Charleston Shutters

Shutters, Tradd Street, Charleston, SC  © Doug Hickok


As you stroll along the narrow streets and alleyways of old Charleston, you will notice most residential windows come adorned with a functioning pair of shutters. For a city that can be exposed to heavy weather from the sea... tropical storms and hurricanes... having shutters that quickly close to protect windows is a benefit. Shutters are usually made of timber and painted an assortment of colors pre-approved by the Board of Architectural Review (BAR).

But one shutters to think what would happen if an unapproved color was ever used... say, neon pink polka dots over a dayglow green background. Egads!

(If you click on the link above and "Launch Color Visualizer", you can paint the town red... or any color you prefer!)

Misty Monday - Fog Bank at Sea

Fog Bank off the Coast of Oregon  © Doug Hickok
(Velvia slide film)


An ominous bank of sea fog moves over the ocean in late afternoon, casting a dark impenetrable shadow above the horizon. The moods of the sea fascinate me... and so do stories about the sea.

My favorite story about the sea was one of the first novels I ever read as a teen in Ohio... Hemingway's Old Man and The Sea. It made such an impression on me that it led me to a love of great literature, and yarns about the sea. Other favorites of mine include Treasure Island, Moby Dick, A High Wind in Jamaica, The Dark Frigate, Voyage of the Narwal, The Perfect Storm, The Wreckers, In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex, and Pirates in an Adventure with Scientists.
Hummm... maybe that's why I moved close to the sea...

Do you have any sea story favorites?

A Journey to Trust

Old Barn, Road to Trust, North Carolina  © Doug Hickok
(Click on image for larger view)

Bear Country, Road to Trust, near Walnut, North Carolina  © Doug Hickok

Autumn Color, Road to Trust, Appalachian Medley By-Way, North Carolina  © Doug Hickok

French Broad River, Road to Trust, Hot Springs, North Carolina  © Doug Hickok

Rushing Waters, French Broad River, Road to Trust, Hot Springs, North Carolina  © Doug Hickok

Hillsides Ablaze with Fall Foliage, Road to Trust, near Walnut, North Carolina  © Doug Hickok

Old Red Caboose, Road to Trust, Hot Springs, North Carolina  © Doug Hickok

Road Cut and Pine Trees, Road to Trust, near Spring Creek, North Carolina  © Doug Hickok

Sugar Maple Leaf, Road to Trust, near Spring Creek, North Carolina  © Doug Hickok

Farm House and Barns, Road to Trust, North Carolina  © Doug Hickok

Saint Jude's Chapel of Hope, Trust, North Carolina  © Doug Hickok

Stain Glass Window, Saint Jude's Chapel of Hope, Trust, North Carolina  © Doug Hickok


Back in the autumn of early November, we took a road trip to a little community called Trust in the western mountains of North Carolina.

These pictures show a bit of what we saw along the way.

When we finally reached Trust, we found a little chapel at the crossroads.
The story of this chapel is remarkable.

It was built by a cancer survivor who dedicated it to St. Jude.
(Saint Jude is the patron saint of desperate cases and lost causes.)
The cancer patient went through intensive treatment, but her prospects seemed so grim and the side effects so ravaging that she stopped therapy. Instead, she put her trust in a higher power and turned to prayer. Remarkably her cancer vanished. 
On a plaque outside the chapel is a quote... 

"I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my help".

The chapel is peaceful and full of heart and hope.

We trust you enjoyed the ride along with us. Come with us next time as we venture along the Appalachian Trail and find snow.

Gander

Detail of Painted Cart, Old Depot, Lewisburg, Ohio  © Doug Hickok


Today's post is brought to you by the word gander. It is a noun that means a male goose (derived from the Old English which dates before the year 1000). Used informally it means a quick look (of more modern origin). For example, "Take a gander at this painted wagon... it reminds me of the colors on Christmas wrapping paper".

Interestingly, according to Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable the word gander-mooning describes the "aimless meanderings of the gander when the goose is sitting".

As you might expect, I have derived a few new words and phrases of my own... 

Get your gander on - to strut your stuff in front of the hens in the goose pen.

You've been ganderized - somebody has been looking at you rather intently.

gandermonium - when the goose pen gate is left open and hundreds of ganders are running amok in the farmyard.

Carpe Ganderum - seize the gander... and maybe have him for dinner.  Bon Gander!

 

Quoddy Head

East Quoddy Head Lighthouse, Campobello Island, New Brunswick, Canada  © Doug Hickok


MaesTro, your music is an inspiration and a beacon to those who listen. Wish we could be at your concert tonight, but 1,723 miles is a bit far for us to drive...
even for a stellar night out.

Break a leg!
(But not really because it's difficult to move furniture that way.)

P.S. If the woman in orange looks familiar to you, it is because she is!

Hope you and everyone else in the whole world has a great weekend!

I Dreamt...

Cherubs and Car Keys, Portland, Oregon  © Doug Hickok
(Velvia Slide Film)


... I wandered in a city of blue. I felt lost and bewildered as I journeyed through a labyrinth of concrete and brick. I was like the allegorical traveler in Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress searching for truth and meaning in a strange world. Then I looked-up and saw angels... cherubs like those in a Raphael painting. They began shooting arrows at me... not arrows of love... but car keys.

I was quickly impaled by what seemed like hundreds of keys. Yet I felt no pain. I felt only delight... as though I was the ecstatic subject of a Bernini sculpture. As I became a pin cushion of keys, lovely ultra-luxury cars began appearing all around me.

I plucked a key off of me, I tried it in the nearest car. It fit perfectly. "The car", you may ask, "what was it?" A bright red Maserati! Yes! No kidding! I took the sleek machine for a spin around the block, feeling the wind in my hair and a rush of excitement in my toes. I tried keys in other cars too. They all fit! Ode to Joy! Say no more! Say no more!

I drove Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Rolls Royces, Bugattis, Bentleys, Aston Martins (which came with martinis shaken, not stirred), a fire truck, a bakery truck (ummm, pastries!), and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.... the list went on and on.

But my wonderful dream quickly turned Kafkaesque as I found myself metamorphosed into a Saturday Night Live Killer Bee, crammed inside a 1970's Ford Pinto.

Alas, such stuff as dreams are made...

Lucky you. All of this surreal absurdity simply because of a photo I made years ago in Portland, which inspired this Borges-like ficciones.

Night of the Living Kayaks

Kayaks at Night, Shem Creek, Mount Pleasant, SC  © Doug Hickok  
(Velvia slide film)


Renting kayaks for paddling tidal creeks and coastal marshes is a popular outdoor activity around Charleston. Shem Creek in Mount Pleasant offers docks for people to moor their commercial and recreational boats, as well as a place to rent colorful kayaks. Shem Creek is also a "hot spot" for photography. By day it is a delightful place to observe picturesque fishing vessels, but by night it can be throughly magical.

The colors of these kayaks glow in the dying light of twilight,  seemingly bringing them to life. This time lapse photograph shot on film captures a red streak of light made by a motor boat as it passed in front of the kayaks. Lights reflected in the creek create patterns that remind me of a row of candles on a birthday cake.

If today is anyone's birthday...
Happy Birthday!

On the Edge

Cypress Swamp, Magnolia Gardens, Charleston, SC  © Doug Hickok


The Lowcountry is on the edge of two seasons... fall is almost over and winter is almost here. We are at the in-between time when one day there is a hint of frost in the air, yet the next day it is a balmy 75 degrees, like it was here today.

But when you are on the edge, in that transition zone... where fall meets winter and land meets water... something special is sure to happen. In this image at Magnolia Garden's cypress swamp, you can see the transition from fall to winter taking place. The cypress trees have lost their needles, revealing their bare limbs draped heavily with Spanish Moss, while another tree basks in the glow of autumn gold. All of this is reflected in the still waters of the swamp, which acts as a mirror to the world around it...
on the edge between reality and fantasy.

Red Monday

Johnson Row, Queen Street, Charleston, SC  © Doug Hickok


Monday is back to action day. Monday is get your blood moving again day. Monday is a red day. So what better stimulant do you need than a vibrantly red photograph to wake you up, and stir you to action. Well, maybe a strong cup of coffee or espresso will do too.

These Queen Street row houses in the French Quarter of Charleston date from the early 1800's. From here it is a short stroll to the Dock Street Theatre, art galleries, restaurants and historic churches. These houses are flying flags of the state of South Carolina, and an early American flag of 15 stars that dates from 1795. Displaying flags from Charleston's various historic periods is common for homeowners downtown.

If you are interested, #24 Queen Street is for sale... it is listed for just over 2 million dollars. This includes a pleasant garden in back with a nice koi pond too.

Charm in Krakow

Main Market Square, Old Town, Krakow, Poland  © Doug Hickok
(Velvia Slide Film)

One of the most charming places we experienced in Europe was the historic square of Old Town Krakow at twilight. With the beautiful church of Saint Mary's as a back drop, the vast open area was alive with people savoring the warm summer evening. Young couples enjoyed each other's company surrounded by the romantic glow of street lights, carriages clip-clopped around the square, and restaurants hummed with customers relishing dinner in the evening air... sigh... a place and time which, now, seems so long ago.

Impression of a Sunset I

Sunset Over the Ashley River, Charleston, SC  © Doug Hickok


This setting sun over the Ashley River was photographed with my camera lens aperture set wide open and de-focused all the way toward the macro setting. This technique is quite the opposite of the traditional way of shooting sunsets, with focus and aperture set for maximum clarity and depth of field.

Although I realize this kind of stylized experimental photography is not for everyone, it was a good exercise for encouraging me to think outside the box...
but not outside my lunch box. I usually like what's inside my leather smiley faced Gucci lunch box.

Highlands

Blue Ridge Mountains from Roan Highlands, North Carolina  © Doug Hickok
(click on image for larger view)


Now I take you from lowlands to highlands... yesterday's post was about cypress swamps in the South Carolina Lowcountry. Today's post is about ridge tops in the Appalachian Highlands. This is a view we had while hiking a stretch of the Appalachian Trail (AT) a few weeks ago. It looks towards the layered undulating curves of the Blue Ridge Mountains, aptly named as you can see in this image. The blue hues are caused by trees which release a chemical compound called isoprene which creates a bluish haze over the densely forested slopes.

Our vantage point is from a wide open area atop the Roan Highlands. These areas are called "balds" and the Roan Highlands have the largest ones in the Appalachians. Balds are wide grassy fields that cover ridge tops, and the strange part of it is that very few trees want to grow there. Surprisingly, naturalists are not positive what causes them. I will post some pictures of the balds (but not my bald spot) over the next week or so.

We have been up in the high mountains at night, when the kids were young, and have seen all the stars and constellations visible at such a lofty and expansive elevation. I imagine a meteor shower in particular would be awe inspiring to see... we were so close to the sky that it seemed like we could just reach up and grab a shooting star right out of the pitch black heavens.

Hope you have an awe inspiring moment of your own this weekend.

Indian Summer

A Century Old Bridge and Azaleas, Magnolia Gardens, Charleston, SC  © Doug Hickok
(click for larger view)

Row of Bald Cypress Trees and Cypress Knees, Magnolia Gardens, Charleston, SC  © Doug Hickok

Coleus Plant, Magnolia Gardens, Charleston, SC  © Doug Hickok


This past November was uncommonly warm for the Lowcountry. On a recent stroll at Magnolia Gardens, we discovered evidence of the Indian Summer-like weather... azaleas in bloom! This was unusual. These showy ornamental shrubs typically flower in the springtime here in Charleston. But they were apparently fooled into blossoming a second time by the string of 70 degree temperature days.

Magnolia Gardens and Plantation is one of four old southern plantations near Charleston open to visitors. It features a sprawling informal English-style garden centered around a natural Cypress swamp. Bald cypress trees thrive in the humid wetlands of the coastal plain, their vast network of shallow roots often growing above water to form what are called "cypress knees".

Some of the larger types of wildlife seen in this and nearby habitats are American alligators, North American river otters, Great Blue Herons, Snowy Egrets, Anhingas, Wood Ducks and Short Spectacled Photographers.

(We were able to enjoy the afternoon at the gardens because our friends, 
Sean and Kristin, were married here... Congratulations!)

Traffic Jam and Chocolate

Ravenel Bridge Towers and Cables, Charleston, SC  © Doug Hickok


A question that I asked myself one day recently was... how should I pass the time while sitting in a rush hour traffic jam on the tall Ravenel Bridge?

Call my buddy Harry Sasquatch to ask him how his big hairy feet are surviving the snow?

(Eat a Winnie-the-Pooh shaped chocolate.)

 Recite Melville's Moby Dick in its entirety from memory? "Call me Ishmael..." Ok, that's all I can remember... and traffic still isn't moving.

(Eat a Tigger shaped chocolate.)

Pull out my Stradivarius and play me some wicked Paganini riffs?

(Eat a Piglet shaped chocolate.)


Work out Einstein's mathematical formula for Energy... backwards, while patting my head with one hand and rubbing my stomach with the other?


(Eat an Eeyore shaped chocolate. Ugh, I ate too much. I feel sick.)

No, wait, I know, take a picture of the bridge with my trusty
Super Kinetic Hyper Reactor Hue Extractor!
Zippo Zappo Gong!
 (That's the sound of the shutter.)

Baroque Puns?

Dragon Fountain, near Vatican City, Italy  © Doug Hickok 
(Velvia Slide Film)

The baroque fountains of Rome are well known to travelers of Italy. Some of the most famous ones are the Trevi Fountain, and the Four Rivers Fountain in the Piazza Navona.

There are numerous others, but some of my favorites are the smaller, less conspicuous ones, like this intricately detailed dragon fountain near the Vatican. The ornamentation looks baroque in style to me. Yet, if you look closely, a missing head from the fowl figure (the result of foul play?) indicates something is broke on this baroque fountain. I hope the faulty stonework did not cause the sculptor to loose his commission... and go broke. Hopefully a financial settlement was made between the artist and his patron... unless of course the whole deal broke off... before the dawn of a new day broke over the city. In which case the baroque artist's ego would be broke for eternity.

(Ok... enough with the forced puns for this weak post... 
unless you force me to post enough puns for a week... ok?)

Misty Monday - Craggy Shores

Craggy Rocks, Campobello Island, New Brunswick, Canada  © Doug Hickok


As the mists of sea fog roll in and out along this rocky shoreline, a weakening sun, reflected in a tide pool, tries to break through thick layers of clouds. These slippery, craggy rocks are the backbone of Campobello Island and make for tricky beach walking, if you dare. The rocks consist mostly of quartzite, a very hard and compact metamorphic rock, which was once sandstone but transformed after millions of years of intense geologic pressure and heating.

Around Town Sounds

Gate Scroll and Saint Michael's Church, Charleston, SC  © Doug Hickok


Framed by the scrolls of an ornate iron gate, Saint Michael's Church stands prominently aglow at dusk. Charleston has more than its share of beautiful historic churches, which is why it has traditionally called itself the "Holy City". Church bells ringing throughout the city is as common a sound as the clip clop of horse hoofs when you walk around town.

For Kat

Red Bicycle, Folly Beach, SC  © Doug Hickok


This post is dedicated to bicycle lovers everywhere, especially in Auburn, Alabama. (Wink, wink, Kat!) It doesn't matter how old you are, or what generation you are from... almost everyone loves a bike ride.

So get your life blood pumping, let the wind caress your face, savor the sights, sounds and scenery, and ring your little bell...

Enjoy a bicycle ride this weekend,
and sing along with Queen.

Primary Abstract

Detail of a Painted Metal Sculpture, Riverfront Park, Old Navy Base,
North Charleston, SC  © Doug Hickok


The primary colors of pigment come in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes you can find them in the most expected places, like in a public park, on a vividly painted metal sculpture.

Relative Theory?

Larch Tree Bonsai, North Carolina Arboretum, Asheville, North Carolina  © Doug Hickok


To me, this bonsai tree is Lilliputian in size, barely 2 feet tall. It is a larch tree, shining in its golden autumnal hues. It can grow up to 150 feet tall in the wild. But even at its most towering height, it is a dwarf compared to the gargantuan size of a mountain.

However, compared to an ant this bonsai tree is a large larch. Yet as tiny as an ant is, it is a Goliath compared to a microscopic organism.

Everything is relative. Even my distant cousin, Billy Joe Bob Roy Boy Junior III, the hillbilly moonshiner, is relative... to me... 
though I wish he wasn't.


Today is Thanksgiving Day in the USA.
A day that is filled with relatives...
Happy Thanksgiving!
(Happiness being a relative term, of course.)