East Meets Deep South

Bald Cypress Trunk and Bamboo Reflections, Magnolia Gardens, Charleston, SC
 © Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved



It's not often one sees a Southern cypress swamp surrounded by 
tall stands of Asian bamboo. Yet this is the case at Magnolia Gardens, 
where the bamboo was introduced.
It is a botanical instance of East meets Deep South.

Hands On

Handwrought Hand Prints, Auburn, Alabama  © Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved



This handiwork of handprints made by hands pressed on a wall make a handsome handcrafted image to contrast with yesterday's handrail. 

(I just learned there are 174 words in the English language that begin with the word "hand". To celebrate this handy discovery, I'm going to ring my handpicked handbells while doing a handstand until the handmaidens learn how to handle the handclasps on their handbags and retrieve their handkerchieves!)

Below the Archway

Hand Rail and Gateway Arch, Jefferson National Expansion Memorial,
Saint Louis, Missouri  © Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved



At the Gateway Arch in Saint Louis, I laid down on steps below a hand rail and aimed my camera upward. To my delight I found an intersection of lines that made an abstract image worthy of monochrome treatment.

Monarch in Shadow

Detail, Matthias Church, Budapest, Hungary  © Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved 
(Velvia slide film. Click on image for larger view)



A panoply of curves, arches and florals congregate while a monarch peers from the Gothic shadows of Matthias Church in Budapest, Hungary.

Thou Art Lichen To a Fence

Lichen on Rail Fence, Newfound Gap, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina
 © Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved
(Click on image for larger view)




Lichen grows on a timber fence high in the Appalachian mountains... 
behind the fence, a rise of smooth granite.



(Look Laura, a tree and a rock!)

Old Grasses

Gravel Pit Mound and Grasses, near Harrison, Ohio
 © Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved



Fresh snow provides a soft backdrop for a gathering of old grasses.

Arching Oaks

Garden Lake, Charles Towne Landing State Park, Charleston, SC
 © Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved
 (click on image for larger view)


Charles Towne Landing is the original location of the English settlement of Carolina. The present day park includes lush gardens and glassy lakes. 
Vaulting limbs of live oaks reach toward each other as they reflect in the lake's mirrored surface.

Centuries Ahead of His Time

2nd Century Roman Statue, Capitoline Hill, Rome, Italy
© Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved
(Velvia slide film)



God of the River Nile
 tweeting on his smart stone.

Victorian Reflections

Historic Houses along Colonial Lake, Charleston, SC  © Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved
 (Click on image for larger view)



Reflections of Victorian homes shimmer on Colonial Lake
 as the golden hues of evening light linger.

Incisive

The Needles, Cannon Beach, Oregon Coast  © Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved
(Velvia slide film)



Sharp teeth penetrate a moody sky. Rocky pinnacles, called the Needles, 
provide pointed subjects for an overcast day along Oregon's Cannon Beach.

Early Spring at Charles Towne

Red Maples and Split Rail Fence, Charles Towne Landing, Charleston, SC
 © Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved



Our warm winter temperatures have brought out early spring in the Lowcountry. These red maples are sending out their catkins, soon to become little helicopter seeds which spin from their limbs to the ground.

This scene is from Charles Towne Landing State Park, the original site of the English settlement of 1670. A decade later, the frustrated settlers moved from this hot, mosquito infested inland area to the breezy peninsula where today's 
city of Charleston thrives.

Lurking

Albino Alligator, South Carolina Aquarium, Charleston, SC
© Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved

If you've ever wondered what an alligator does all day, this would be the answer... lurk quietly just below the murky surface of dark water swamps, waiting patiently for its next meal.

This rare albino individual is on display at our local aquarium. Its skin is so sensitive that it must be kept indoors, away from the sun. In the wild he probably would not have survived to adulthood. He is not camouflaged

 like his pigmented brothers.

Local Wildlife

Yard Ornament and Fresh Snow, near Harrison, Ohio  
© Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved



Snowy Egret

Dwarfed

Bicyclist and Wingate Sandstone, Colorado National Monument, Colorado
© Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved



Dwarfed by sheer walls of desert sandstone, a lone cyclist tests his endurance by biking along a national park road which eventually snakes up the valley to the canyon rim. 

The reddish Wingate Sandstone formation is composed of ancient sand dunes dating from about 200 million years ago. It towers above the valley along a fault line to form immense cliffs throughout Colorado National Monument. 

On this particular day, we spotted a pair of Peregrine Falcons flying along the cliffs where they had made their aerie on a rocky ledge.

Bridge Wednesday - No End in Sight

Wando River Bridge, Daniel Island, SC  © Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved



Ghostly fog shrouds the concrete columns of an expressway bridge,
with no end in sight.

Embellishments

Ornate Gate, Ansonborough, Charleston, SC  © Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved




Scrolls embellish a gate to a colonnaded mansion in
Charleston's Historic District.

Winter Camellias

Sasanqua Camellias, Magnolia Gardens, Charleston, SC
 © Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved



Winter camellias bloom amid a cascade of Spanish Moss in the gardens of Magnolia Plantation.

The Watch

Statue, Prato della Valle, Padua, Italy  © Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved
(Velvia slide film. Click on image for larger view.)



The statue of Antenore of Troy, the legendary founder of Padua (according to Virgil), keeps steady watch over the domes of the Monastery of Saint Justina (founded in the 5th century). Justina of Padua was martyred in 304 AD, and later became venerated as a patron saint of the city. She was a young lady
 regarded for her chastity.

Tentacular

 Trimmed Sycamore Trees, Waterfront Park, Charleston, SC
© Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved



Plant, animal or mineral?

Don't Worry, Be Happy

OK Cafe Sign, Atlanta, GA  © Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved



Everything's going to be OK.