Cabins and Caches and Celestial Karma

One of my goals is to visit, camp in, explore and really experience all the wonderful state parks in South Carolina. To start it off, my partner Sandy and I spent this past weekend at Edisto Beach State Park. The cabin was located on Scott's Creek and the sunrise reflected brilliantly off the water into the bedroom each morning, great alarm clock. Fully furnished (except for a tea pitcher) clean, quiet and central to most of the island, the cabin and park were great. I would definitely recommend a stay there.

Geocaches are plentiful all over the island and nearby. Some are whimsical, some are artistic and some teach a little history of the area. Many thanks to all the folks who work so diligently to put out and maintain caches. One local point of interest (and a geocache site) is the Angel Tree, a huge live oak, thought to be one of the oldest living things east of the Mississippi River.

I went out to take pictures of the sunrise on the day we left, Christmas Eve, and was delighted to find the moon still shining in the west. The official full moon was to be that night. How often would one get the chance to take pictures of a full moon (almost) and a sunrise at the same time!

Fall Along the River

It has truly been a while since I paid any attention to my blog. I found this in my drafts and decided to go ahead and post it even though it was started in November of last year.

Carolina Sunset

A few months ago I read a book called Can't Wait to Get to Heaven by Fannie Flagg, an absolutely delightful book that I've shared with several people at work. The main character, Mrs. Elner Shimfissle, started a tradition of having the neighbors come over each evening to watch the sunset while they visited and talked about their day. Mrs. Elner couldn't imagine anyone not wanting to see the sunrise or set each day because no two were ever alike. I think she would have enjoyed this one as much as I did.

Music

For many years I had the great honor and pleasure of volunteering at a series of women's festivals in the southeast. Through these festivals I was introduced to many musicians and a wide genre of music. I continue to follow the careers of three of these wonderful women, often traveling to their concerts when they are close by. You can buy their music from their individual web sights or click on the title of this post to link to Lady Slipper, a great company specializing in music by all women.
I've been out of touch with festivals for quite some time now. The longest running and still going strong is the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival. I'm sure there are others out there if I just do the googling.

My favorites:
Cris Williamson is probably one of the most well known. My favorite of all her songs is Sweet Woman.
Tret Fure is another great. My favortie song from Tret is Tomboy Girl. She will be performing in Charlotte at the end of this month, October 07.
But if I had to pick a favorite, it would be Deidre McCalla. Everytime I hear Mama's Little Baby Girl, I get tears in my eyes and Cradled in Green describes everything I feel about the South and the great outdoors. You can download songs from her web sight.

Proud Mom

Check out this link to a series of DC comics character cards for sale on ebay.

Panthertown

Saturday was another wonderful day spent hiking with friends in a beautiful area called Panthertown Valley near Lake Toxaway. The end goal was a geocache called Yosemite of the East:Panthertown Pilgramage which was found, but the beauty of the area was the real prize. It took the better part of the day to do the 5 mile hike but I would do it again tomorrow. The pictures above are a few of my favorites taken on the hike.

Tracks

Today I was out taking pictures at the river and I think I found a raccoon play ground by the looks of all the tracks.

The Pinnacle of my Saturday

After all the fun at the Whimmy Diddle Competition, there were caches to be found. I started driving north on the Parkway and decided to try Pinnacle Power. This short, half mile hike almost got the best of me because it was uphill all the way. When I broke through the trees and saw the views all around me, I wanted to sit and take it all in but time was short and B&B were waiting for me back at the car. A quick look around did not turn up the cache but that just gives me more reason to go back, as if I needed more. This was definitely the high or should I say Pinnacle of my day. One of the reasons I'm so hooked on geocaching is that it takes you to so many beautiful places that you might never see or even know about. Who needs drugs?
Maybe the young guys who were chasing each other through the intersection when we got back to Asheville. We were driving down Tunnel Road when out of no where came two cars, squealing tires and bumping each other as they sped through. As they disappeared down the side street, we heard several gun shots and immediately dialed 911. B gave her description of what she had seen and a police car that happened to be behind us in traffic, u-turned and took off in that direction. It was like something on a TV show, but scary to witness in real life.
That was my truly awesome Saturday, a lot to pack into one day. I just want to get back on top of that mountain with plenty of time to sit and a camera.

Whimmy Diddle

The plan last Saturday was to continue from the Lake Cherokee CITO to the World Gee Haw Whimmy Diddle Competition at the Folk Art Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway near Asheville, NC and meet up with my daughter and son-in-law. Unfortunately, they were detoured by a phone call to come to the hospital because son-in-law's father had possibly had a heart attack the night before.
I didn't say everything about my day was perfect but, modern medicine is so very awesome because the next day they inserted a stint to by-pass a 90% blockage and he is home doing well.
At my daughter's insistance, I continued on to Asheville and thoroughly enjoyed my first Whimmy Diddle competition. The MC was entertaining and kept everything moving along and strictly by the rules. This was entertainment of the home grown, mountain variety which suited me perfectly. I brought back several but haven't quite got the hang of making it gee and haw.
The Folk Art Center is full of beautiful crafts from quilts to face jugs . There are trails nearby, picnic areas, geocaches and always, the beauty of the mountains. Stop in and visit and make plans now to be at next year's event. There's music, dancing, craft demonstrations, something for all.

Day Full of Wonder

Yesterday, September 15, was one of the most awesome days I've had in quite a while. It may take me all week to tell all the stories. It started with a drive with my best friend to a local lake to participate in
Beach Sweep/River Sweep.
A couple of good friends have hosted this clean up for three years and this year tied it into a Geocaching CITO which included fellow Geocachers from the USCGA
The morning was clear and cool and working together, eleven of us gathered 600 lbs. of trash from in and around the lake. The area looks much, much better and I enjoyed meeting and working with everyone.
At one point I stopped to admire the smooth bark of a huge tree and noticed water droplets falling all around me. I looked up to see a squirrel chasing left over rain drops to the ground, and life was good.

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This is a location I drive by everyday on my way to and from work. The flags make perfect sense coming from the other direction but seem like a joke from the other. I couldn't help turning around to get a picture.

The Not-So-Broad-River

The pipe laying down in the water, about the conter of the picture, is usually covered with turtles sunning themselves. I've not seen many this summer, especially after the temperatures shot into three digits.

Somehow the wild flowers seem to make it. These are practically growing out of the rocks.

To give an idea how low the river is, the two pipes in the back ground usually stick out about two feet. I'm guessing they're about 6 feet out now.


I've lived in South Carolina all my life and cannot remember a summer so hot or so dry. We've actually started hoping for a tropical storm to brush by and bring some relief. My garden withered away. My flowers barely bloomed. And for one of the rare times in my life, I welcomed the use of an air conditioner.
The river that flows through the county is so low the geese can hardly swim. I've no idea how the fish are surviving.

Coincidence

About 11:30pm Wednesday I went on my first OB emergency call as a first responder with the fire department. At 12:05am a beautiful baby girl was born.
The coincidence? It was my son's birthday and the young mother lived in the same mobile home park where I lived with my son and daughter when we first moved to this area.