just getting acquainted and had known each other for few billion years and the mollusks were just beginning to dip and creep in the shallows; and now man the invertebrate, under his ribbed umbrella, anoints himself with oil and pulls on his Polaroid glasses to stop the glare and stretches out his long brown body at ease upon a towel on the warm sand and listens.

The sea answers all questions, and always in the same way; for when you read in the papers the interminable discussions and the bickering and the prognostications and the turmoil, the disagreements and the fateful decisions and agreements and plans and the programs and the threats and counter threats, and then you close your eyes and the sea dispatches one more big roller in the unbroken line since the beginning of the world and it combs and breaks and returns foaming and saying "So soon?"

E.B. White, February 1941

Under The Harvest Moon

2010-10-08T21:13:00.000-04:00

Most of you know that I love Carl Sandburg, summer, Brookberry Farm and my time behind the lens. So when we had our first Harvest Moon since 1993, I ran out to the farm and parked myself out on top of a hill and waited - and I was not let down.

UNDER the harvest moon,
When the soft silver
Drips shimmering
Over the garden nights,
Death, the gray mocker,
Comes and whispers to you
As a beautiful friend
Who remembers.
Under the summer roses
When the flagrant crimson
Lurks in the dusk
Of the wild red leaves,
Love, with little hands,
Comes and touches you
With a thousand memories,
And asks you
Beautiful, unanswerable questions.

Carl Sandburg

As A Man Thinketh, By James Allen (With my photographs)

2010-09-09T17:53:00.002-04:00

I am very proud of this first attempt a publishing my photographs. I have always loved James Allen's book, so it was the perfect choice for my maiden project.

"It has been said that James Allen is the “most quoted man you’ve never heard of.” In 1902, Allen published As a Man Thinketh, universally acknowledged as a classic book on self-examination. The precept conveyed in Proverbs 23:7 (“As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he”) inspired the book’s title. It also captures the essence of Allen’s philosophy. Through his eloquent and succinct prose, Allen conveys his thesis that it is up to the individual to form his own character and create his own happiness.

In 1985, 15-year-old Bowman Gray IV lost his father to a heart attack. Later that same year, his mother gave him two gifts—a copy of As a Man Thinketh and a 35-millimeter camera. At the time, he did not fully appreciate how important these two gifts would eventually become to him. In his 20s, Gray, like many others, finally understood Allen’s words and began to change the way he viewed himself and how he interacted with the world. Through the years, Gray also developed his skills as a photographer. In this gift edition, he couples his own color photographs with Allen’s timeless advice to produce an inspirational book that will stay with readers for years to come."

John F. Blair, Publisher
978-0-89587-387-3
$24.95 hardcover
11 x 8 1/2
112 pages; Full-color photographs throughout

Order the book here.

Or if you want a signed copy, click on my profile and email me and I will send one to you - I will invoice you via paypal.

Second Chances

2010-09-08T21:06:00.001-04:00

Those of you who have followed this blog for a while have read about the old family farm - Brookberry Farm. It's a special place and over the last few years I have grown frustrated with those that trespass at will to hunt, ride ATVs or use one of the old vacant houses to hide out from parents to smoke a little dope and drink. Well, this last Monday night as I crawled into bed and turned on the news I was horrified to see one of the vacant houses on the back of the property on fire. I flew out there and met with the Chief and investigator, etc. Long story made longer, after I had sent emails and made phone calls to all of the local schools, homeowners associations, the Chief of Police and the Sheriff, the boys knowing the noose was tightening, came forward. Four of them, one age 15 the rest are 14. All from good families. As angry as I am, I find myself a little heartbroken for them. Although their records will be sealed when they turn 18, this will haunt them for the rest of their lives. The fear they felt, the anguish of disappointing their parents and greater yet, the uncertainly of what their fate will be now having been charged with trespassing and arson. I pray that this is sufficient enough for them to pivot off and move forward in good orderly direction. The alternative is that they just believe they are simply bad kids, so they do what bad kids do. This is a quandary that takes a lot more pain and effort to drag oneself out of. We are a nation that not only believes in, but counts on, second chances. God knows I would be nowhere without them. I believe that these are good kids who did a terrible thing. I just hope that they believe the same of themselves.

The photo really has nothing to do with this post, but being that it is a black and white negative of a positive color shot, it shows that there is always more to everything we see.

"When you make a mistake, don't look back at it long. Take the reason of the thing into your mind and then look forward. Mistakes are lessons of wisdom. The past cannot be changed. The future is yet in your power. "

Hugh White

Summer

2010-08-24T17:01:00.001-04:00

The Summer Day

Mary Oliver

Who made the world?

Who made the swan, and the black bear?

Who made the grasshopper?

This grasshopper, I mean-

the one who has flung herself out of the grass,

the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,

who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-

who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.

Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.

Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.

I don't know exactly what a prayer is.

I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down

into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,

how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,

which is what I have been doing all day.

Tell me, what else should I have done?

Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?

Tell me, what is it you plan to do

with your one wild and precious life?

Tobacco Auction - Guest post by Doug Grimes

2010-08-18T19:58:00.000-04:00

This was done by a good friend who was knee deep in the industry -

Tobacco Auctions Making a Comeback?
by Yarddawg, AKA Doug Grimes

For most of the last century August created a special stir and air of excitement for local tobacco farmers as the leaf auctions opened. It was an annual late summer ritual. The streets of Winston-Salem and many other communities throughout the southeast were filled with the sweet perfumed aroma of the golden leaf. To this day not many smells will rival that of freshly cured tobacco. The type mostly grown around here is famous and known throughout the world as Flue-Cured Virginia or Bright Leaf. The sale of the crop put food on the table, clothed the family, paid for college educations, bills, and afforded a decent lifestyle for many hard working folks. Despite its controversial reputation, tobacco farmers are still a viable part of many communities in Forsyth County. Controversy is nothing new for tobacco. It goes back to Sir Walter Raleigh's expeditions in the late 1500's. Tobacco remains a resilient weed in many ways.

For almost forty years I was involved in the leaf tobacco auctions and leaf trade as a buyer. When I first entered the business it was considered an honorable profession. Despite the popular notion and negativity in vogue today, tobacco farmers and tobacco workers are good, honest, hardworking folks. I traveled around the world buying tobacco. As I like to say from America to Zimbabwe and everywhere in between. Beginning in the late 1990's tobacco companies started to re-think tobacco auctions. By 2001 nearly every company was entering into contracts with farmers directly to grow tobacco. These contracts all but killed tobacco auctions. By around 2005 or 2006 auctions were no more. The old auction system was certainly not perfect. The new contracting system isn't either. Sometimes change can bring about unintended consequences. The reasons are complex and too difficult to explain simply or effectively here. There is a small movement afoot to re-establish auctions. I witnessed one such attempt on August 17 in Rural Hall in an old unused tobacco warehouse. Yes there is a tobacco auction in Forsyth County once again. There is another attempt to revive the auction in both Danville, Virginia and Wilson, North Carolina with something akin to a "silent auction". But the one here is an honest to goodness, real, live, old fashioned tobacco auction. There will be a few more auction sales in Rural Hall in the coming weeks. In case anyone is wondering, it is open to the public and is an interesting spectacle if you've never seen one. Right now the chances of a successful long-term revival appear slim. But who knows?

As a way of introduction to the uninitiated, allow me to introduce you to a five minute video narrated by Mr. Page Roberts, retired tobacco auctioneer. Page won the 1982 World Tobacco Auctioneer Championship competition, beating out about 50 others, which was sponsored by RJ Reynolds for several years as part of its "Pride In Tobacco" campaign. You will not meet a finer human being or professional than Page Roberts. Simply put he was one of the best ever. Page, a Virginia native, auctioneered in Winston-Salem for many years. This is part of my history and the history of many locals whether directly or indirectly or even not involved with the industry. Tobacco is still an important part of Winston-Salem's past, present, and future. I think many will enjoy this short and informative history of the Tobacco Auctioneer. I should also mention that the auction in Rural Hall was led by another class act and another former World Champion Auctioneer, Chuck Jordan, who currently resides in Winston-Salem. But if you know Chuck please don't tell him I called him a class act.

Back from Maine

2010-08-02T19:06:00.003-04:00

Its only been three days since we left and I already look back on our time up there as in a dream. The intense blue sky, the heavy blankets of fog, the cold waters, country lanes and of course, that soul filling ever so sublime smell of the pine forests combined with the salt water. I did pick and have started reading E.B. White's first collection of Essays "One Man's Meat" if you have not, click on the title, buy it and read it, you'll be glad you did. I took upwards of 1000 pictures and saved around 640 or so. I'll get to producing the slide show as in years past soon. One highlight was spending an afternoon with Jim Fowler, you may remember him as host of Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom and the guy who let wild animals climb all over Johnny Carson. We talked about the health of the oceans and the environment in general. I was honored that he shared his vision with me. More about that later. For now here are some samples of what July had for us.

Click here for the slide show - sound on.

Update from Maine

2010-07-18T10:15:00.000-04:00

Just a note to say that I am not being negligent here, just that I only have my laptop which I do not use for photo management, etc. I have taken about 700 photographs from lobster boats emerging out of the fog to more close ups of seals on the rock, some lighthouses, etc. I will download, edit and post when I am back at my desk.

I also am reading the first collection of E.B. White's essays "One Man's Meat" which is no less amazing than the collection I read last year. I have met the current owners of his farm just down the road from where we are and will be taking tour of the place soon. Serious food for the soul.

Best - BG

Back to Maine

2010-06-21T19:54:00.001-04:00

It's interesting that my two favorite poets, Sandburg & Longfellow, are sons of two of my favorite places: Sandburg, NC - Longfellow, Maine. I should also tip my hat to E.B. White and his time in Maine after leaving New York. I fell in love with Maine as a child. My parents had a house in Port Clyde where we spent our summers. My memories of learning how to ride a bicycle and being allowed to take off on my own at age 6 or 7 to ride all the way to the Port Clyde General Store (Now owned by the LL Bean people). I can still smell the moisture from a morning rain rising off the asphalt warming under the August sun as I strained against the pedals climbing the hill before it crested above the bay by the Marshall Point Lighthouse. I swear I thought that I was going so fast by the time I got to the bottom of the hill, that had I grown wings I would still be flying. I miss that. Anyway, this Friday my family and I will be heading back to Blue Hill for a short stay. We will stop by the Port Clyde General Store to look at my hill and to refill my soul with a touch of my youth. This year will be special however, being that my Mother will be with us. She and I have not been together in Maine in about twenty years or so. It will no doubt be a trip down memory lane as much as it will be a vacation. Thanks Mom.

Saturday afternoon just off the highway.

2010-05-29T16:08:00.000-04:00

One thing I really love about the south is that you can pull off most any main road and find an old house or tobacco barn. They all seem to represent a slightly more simple life when we did not worry about Greek or Spanish debt, or massive oil spills and corporate corruption. I know that it was a time that held its own worries and problems, but those issues seem solvable whereas today's I am not so sure.

Not Exactly The Red Hot Chili Peppers

2010-05-16T09:49:00.002-04:00

The Chilis sang about LA in a huge hit back in the early 90's "Under The Bridge Downtown". I actually did like the song. However, here in NC specifically on the Forsyth and Yadkin County line where this bridge crosses the Yadkin River, I think the main chorus would be "Under that thar bridge over yonder...."(Insert banjo riff)

The Bridge
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I stood on the bridge at midnight,
As the clocks were striking the hour,
And the moon rose o'er the city,
Behind the dark church-tower.

I saw her bright reflection
In the waters under me,
Like a golden goblet falling
And sinking into the sea.

And far in the hazy distance
Of that lovely night in June,
The blaze of the flaming furnace
Gleamed redder than the moon.

Among the long, black rafters
The wavering shadows lay,
And the current that came from the ocean
Seemed to lift and bear them away;

As, sweeping and eddying through them,
Rose the belated tide,
And, streaming into the moonlight,
The seaweed floated wide.

And like those waters rushing
Among the wooden piers,
A flood of thoughts came o'er me
That filled my eyes with tears.

How often, oh, how often,
In the days that had gone by,
I had stood on that bridge at midnight
And gazed on that wave and sky!

How often, oh, how often,
I had wished that the ebbing tide
Would bear me away on its bosom
O'er the ocean wild and wide!

For my heart was hot and restless,
And my life was full of care,
And the burden laid upon me
Seemed greater than I could bear.

But now it has fallen from me,
It is buried in the sea;
And only the sorrow of others
Throws its shadow over me.

Yet whenever I cross the river
On its bridge with wooden piers,
Like the odor of brine from the ocean
Comes the thought of other years.

And I think how many thousands
Of care-encumbered men,
Each bearing his burden of sorrow,
Have crossed the bridge since then.

I see the long procession
Still passing to and fro,
The young heart hot and restless,
And the old subdued and slow!

And forever and forever,
As long as the river flows,
As long as the heart has passions,
As long as life has woes;

The moon and its broken reflection
And its shadows shall appear,
As the symbol of love in heaven,
And its wavering image here.

Tanglewood Cup Steeplechase 2010

2010-05-09T13:04:00.001-04:00

This was the 45th running of the Steeplechase here in NC after an eight year hiatus. The break was required to figure out how to keep spectators from getting too loaded and taking off their clothes. So, a dress code was implemented and rules of conduct enforced. What an amazing time for everyone. I am looking forward to next year's running already.

Steeplechase slide show click here.

As A Man Thinketh, By James Allen

2010-05-01T09:30:00.000-04:00

Please consider pre-ordering my new book. It is a reprint of James Allen's most famous work set along side my photographs. They will ship in September. This is a project about two years in the making as I have talked myself out of it at least ten times. I love the book and have included some of my favorite photographs that I have taken over the last five years or so. Thank you for your support.

Pre-Order the book here.

Boca Grande 2010

2010-04-06T07:21:00.002-04:00

Here is the link to my slides from this year. I went a little overboard with the sunrise shots at the end, but was truly an amazing morning, light breeze, the caws of the birds, the splash of mullet and the occasional burst of breath from an unseen manatee in the water below me.

Boca Grande Slide show 2010

What's the conversation here?

2010-04-04T22:55:00.001-04:00

So I says to Fred, "Hey I don't think you should eat that, it doesn't look real!" So what does he do? He swallows it whole and gets yanked up out of the water by his lips and we haven't seen him since! I mean for fish he was a really great guy.

Return to Stone Mountian, NC

2010-03-14T10:15:00.001-04:00

Daniel and I decided to go climb in the rain yesterday. The clouds were heavy and broken and despite the low cover, visibility was great. We went and hiked about 3 years ago through the valley looking up at the mountain, this time we went to the summit. If you ever have an afternoon available, this hike is a must. It will wear you out, so eat your Wheaties before you go.

Previous post on Stone Mountain.

Stone Mountain State Park.

The Ragged Old House

2010-03-08T17:29:00.004-05:00

I found this amazing and haunting old place out in Yadkin County, NC. I loved everything about it. Boy, if walls could talk.

The Ragged Old House
By: Sally Roberts

As I passed by that ragged old house

The shingles all rotten and battered,
Most of the windows were still in their places
But some were all broken and shattered.

As I looked longingly at the old house
A tear had formed in my eye,
No one lives there no more the old house is empty
And then I began to cry.

The owners moved out a long time ago,
And the old house is there all alone.
The grass is all dead the porch broken down
And the weeds, oh how they have grown.

I walked to the porch then opened the door
It's hinges were old and rusty,
Some cobwebs were hanging up high on the walls
And the room was all dirty and dusty.

The curtains were torn the pictures all crooked
The mattresses were old and rotten,
There were memories in this old house
Memories that were somehow forgotten.

This house that is ragged battered and worn
And its hinges all rusted and old,
Belonged to my Grandma and Grandpa back then
This ragged old house I was told.

Random Field

2010-03-06T17:49:00.001-05:00

I had about one hour to drive around and look for places that stirred my soul. Oddly, this field was squawk dab between a budding mega-church and a housing development. It seemed that if you could shut off the noise of traffic and walk across it hearing only the breeze, the crunch of the dry grass below your feet and the frenetic chirping of the birds hiding in the small grove of trees, it could drop your blood pressure by about 25%. It was enough to spend a few minutes thinking about it and photographing it to help my pressure some. Scenes like this offering us a chance to decompress are becoming too few.

Wind energy ain't nothin new 'round here.

2010-03-01T17:05:00.003-05:00

THE WINDMILL

By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Behold! a giant am I!
Aloft here in my tower,
With my granite jaws I devour
The maize, and the wheat, and the rye,
And grind them into flour.

I look down over the farms;
In the fields of grain I see
The harvest that is to be,
And I fling to the air my arms,
For I know it is all for me.

I hear the sound of flails
Far off, from the threshing-floors
In barns, with their open doors,
And the wind, the wind in my sails,
Louder and louder roars.

I stand here in my place,
With my foot on the rock below,
And whichever way it may blow
I meet it face to face,
As a brave man meets his foe.

And while we wrestle and strive
My master, the miller, stands
And feeds me with his hands;
For he knows who makes him thrive,
Who makes him lord of lands.

On Sundays I take my rest;
Church-going bells begin
Their low, melodious din;
I cross my arms on my breast,
And all is peace within.

Boca Grande, here we come

2010-02-24T17:35:00.007-05:00

All of you by now are all too aware of how much we love this place and how lucky we are to be able to go back each spring. We set our plans last night; The Innlet, tennis, fishing with Capt. Tommy Locke, bingo at the Gasparilla Inn and time by the water with the stack of books that have collected on my bedside over the last few months.

Previous posts on Boca Grande.

The Gasparilla Inn

Captain Tommy Locke (Best guide on the island)

Best PSA I have ever seen.

2010-02-22T06:58:00.001-05:00

Karen Gray Design -New Location!

2010-02-20T09:52:00.006-05:00

My ever talented and beautiful wife has yet again transformed an old dull space into something fantastic. Having just moved from her previous location in Reynolda Village, Karen Gray Design is now located in 114-R Reynolda Village. Fabric, unique items and sewing classes.

I really did marry one of the last truly great women in the world.

Karen Gray Design

Reynolda Village

NC Coast in winter

2010-02-16T17:40:00.004-05:00

Daniel and I headed down to the coast again last weekend. We spent the night in Carolina Beach and the visited the aquariums at Fort Fisher and Pine Knolls. We arrived in the early evening and it could not have been more perfect for a walk on the beach. I love the beach and the ocean even when it is cold with some snow laying about. I would highly recommend visiting the NC Aquariums - very nice. My only comment would be that instead of building three really nice, but smaller facilities, they should have just spent all their resources on one really nice huge facility. Just a thought.

North Carolina Aquariums.

Not Ansel Adams Part IV

2010-02-08T20:17:00.002-05:00

I had the chance to go out and feed my soul through the lens of my camera this last Saturday out in Surry, Stokes & Yadkin Counties, all seemingly with a view of Pilot Mountain. Yes, the same from the Andy Griffith show.The frost line was at about 1500 feet and offered a bit a ghostly scene. I love that countryside with the old out buildings and tobacco barns.

Not Ansel Adams Part III

Not Ansel Adams Part II

Not Ansel Adams Part I

The real Ansel Adams

Cows in the snow.

2010-02-06T08:36:00.007-05:00

During our recent snows here in NC we got the chance to head out to the farm for some sledding. The cows tended to stick to their shed occasionally heading out in pairs or threes to hit the watering trough. They would glance over at us on the sleds barreling out of control with a dog hot on our tails and seemed to have a rather Gary Larson look about them seeming to say "why?". After determining that we were, indeed, nuts, they would just lumber back to the shed side by side carrying on a quiet conversation about the idiocy of our source of entertainment.

The Penalty of Leadership

2010-02-01T21:40:00.001-05:00

Thought this was worth posting again.

The Penalty of Leadership

In every field of human endeavor, he that is first must perpetually live in the white light of publicity. Whether the leadership is vested in a man or in a manufactured product, emulation and envy are ever at work. In art, in literature, in music, in industry, the reward and the punishment are always the same. The reward is widespread recognition, the punishment fierce denial and detraction. When a man’s work becomes a standard for the whole world, it also becomes a target for the shafts of the envious few. If his work were merely mediocre, he will be left severely alone – if he achieves a masterpiece, it will set a million tongues a-wagging. Jealousy does not protrude its forked tongue at the artist who produces a commonplace painting. Whatsoever you write, or paint, or play, or sing, or build, no one will strive to surpass, or to slander you, unless your work is stamped with the seal of genius. Long, long after a great work or a good work has been done, those who are disappointed or envious continue to cry out that it cannot be done. Spiteful little voices in the domain of art were raised against our own Whistler as a mountebank, long after the big world had acclaimed him its greatest artistic genius. Multitudes flocked to Bayreuth to worship at the musical shrine of Wagner, while the little group of those whom he had dethroned and displaced, argued angrily that he was no musician at all. The little world continued to protest that Fulton could never build a steamboat, while the big world flocked to the riverbanks to see his boat steam by. The leader is assailed because he is a leader, and the effort to equal him is merely added proof of that leadership. Failing to equal or to excel, the follower seeks to depreciate and to destroy – but only confirms once more the superiority of that which he strives to supplant. There is nothing new in this. It is as old as the world and as old as the human passions – envy, fear, greed, ambition, and the desire to surpass. And it all avails nothing. If the leader truly leads, he remains – the leader. Master-poet, master-painter, master-workman, each in his turn is assailed, and each holds his laurels through the ages. That which is good or is great makes itself known, no matter how loud the clamor of denial. That which deserves to live –lives.

Cadillac Motor Car Co. Detroit, Mich.
1914

Back from diving

2010-01-18T08:17:00.011-05:00

Daniel and I just returned yesterday from a dive trip including snorkeling with the manatees in the Homosassa River and dives down the Rainbow River, in Devil's Den & Ginnie Springs. What a fantastic time. The waters were clear, the fish and bird life abundant and the limestone caverns looked downright prehistoric. Many thanks to Moe McKnight as our dive leader from Blue Dolphin Dive Center here in Winston-Salem. We are really looking forward to our next chance to get out with this group.

Video footage of three of the dives set to music click here.

Sully's landing animated with actual audio

2010-01-13T10:50:00.000-05:00

History Channel in Winston-Salem

2010-01-05T22:37:00.003-05:00

My Great Grandfather is either brimming with pride or standing with his jaw down to his knees. This was filmed at Bowman Gray Stadium that was named in his honor. Tune in Sunday night at 10pm EST on the History Channel.

Remember Summer?

2010-01-04T18:30:00.003-05:00

With warm wind and robins? It's days like today with wind and cold and early sunsets that make me appreciate how spectacular North Carolina is in summer.

Summer Wind
by William Cullen Bryant

It is a sultry day; the sun has drank
The dew that lay upon the morning grass,
There is no rustling in the lofty elm
That canopies my dwelling, and its shade
Scarce cools me. All is silent, save the faint
And interrupted murmur of the bee,
Settling on the sick flowers, and then again
Instantly on the wing. The plants around
Feel the too potent fervors; the tall maize
Rolls up its long green leaves; the clover droops
Its tender foliage, and declines its blooms.
But far in the fierce sunshine tower the hills,
With all their growth of woods, silent and stern,
As if the scortching heat and dazzling light
Were but an element they loved. Bright clouds,
Motionless pillars of the brazen heaven;--
Their bases on the mountains--their white tops
Shining in the far ether--fire the air
With a reflected radiance, and make turn
The gazer's eye away. For me, I lie
Languidly in the shade, where the thick turf,
Yet virgin from the kisses of the sun,
Retains some freshness, and I woo the wind
That still delays its coming. Why so slow,
Gentle and voluble spirit of the air?
Oh, come and breathe upon the fainting earth
Coolness and life. Is it that in his caves
He hears me? See, on yonder woody ridge,
The pine is bending his proud top, and now,
Among the nearer groves, chesnut and oak
Are tossing their green boughs about. He comes!
Lo, where the grassy meadow runs in wives!
The deep distressful silence of the scene
Breaks up with mingling of unnumbered sounds
And universal motion. He is come,
Shaking a shower of blossoms from the shrubs,
And bearing on the fragrance; and he brings
Music of birds, and rustling of young boughs,
And soun of swaying branches, and the voice
Of distant waterfalls. All the green herbs
Are stirring in his breath; a thousand flowers,
By the road-side and the borders of the brook,
Nod gaily to each other; glossy leaves
Are twinkling in the sun, as if the dew
Were on them yet, and silver waters break
Into small waves and sparkle as he comes.

Sun setting on 2009

2009-12-31T18:29:00.005-05:00

"Be at war with your voices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better person." Adapted from Benjamin Franklin. This was a difficult and amazing decade and I look forward to seeing what all of us can bring to the next. Happy New Year everyone.

Some things to consider:

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
25. Frame every so-called disaster with these words ''In five years, will this matter?".
26. Always choose life.
27. Forgive everyone everything.
28. What other people think of you is none of your business.
29. Time heals almost everything. Give time, time.
30. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
31. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
32. Believe in miracles.
33. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
34. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
35. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.
36. Your children get only one childhood.
37. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
38. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
39. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
40. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
41. The best is yet to come.
42. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
43. Yield.
44. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.

Written By Regina Brett, 90 years old, of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio

"To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most-requested column I've ever written. My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:"

Move over Donner and Blitzen

2009-12-19T19:11:00.002-05:00

Here come Forrest and Jenny and they are gunning for the lead positions on Santa'a sleigh.....

Road to?

2009-12-19T19:08:00.003-05:00

It's been a long time since I posted one of these - I bet if you have looked at my others, you may guess where it is, but its more interesting to let your imagination run and see where it takes you.

Previous "Road To" post from March.

Shark fishing in Boca Grande

2009-12-10T17:30:00.003-05:00

This is a very different post about Boca Grande compared to my previous posts. We were down tending to the issues outlined in the post from 12-3 and had a moment to drop a line in the water. While Daniel and I reeled in and released a few snook and lady fish, the gentleman next to us brought in a five foot bull shark. There is never a lack of good fishing in Boca Grande, particularly when fishing off the south end of the island in the Boca Grande pass.

Alice B. Hoguet aka Nini July 21, 1914 - December 3, 2009

2009-12-03T18:59:00.004-05:00

The last of a kind. My Grandmother, the matriarch was brilliant, beautiful and generous beyond words in every way possible. We thank God for her life and now pray that he receive her with the same open arms that she offered us. Goodbye my dear Nini.

Waiting for my Real Life to Begin: Colin Hay

2009-12-02T19:14:00.001-05:00

Colin Hay - Waiting for My Real Life To Begin
by cloudy_boy

For those that do not recognize his name, he was the lead singer of Men at Work back inthe ealry 80's - talk about a musical epiphany.

Through the windows of the Alpha Chapel

2009-11-21T15:51:00.006-05:00

Many of you saw my previous post on Bethania, The Black Walnut Festival, etc. Today I had the chance to run up there again, this time I took pictures from inside the Alpha Chapel that was built in 1894. Most of the glass is still original and offers an interesting perspective on the world outside.

Leopard Seal encounter

2009-11-16T19:26:00.001-05:00

As a photographer and a SCUBA Diver, this would be amazing.

1972 BMW 3.0 CS: Yes, I am very shallow.

2009-11-12T20:05:00.004-05:00

I went to pay a visit to Gertie and PEAK Auto Restoration who is putting her back together. They have some neat stuff in their shop, so watch the slides, sound on.

PEAK also handles maintenance work on all makes, but specializes in European cars. Cheaper and faster than the dealer. - 919-363-8589.

My previous post on my car.

On set with "The Gatherers" UNCSA film production

2009-11-08T16:07:00.006-05:00

We were invited to tag along today to see the filming of "The Gatherers" a production by 3rd & 4th year film students at the UNC School of the Arts here in Winston-Salem. My thanks to John LeBlanc for including us. There are some amazing things happening here in our town, most notably is that this film is utilizing one of the ol RJR Tobacco factories.

University of North Carolina School of the Arts.

More from Brookberry Farm (The stables are aka Redtail Ridge)

2009-11-05T20:19:00.012-05:00

I took these over at Brookberry Stables, known to most as Cozy Fox Farm and now renamed Redtail Ridge under new management. As I mentioned in my short memoir that I posted along with my slide show, I learned how to ride horses as a boy among other things. The smell of the horses, the way they gently rest their head on my shoulder, the curious twitch of the ears and the inquisitive snort as they smell your hand hoping for an apple or carrot. There really are no other animals like them. My first pony at age 6 or so was a Shetland named Sharon. She was all of maybe four feet high and she HATED me (all humans actually). Our first outing together, she took off at full cantor and if it weren't for the fact that we were in an indoor ring, we could very well still be sprinting off somewhere. Then came Corn Pone - a normal sized pony, white with black speckles. He was great except for the fact that he could not/would not stop eating. I could not take him on trail rides because he would stop and graze and short of beating him half to death, nothing would get him to get moving again. Lastly, I had Periwinkle. We found her in field in Kernersville and she was perfect. We rode and showed up and down the east coast until I was 12 and left home for boarding school. She was sold to a family in Connecticut. The young woman was clearly destined to have her as she went on to win at Madison Square Garden every year up until she retired. They actually had the ceremony at MSG after her final win. I have very fond memories of those days and I regret to say that I have not been on horseback since I was 16. Sometimes it seems I was living another person's life back then. It's kind of like remembering a great movie - you are glad to have seen it, wish you could recapture it, but know that you can't.

11-02-2009 Full Moon WOW

2009-11-02T18:33:00.002-05:00

I just took this out front of my house - Anyone else feeling like they are growing fangs and wee but hairy?

In all seriousness, seemed appropriate to return to one of my favorite poems:

Under the Harvest Moon by Carl Sandburg

Under the harvest moon,
When the soft silver
Drips shimmering
Over the garden nights,
Death, the gray mocker,
Comes and whispers to you
As a beautiful friend
Who remembers.

Under the summer roses
When the flagrant crimson
Lurks in the dusk
Of the wild red leaves,
Love, with little hands,
Comes and touches you
With a thousand memories,
And asks you
Beautiful, unanswerable questions.

Spring in Reynolda Village and Gardens

2009-11-02T17:39:00.005-05:00

Now that the time change is here, the leaves are past their peak of color and soccer practice for the kids has been backed up to 4:30 - I miss spring more than ever. There is no place quite like North Carolina in the spring. I may have posted these two pictures before, but I thought they were worth revisiting as reminder of what we have to look forward to.

Reynolda Village

Reynolda Gardens

A Prayer in Spring

Robert Frost (1915)

Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers to-day;
And give us not to think so far away
As the uncertain harvest; keep us here
All simply in the springing of the year.

Oh, give us pleasure in the orchard white,
Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night;
And make us happy in the happy bees,
The swarm dilating round the perfect trees.

And make us happy in the darting bird
That suddenly above the bees is heard,
The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill,
And off a blossom in mid air stands still.

For this is love and nothing else is love,
The which it is reserved for God above
To sanctify to what far ends He will,
But which it only needs that we fulfil.

Fall For Art at Flow BMW Tonight

2009-11-01T08:23:00.003-05:00

Please join me for the annual Fall For Art event to support Associated Artists here in Winston-Salem at Flow BMW from 6-9.

Hanging Rock, North Carolina

2009-10-30T18:07:00.009-04:00

Well, my afternoon (OK it was about one hour) in Hanging Rock State Park produced some interesting stuff. It was overcast so the light wasn't great, but I had fun experimenting with various flash settings and a small waterfall. While I do not feel overly ecstatic about what I came away with, it was nonetheless fruitful. I am going to produce one of the water shots on aluminum - that should be very interesting.

Fall Front Porch Sittin'

2009-10-25T08:38:00.005-04:00

Yesterday was really a beautiful day here in NC once the monsoon passed. I was in Bethania for the better part of the afternoon at the Black Walnut Festival. Great folk music, Brunswick stew cooked in an iron pot suspended over an open fire, honey crisp apples, lots of wonderful art work and people who define the vision of community. Most of the houses are between 100 and 200 years old most with front porches adorned with our flag and rocking chairs. With the trees on fire with fall and a warm breeze blowing, all I needed was an invitation to sit on this porch with a glass of lemonade and watch the passers by.

Link to photo album from the afternoon.

After Apple Picking

by Robert Frost

My long two-pointed ladder's sticking through a tree
Toward heaven still.
And there's a barrel that I didn't fill
Beside it, and there may be two or three
Apples I didn't pick upon some bough.
But I am done with apple-picking now.
Essence of winter sleep is on the night,
The scent of apples; I am drowsing off.
I cannot shake the shimmer from my sight
I got from looking through a pane of glass
I skimmed this morning from the water-trough,
And held against the world of hoary grass.
It melted, and I let it fall and break.
But I was well
Upon my way to sleep before it fell,
And I could tell
What form my dreaming was about to take.
Magnified apples appear and reappear,
Stem end and blossom end,
And every fleck of russet showing clear.
My instep arch not only keeps the ache,
It keeps the pressure of a ladder-round.
And I keep hearing from the cellar-bin
That rumbling sound
Of load on load of apples coming in.
For I have had too much
Of apple-picking; I am overtired
Of the great harvest I myself desired.
There were ten thousand thousand fruit to touch,
Cherish in hand, lift down, and not let fall,
For all
That struck the earth,
No matter if not bruised, or spiked with stubble,
Went surely to the cider-apple heap
As of no worth.
One can see what will trouble
This sleep of mine, whatever sleep it is.
Were he not gone,
The woodchuck could say whether it's like his
Long sleep, as I describe its coming on,
Or just some human sleep.

WFDD Interview with Bev Hamel and me

2009-10-22T10:59:00.003-04:00

This was recorded a couple of months ago in anticipation of the upcoming events.

Click here to hear the interview on WFDD.

A Prayer for North Carolina

2009-10-19T20:37:00.006-04:00

From the National Cathedral Book of Prayer For All The States

A Prayer for North Carolina

Preserve unto us, good Lord, the precious treasure bequeathed to us by those silent eons when Thou wast preparing earth for our inheritance. May we cherish, and not despoil the cup of loveliness entrusted to our hands for a space.

So may the green land be blessed, whose smokey highlands yield their mineral riches to the soil below, and whose surf-bound coast is protected by necklaces of sand. Guard the peaceful Sounds; protect the forest mantle, the pliant ploughlands; and let Thy grace abound among Thy Carolina people whose lives are rooted in this place of promise.

Mountain Hide Out

2009-10-18T09:47:00.005-04:00

Some days I'd really like to have a place like this to hide out in. Reading the paper (or paperback) on the porch with a hot cup of coffee, maybe a porch swing sitting silently holding hands with Karen or lazily wandering down to the river with a fly rod in search of the ever elusive small mouth bass. It's just over the Va line and overlooks the New River. You are required to take a few miles of single lane gravel road and the driveway actually has a shallow stream running across it. I love all the things that make up my life, but sometimes I wish I could just turn it all off for a while. Sometimes a "full" life can be a bit taxing.

Happiness - Carl Sandburg

I asked the professors who teach the meaning of life to tell
me what is happiness.
And I went to famous executives who boss the work of
thousands of men.
They all shook their heads and gave me a smile as though
I was trying to fool with them
And then one Sunday afternoon I wandered out along
the Desplaines river
And I saw a crowd of Hungarians under the trees with
their women and children and a keg of beer and an
accordion.

Auction at Brookberry Farm October 17th OVER

2009-10-10T18:35:00.005-04:00

Yes, at the REAL farm, not the development.

Click here to see the slide show of the farm as it used to be.

****THANKS TO ALL WHO SHOWED AND HELPED CLEAN OUT THE HOUSE!******

Fall harvest: Tobacco

2009-10-01T19:02:00.006-04:00

It could have been 1950 in that warehouse, the only thing painfully missing was a fast talking auctioneer. There are still a group of men who inspect the tobacco brought in from the various farms around NC who, once they accept the leaf, place it on a conveyor that passes under an impressive machine that determines the weight and moisture content and then spits out a price per pound to be paid. As advanced as some systems have become, this is one area where one still needs to see, touch and smell before they buy. The smell is like no other. When I was a kid, it was on the breeze constantly. Today, I still can catch a whiff from time to time if the wind/humidity/time of year all come into alignment perfectly. This part of the industry is steeped in tradition and ritual. So far removed from the decisions made in rooms high above street level that placed the industry in the cross hairs. Good, bad or ugly, this remains an integral part of the economy on which no less than 37 states (yes, they all issued debt to be repaid from payments from the MSA to balance their budgets - including California) and our federal government depend. Oh the tangled webs they weave.

More than words

2009-09-25T21:09:00.006-04:00

These were on various old buildings in St. Louis - not necessarily nice ones in a good part of town either. Seems to me their is a photographic stitch project to be created with these. On the surface they are either graffiti or the name of a company emblazoned in stone for immortality. Taken individually they could be combined to suggest that there is Union, Power & Light in Forgiveness.....

Here's your new wallpaper: Yeah, it's a cow.

2009-09-24T21:15:00.007-04:00

Everyone has the default rolling hills wall paper on their windows based machine (I am a Mac man myself) so I thought those of you here in the south or out in the country may appreciate Bessie here. Now if you could get rid of the "TA-DAH" at start up and replace it with a couple of chords from the "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" then your e-conversion would be complete. Just double click on Bessie to access the larger version, then right click for you windows folks and hit "set as wallpaper". This one's on me.

*****Seems you must download the photo first. So, click on the image, when the large image appears, drag and drop it on your desk top, then right click on the file and set as wallpaper.******* Sorry for the confusion.

Off the beaten path in St. Louis

2009-09-22T23:13:00.006-04:00

A couple of scenes not in the travel brochures, but I found them to be just as fantastic as any other site.

Back from St. Louis

2009-09-22T08:55:00.007-04:00

Each year I have to head out to St. Louis for business. This year I managed to carve out some time to actually try to see the city. What a wonderful place with a really rich history. It no longer looks like the place that Thomas Wolfe wrote about, but occasionally you can catch glimpses of what he saw in some of the old architecture. I really fell in love with the old Union Electric Light & Power Co. building at the end of the River Walk. It's haunting beauty only marred by the neon painted sign announcing the entrance to the walkway. I'll post some pictures of that later.

And yes, the shot of Busch Stadium and the elevated shot of the Arch were taken from a helicopter. Those things are more fun than a roller coaster.

Black Walnut Festival, Behtania NC 10/24/2009

2009-09-18T17:30:00.009-04:00

Please join me on October 24th from 10 AM to 4 PM here in front of the Alpha Chapel (built 1894) for the annual Black Walnut Festival. Art, music, food and fun. If you have never ventured over to Bethania you really need to - it is no further away than the Grande Theater!

*********THE DATE ON THE POSTER IS INCORRECT - THE FESTIVAL IS ON SATURDAY THE 24TH, NOT THE 25TH (SUNDAY)**********

Previous post about Bethania CLICK HERE.

Return to Stone Mountain, NC

2009-09-15T18:03:00.003-04:00

I have had every intention of going back to take more pictures, but just have not made the time. I was digging through some of my shots from two summers ago and found this one. I am now feeling the NEED to return and spend more time before the leaves are gone.

Previous post on Stone Mountain, NC.

Old Friends

2009-09-06T21:43:00.004-04:00

This was taken about a year and half ago. These are the best people (minus two who could not be there) a person could ask for to claim as friends freshman year in college. I had to take early leave from these wonderful friends after only two years with them for reasons I may or may not discuss here another time. We allowed twenty years to pass before we were all able to get together again. I hate that another year+ has passed without seeing them all again. We have managed gatherings of twos and threes for which I am grateful. I count this group one of my many blessings.

If - Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream and not make dreams your master;
If you can think and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build'em up with worn-out tools

Hello 3 AM, I hate meeting like this........

2009-09-05T03:08:00.003-04:00

Well, it looks like the last time we went through this together was on May 1st(my post from that long night). Not sure why I am pie eyed and wound up. Must be contagious however, I can hear the dogs barking in the basement. As with previous bouts of insomnia, I try to envision a peaceful place. Tonight it is on the Farm for a long walk. I am always amazed at how what seem to be such small concerns during the day can become down right mountainous in the cool of the night. These worries act like a small splinter in my thumb that is barely even noticed until after midnight when it begins to throb as if there had been a nail driven into it. Graphic, but accurate.

Do you think my ears are too big?

2009-09-03T20:46:00.002-04:00

Do your ears hang wide?
Do they flap from side to side?
Do they wave in the breeze
From the slightest little sneeze?
Can you soar above the nation
With a feeling of elevation?
Do your ears hang wide?

Shadows

2009-09-02T21:14:00.005-04:00

Same door, same camera, same shadows - all with a different feel. I found myself in Bethania again today to meet with a person regarding land conservation. I arrived just early enough to take some pictures of the Alpha Chapel built in 1894. With the sun low in the sky, there were some terrific long shadows that added something to this wonderful old church.

I should add that they are each original photographs, not the same shot with different manipulations.

Sun setting on summer

2009-08-29T22:43:00.005-04:00

School has begun again, schedules are returning to their regular frenetic pace and the cicadas are not singing quite as loudly. I love this time of year, but I always miss the smell of the summer air and the dramatic sunsets. I think that it is because it only lasts for a while each year that we get to appreciate this brief moment as much as we do. It has been a full summer with my daughter graduating from Wake Forest, my wife opening her new shop, our time in Maine where Daniel learned to sail, Daniel getting SCUBA Certified and having my prints publicized for the first time (we were interviewed by WFDD for the book signing, etc.). Yes, it has been wonderful and I cannot wait to see what next summer brings.

THE END OF SUMMER

By Shannon Georgia Schaubroeck

The summer days are fading, as they must
From endless hours to short and fleeting light
The bird's once bright, immortal tune, now cries
A melancholy aura to the dusk
The children fiercely climb, and dream, and race
Before their wild and unchained days depart
And yet beneath the zeal lies a half heart
For there isn't time, there's only enough space
The sun seems low, a hazy orange sphere
Now reminiscing sweetly of the days
When endlessly before you summer lay
And as in the deep, crimson dusk you stir
Your soul joins with the birds in wistful brood
Crying for lost summer days, for childhood

This Friday the 28th......

2009-08-25T08:58:00.004-04:00

Please join me and help spread the word!

"Bethania: The Village by the Black Walnut Bottom" by Beverly Hamel. I am thrilled to have my pictures included in this book.

Please mark your calendars for August 28th for a reading, book signing and print sale at Village Smith Galleries in Reynolda Village. There will be wine and hors d'oeuvres. Both Bev and I will be present to sign books and prints. This represents a first publication for both of us, so please stop by and say hello.

Previous post with more detail.

SCUBA Certification: He did it!

2009-08-16T15:37:00.009-04:00

Well, after a summer of study and drills at the bottom of the pool at the Yadkinville YMCA, Daniel passed his written test (thanks to big sister Alex for helping him study) and just today completed his fifth dive for his Open Water Certification.

I cannot speak highly enough of the Blue Dolphin Dive Shop and their pairing us with instructor Moe McKnight. If you have ever wanted to do this, do not wait, call Janet Hill at 336-760-9226 and tell her that I sent you (I do get a referral gift) and she will get you all set up.

Can't wait for our first vacation!

Click here for pictures from the Blue Stone Quarry.

Bethania and its history of slavery

2009-08-09T11:02:00.005-04:00

Although the Moravian Church was not supportive of slavery, it ultimately did not stand in the way of its members buying slave labor. Its a painful and tragic part of our past here, but nonetheless, it must be talked and written about just as much as all other aspects of our history. Slaves and their decedents are addressed in Beverly Hamel's new book (See previous post by clicking here). The images above are from Bethania, the image of the slaves in the field is from Beverly's collection of old pictures and the image of the spinning shed on the old Conrad/Jones plantation I took as a part of the images included in Beverly's book. Sometimes, in order to move forward, we need to look back even if what we see makes us uncomfortable.

Please don't forget the book signing and reading on August 28th, 6pm at Village Smith Galleries in Reynolda Village, Winston-Salem.

Reynolda House Photo Contest: Heroes of Horticulture

2009-08-02T19:32:00.012-04:00

Here is the link that contains the details of the Reynolda House Photo Contest. It coincides with the current exhibition "Heroes of Horticulture" that everyone should attend. The details are also available on the link above.

The pictures above are from Reynolda Village and Gardens which I took this spring that appeal to me, particularly the tree that has been pruned for many more years than most of us have been alive.

Enter contest by clicking here.

Previous post on Reynolda Village.

Yadkinville YMCA

2009-07-29T19:59:00.000-04:00

This was just after the massive rain that just passed through while I
was waiting for my son.

Santiago's skiff..

2009-07-28T21:57:00.003-04:00

This is basically what I envisioned Santiago's skiff would look like when I read Hemingway's "Old Man and the Sea" when I was about 13. The story was really a metaphor about life, but all I could focus on was wondering how he caught that giant fish from a row boat?!

To our environmental health: Algaen Corp.

2009-07-27T17:51:00.004-04:00

This time, they are talking about the strain that can produce bio-diesel - really amazing:

Algaen Fuels

My previous posts on Algaen Corp.:

Algaen Nutraceutical

Harbor seals

2009-07-20T21:15:00.005-04:00

While out on our MERI adventure (MERI slide show), we came upon a large group of seals. Their expressions are not to be beat. One of the scenes I was unable to capture on my camera was the two seals that took up residence in the cove out front of my sister's house. They came out every morning to fish for breakfast and just splash around for a while. It was not that my camera was not close by, it was more that I felt that it was better to watch them which seemed to be good for my blood pressure. Some things don't need to be or maybe even shouldn't be recorded - just appreciated and remembered.

Blue Hill, Maine with a little Freeport, Stonington, Castine and Port Clyde included.

2009-07-18T18:36:00.008-04:00

Instead of my trying to explain in words how I feel about Maine, just have a look at the slide show. Its a large movie file so give it a minute and make sure your sound is on.

Older post on Blue Hill.

Left behind and hoping to be refit.

2009-07-18T07:52:00.011-04:00

It has been a while since I have posted a "left behind". The irony is that this one is similar to my first post, although with a totally different history. This looks like it may have been built in the late 1940's probably on Beal Island where the design of standard lobster boat was conceived about 80 years ago. I would like to believe that the person working on this boat is doing so to preserve the memory of having spent time on the boat with his grandfather. Learning how to pull traps, band the lobsters, bait and reset the traps. I also suspect that this boat has seen seas that most of us could only begin to imagine off the coast of Maine, brining her captain and crew home safely time and again. This one is definitely worth saving.

I met a retired Lobsterman who now spends his time working with MERI (Marine Environmental Research Institute). He ferries a group of people most week days on short environmental tours that are fantastic. A man with a wonderful history who offered this comment about lobstermen "They are the salt of the earth. Hard working, grizzled, honest and don't ever lie to one!" Understood Dick, thank you again for the tour.

Slide show from the MERI tour. Hope you like wildlife.

Back from Blue Hill with lots of pictures.

2009-07-17T21:58:00.004-04:00

OK these were actually taken in Freeport when we stopped to do our part to support the local economy by loading up at the LL Bean store (side note, there is a clever little Mexican restaurant near Blue Hill called El El Frejoles). Anyway, my son was begging me to let him go fishing and this large predatory bird was having all the luck. There will be many more pictures to come, so if you love Maine like we do, stay tuned. If you have never been, I hope they inspire you to go, it really is wonderful.

Low Tide

2009-07-09T10:56:00.001-04:00

This was the scene this AM as I prepared to row out to the Whaler and
bail three days of rain water. The sun is out, the market is stable
and life is good.

I really &@$#%*€ hate Windows Vista

2009-07-05T19:50:00.001-04:00

Third time was also a failure.

I hate Windows Vista

2009-07-05T18:09:00.001-04:00

This is now my third attempt at installing SR pack 2 on my windows
vista (aka POS) machine. I have two Macs at home that run flawlessly
and never waste as much time as this machine does. Windows 7 better
fix this steaming pile of an operating system.

Maine Evening

2009-07-03T11:31:00.000-04:00

Really hard to beat this. With limited connectivity and the smell of
the ocean, I could seriously forget about the real world for a while.

The Joy of Blowing Bubbles

2009-06-24T22:29:00.004-04:00

How cool is this? This is my boy who is ten (and a 1/2) who told me he wanted to learn to SCUBA dive, which thrills me to no end as I now will have live in dive buddy. How I wish I had been as adventurous as he when I was his age. Both of my children never cease to amaze me.

Recent post about my daughter, Alex.

So, I am 40 now.

2009-06-14T11:49:00.006-04:00

According to my closest friends and some family, this is what I have to look forward to. The funny thing is that I really do not feel any older than I did twenty years ago, sans the youthful recklessness and 30 inch waist. I was provided with a list of things I cannot do anymore:

1. Stand behind the cameraman and wave frenziedly.
2. Use Slang (Yo).
3. Wear animal print clothing.
4. Own a "saucer on a pole" halogen lamp.
5. Draw smiley faces over the letter "i". (never did this, ever)
6. Ask for an autograph. (Not even Farah Fawcett?)
7. Photocopy any body parts.
8. Be arrested while shirtless on C.O.P.S.
9. Hold the high score on the Pac Man machine at the 7-11 on the corner. (bummer)
10. Drive down the road with windows down listening to Led Zeppelin as loud as my ears can take it.

In response, I have created this list of things I can do:

1. Have selective hearing loss when uninterested in a conversation.
2. Fall asleep on the couch on Sundays while watching WWII documentaries.
3. Look at young people and say "We NEVER looked like THAT at their age..."
4. Find real joy in total silence and a paperback.
5. Realize that my children will learn more from their own mistakes rather than my advice.
6. Take comfort in knowing that I know a hell of a lot less than I thought I did at 20.
7. Never too late to learn anything - case in point: I will learn to play the banjo this year.
8. It's OK to be wrong, it's even more admirable to admit it.
9. I have met several people, been many places and have seen plenty of things that remind me, as cliche as it sounds, everything, absolutely everything we have are gifts - time, people, health and wealth - none of these can be taken for granted.
10. Finally order that black speedo with my initials embroidered on the front in bright red. After all if I can't embarrass my kids at the beach what good am I?

I expect at 80 I will look at this list and laugh.

Asolare 2009

2009-06-07T20:39:00.008-04:00

For the last three summers we have been invited to a wonderful party at the Asolare Fine Arts Foundation. Ostensibly it is a birthday party for its founder Jim Moon and a fund raiser for the foundation. I am always astounded by the concentration of gifted people who attend. This year was exceptional with two artists from Macedonia who actually produced two extraordinary paintings. Chip Holton was there doing sketches along with a crew of amazing sculptors teaching all of us how to take our foam sculptures and cast them in aluminum - really amazing.

Click here to see the slide show. Allow a minute to download as it is set to music.

Click here to download individual pictures from the slide show.

Sublimely Southern

2009-06-03T20:25:00.005-04:00

What expresses true Southern life more than the Magnolia Blossom? Short lived, beautiful and despite many creative names painted in gold on ornate glass bottles, there has not been a successful reproduction of their amazing perfume.

The Giving Tree (Farm)

2009-05-31T18:28:00.008-04:00

Back when my Grandparents lived on the farm, it was actually sort of a sustainable community by today's standards, it was out in the country so it was prudent to have a large garden and also a small apple orchard. This is the last standing remnant of what used to be about twenty apple trees.

And after a long time the boy came back again. "I am sorry, Boy," said the tree, "but I have nothing left to give you - My apples are gone." "My teeth are too weak for apples," said the boy. "My branches are gone," said the tree. "You cannot swing on them-" "I am too old to swing on branches," said the boy. 'My trunk is gone," said the tree. "You cannot climb-" "I am too tired to climb," said the boy. "I am sorry," said the tree. "I wish I could give you something....but I have nothing left. I am just an old stump. I am sorry...." "I don't need very much now," said the boy, "just a quiet place to sit and rest. I am very tired." "well," said the tree. straightening herself up as much as she could, "well, an old stump is good for sitting and resting. Come, Boy, sit down. Sit down and rest."

And the boy did.

And the tree was happy. - Shel Silverstein

I would add that the farm makes for a fine place to garden, walk, sit and rest as well.