Winter afternoon

M plays basketball in a gym located on the shore of this lake. Kinda weird, a gym by the lake, but I'm not complaining. As I round the dirt road leading down to the gym, I'm always happy to see this view...it's always late afternoon, and the sun is always shining on the water in this same way. It makes me feel a little bit more peaceful at the end of the day, like all's well with the world (or at least this little corner of it).

Today I saw a heron fly by, but didn't get a very good shot of it. So this tranquil scene will suffice.

South Kakkalacky - part 3

OK, you're going to have to humor me here. I know, I know: I already posted two photos today. But sometimes a shot comes along that you just have to bend the rules for, a shot that's worth the trouble. As M was driving home from his co-op today (while I was chattering away in the passenger seat on my cell phone), he grabs my elbow, says "CAMERA!" and yanks the car to the curb. Lo and behold, a moment you're glad you carried your camera for. How many times does one see a limosine completely carpeted in astroturf, I ask you?

Only in South Kakkalacky.

The benefit of insomnia

Is the quiet. And the moonlight. I saw this when I got up at 3 am, streaming through my front hallway, and knew I had to have a photo of it. I love the misty quality of the moon tonight.

And a self-portrait of a night owl:

Cozy breakfast

Not sure I should post two 'morning' shots in a row, but hey. It's the one that I liked the best. I cranked up the fire this morning (19 degrees outside) and enjoyed my homemade cream cheese on an asiago cheese bagel, with mango/orange juice and apricot preserves. It was so good it deserved a photo. I'll try tomorrow to get breakfast food off the brain and move on to other subject matter!

Morning Light Still Life

I was putting out breakfast this morning and when I closed the fridge door and turned around, I was arrested by the morning light illuminating the countertop. It makes a simple scene -- juice, Greyere, paintbrushes, plant -- so inviting.

Toys

For man:

And beast:

Amber waves

I pass by this barn every morning during carpool. It's stuck in the middle of my suburban sprawl as a reminder of the history of the area.... used to be peach orchards around here, until houses took over. I remember the peach orchard days from 40 or so years ago when I was little. I thought the morning light hitting the foreground and the tree limbs was great, and I didn't alter the shot at all.

Flowers

I'm in charge of arranging flowers for mass at school tomorrow, so I went to the floral wholesaler to choose some. I wish I lived in Europe at times such as this. I Love their inexpensive selection of flowers. But I managed to find pink quince blossoms, white lilies, and pepperberries to arrange. I didn't get a great selection of pics to choose from, because it was COLD it that refrigerator!

Welcome to South Kakkalacky - Part II

Who needs God 'n Country, when you can have Lee 'n Clemson?



Gotta make sure them young 'uns ridin' them rockyhorses grows up knowin' 'bout what's important in life.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Face your fate:

Prepare to meet your maker, er, mammographer:

How do you measure up?

I'd post the action shot (yes, I actually do have the action shot), but I'd hate to make too many women squirm in sympathetic pain!
Mothers' morning out:

Fill 'er up

Here's my self-portrait for the month, taken this morning while pumping gas. I was happy to see that gas prices had fallen, and decided to celebrate the occasion with a photo; I managed to fill my completely empty tank for under $45 and that is a record.

Sunday morning

I took this photo last Sunday and kept it on ice for a Sunday when the light was bad...such as today. The church looked the same today as last week though. :-)

I love this old church building. The stained glass is turn of the century beautiful, everything is always spit and polished, and it is a quiet and meditative place. In a few minutes all the pews will be jammed, and incense will ascend to the rafters. The organ and trumpets will do their part. Row upon row of altar boys will process down the aisle, and I will settle in to the familiar rhythms of the mass. Time will stop, and heaven will peel back in moments of clarity. All will be well.

Old Man Got Game

Today was a perfect lazy day...great for bike ride (check), reading a book (check), french toast for breakfast (check), and basketball in the driveway (check). I enjoyed watching Bill, the boys and their friends goof off together. Bill, I'm sure, would appreciate if you would notice the vertical leap.

Dog is my Co-Pilot

This gets really cold some mornings! But he adores the wind in his face, so I put on the seat heater, crank up the blower and put up with it for a few minutes of our morning commute. He eventually gets his fill; then, I can thaw.

The Beths

Great photography it's not. But great friends...they are! We used to get together monthly at Barnes and Noble....now that our lives are easier with children being older, we've slacked off. Tonight we got together again and caught up on each other's lives.

Poe Mill

Textiles used to be king in my town. Mills were everywhere. But over time jobs were exported abroad, other industries grew, and textiles sank into near oblivion. Several years ago, Poe Mill burned to the ground. Now the remaining building has been converted into artist studios, where I study. These photos were taken today before I started painting. The ruins are symbolic for me: my dad and his dad worked in the mills; my other grandfather was a mill supervisor. It's a way of life that is essentially gone.

He works, she works

I was at my dh's office this morning and took this shot, before coming home and snapping a shot of my workspace. (I probably should show, rather than my office/studio, my dirty kitchen sink, but this seems much nicer!) But when I'm sitting, this is where I am, and when he's working that's where he is for much of the day. It looks from these pictures that he is in a cramped space while I've got plenty of room, but I just focused on his immediate workspace....I'm not sure why I didn't get a better pic of his office...probably because I was trying to be unobtrusive or some such nonsense!

Something's wrong with my camera...the lens may need cleaning because I'm getting spots on my pictures.

My fairy godmother

This is my fairy godmother, also known as Juddy. She comes twice a month, and doesn't gripe about what a mess she finds. She always hugs me and tells me she loves me. She always has something positive to say to my children. She finds the good in everyone. She's not been loved well in her life, but she manages to love in return. She doles out wisdom, but not advice. Liike I said, a fairy godmother.

Welcome to South Kakkalacky

A new house is being built near us, and so thought I'd feature on my blog one of the features of where I live...red dirt. We all plaster grass sod on our lawns and sprinkle and fertilize them, so that the red dirt doesn't show...but it is there! All it takes is a little scrape of the earth to reveal it.

Man of Efficiency

Snapped this shot before Bill went on his run this morning. He's doing his stretching, brushing his teeth, and glancing over the day's headlines all at once. He's a Type A kinda guy, and I love him. Just don't ask me to do things that efficiently!

Sunrise

I didn't use any editing software at all on this picture...isn't it amazing the colors? It was taken on the fly (while driving carpool, out the window, but the colors were just so stunning I had to post it, blurry and ill-composed as it is.

An inviting spot

I don't know why the leaves forgot to fall from this tree. The Pawley's Island hammock between these trees makes for an inviting spot here in my side yard. Not that I had time to lie there today, but just knowing there's a place like this waiting for me helps somehow.

Mom's 81st birthday, a two-photo day

I started my day taking mom out for breakfast. She had berries and stuffed french toast with bacon, and I had pumpkin pancakes topped with cinnamon apples and bacon. We had a very nice visit together...she's one tough cookie: though she's had several kinds of cancer (and currently has non-Hodgkins lymphoma) she has never had chemo or radiation, she eats incredibly healthy (well....not on her birthday!), and she's really a pretty young 81 year old.

I took this photo while waiting for Mackenzie at his piano lesson. The warm temps have some blooms starting to spring... I think this is quince, but I could be wrong.

Batik installation

I'm so excited today because my batik was installed. I love to collect artwork from people I know. This batik was done by Mark Mulfinger, someone I've studied painting with locally. I decided I wanted to have it backlit because it made the colors so much more vibrant. Another artist/Renaissance man here in town, Renato Moncini, designed this frame so that it backlights the batik and so that the flourescent bulbs are easy to change...he engineered it, designed it, stained it, and installed it. Together, I feel like I have a genuine masterpiece of creativity and design in the main hallway of my house!

Edited to add: It looks in the above pic like it is flush against the wall. Here's a picture of Renato installing it:

When a godsend is a God Send

This photo was taken this morning at 11:45. It followed at 3.5 hour "coffee" at Coffee Underground (do some of you who've visited me remember this place on Main Street?) This man is M's basketball coach/mentor/voice of wisdom -- M is on the left and dad on the right. Coach is exactly the person M needs in his life right now, and he has M's ear. He devotes his life to helping kids excel via basketball. I feel much more hopeful for the future thanks to him.

Pets are not my life, I swear

But at the risk of seeming like I have no life outside my dog...I am nonetheless posting this shot, because it is representative of a new form of entertainment we have discovered this weekend. Clark bought a laser pointer, and while I knew cats chased them, I really didn't expect the level of involvement our dog has given it. I fear we're making him neurotic, because when he walks into a room, he starts looking around as if to say, "I know that thing is in the house somewhere!" We are all rolling in the floor at this dog, and he is tireless. It's his new favorite thing, and it's given us some needed lightheartedness.

Shameless pride in son's photography

OK, I'll admit this isn't really the point of this blog. But my ds in Australia posted his pictures today (so there's the 365 tie-in) and I loved seeing his eye, even though he's never taken photos before in his life. He really has a knack. Granted, the scenery is lovely, but it was his composition of the first two that made me beam with pride. The third one is just illustrative of his naughty sense of humor, which despite trying to be dignified, I share.

So I'm using this forum for a little maternal thrill, though I am restraining myself to just three. Hope you like them.

What I really want to do is sniff your butt

Today was Zeus's almost-weekly trip to the dog park. There were at least 30 dogs running around, I tried to take photos but all the movement was beyond my (a)skill level to capture, and (b)patience! So this is the best one of the bunch. Weimereiner, St. Bernard, Poodle, Lab, Golden, Pug, Boston Terrier, Boykin Spaniel, Greyhound, ShihTzu, Yorkie, Cattle Dog, Border Collie... the roll call went on and on. I have to brace myself to go, because I always come home covered in mud (and my car). Oh well. I used to take my children to the same park for the playground....now I've graduated to doggie play dates!

After the rain comes the rainbow.

Between two rows of storms that passed through this afternoon, this peeked from behind the clouds. I caught this off I-85 while picking up Clark from school.

Visit to the vet

Couldn't decide, so posted both. One is the sweet face of my doggie, Zeus, who is suffering with some sort of skin allergies. The other is a poster inside the vet's office, featuring Betty White (remember her from The Mary Tyler Moore Show? Golden Girls?) urging me to spay or neuter my pet. I loved the retro-not-very-hip poster best, but honestly, who could look at Zeus's face, with those long wispy eyelashes, and refuse to post it?

My junk food fix

This is the corner hot dog/hamburger joint. It used to be a coffee shop (those from the reunion years ago might remember it). Before that, when I was a child, it was a gas station. Now they serve fresh ground hamburgers and Hebrew National hot dogs. They are the best. Clark talked me into a junk food foray for lunch today.

Edisto in the morning

This morning, looking south. I probably should have cropped this better, but I'm trying to get it posted before I pack up and leave!

Child of my heart

This guy today is the one who's brought me to my knees.