Reedy River and Rock Ruins #SkywatchFriday #AtoZChallenge

Falls Park on the Reedy is a park in downtown Greenville, South Carolina that runs along the Reedy River.

This pedestrian bridge is the Liberty Bridge.  Its construction is unique in the United States.  (Hmmm, maybe I should have kept this for U day in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge?)  Here, we also have a nice view of the falls.

The Reedy River.

The day we visited the park, it was President's Day, and the park was quite busy,

I wasn't that aware of the history of the park.  At one time, this area was hunting land used by the Cherokee Nation.  

They were forced to cede the land to white settlers in 1777.

Eventually, mills and other industrial buildings were built along the Reedy River.   There isn't much left to them.  Could these be ruins?

These definitely are.
 

How about these?

Going back to its Roots - that's a little scary to me.

But nothing scary about this beautiful Southern Magnolia in the park.  These trees despite their name aren't just for the Southeast United States, (they are hardy to zone six), but aren't hardy where I live in New York State.  I love seeing them where they grow the best.

Joining Yogi and other skywatching bloggers for #SkywatchFriday.

"R" day in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge.  My theme: Exploring South Carolina and the Eastern United States.

Queen (Street) #AtoZChallenge

Downtown, on Queen Street, Charleston, South Carolina, is where you can find beautiful, historic buildings.

At the corner of Queen and Meeting Street is the Mills House Hotel.  The original structure, a hotel, was built in 1853 and had to be demolished in 1968 as it could not be salvaged.  It was rebuilt as a hotel.  Two stories were also added to the original design.  Historic?  Although it only dates from 1968, it looks to be older.

Queen and State Street.  This building dates from approximately 1814 and was part of the original walled city.  The neighborhood at present is called The French Quarter.
 

These are not recent photos but I am using them for the letter "Q".

"Q"day for the Blogging from A to Z Challenge.  My theme this year is: Exploring South Carolina and the Eastern United States.

Park (Cancer Survivors) #AtoZChallenge #WordlessWednesday

Another not so wordless post....

Greenville, South Carolina, is a city full of parks.  I visited some of them on a February, 2023 visit, including Cancer Survivors Park.  I am not a cancer survivor, but my late mother in law was a survivor of three bouts with cancer.  My late childhood best friend survived one cancer and lived more than 30 years after.

The purpose of Cancer Survivors park is to support and uplift those with cancer, whether they are undergoing treatment, are in remission, or facing a crisis.

 

The entrance is a work of art called Butterfly Journey. 

In this closeup, you can see the butterflies a little better.

Let's take a walk in the park.

This sculpture is called "The Welcome Statue".  The yellow flower is not part of the sculpture; daffodils were blooming and someone put one in her hand.

A closeup.  If there was a way for me (I'm sure there is but I don't have the software for it) to make the picture black and white except for the flower, I think it would have come out well.

Tom's Hat is a tribute to the designer of the park, Thomas Keith, Jr, who passed away in 2013.  It shows a notepad and a Tilley hat.

Fear Not is in a children's garden within the park.

The park was quiet when we were there, but I understand there are events each week to support, educate, and encourage.

"P" day in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge.  My theme this year is: Exploring South Carolina and the Eastern United States.

Also joining up with Sandee at Comedy Plus for her #WordlessWednesday.

Oaks that Witnessed #AtoZChallenge

 Let's bring it Outside for "O" day of the Blogging from A to Z Challenge.

I've blogged before about trees that are our living memory. Some call them Witness trees.  They are trees that have witnessed our human history.  Here are two of them.

One of them, the Camden Oak, is no longer with us.  Only its stump and a historical marker remains of it.

The Camden Oak, in Camden, South Carolina, was already standing during the American Revolution.  It was there to witness when our first President, George Washington, visited Camden in 1791.  President Washington had been to Camden before, as a general of American troops during the war.

The Camden Oak was there to witness the 1825 visit of the Marquis de Lafayette, so beloved by our nation.

The Camden Oak, March of 2015

I don't know when it fell but only its stump remains today.

I probably didn't realize its story was written on the back of this historical marker, because I only took a picture of the front.

But we know more about the Angel Oak, which I blogged about in 2012.

I blogged about it again in 2013, when it was in danger of being felled by a developer.  The developer wanted to build 600 apartments and retail space on the land it depends on for its nourishment (and destroy the tree in the process).  In 2014 it was saved after a seven year campaign.

The Angel Oak, a live oak, is is located on Johns Island, one of the islands that partially surround Charleston, South Carolina.  It is not in Charleston itself, but is associated with the city and its land is now a City of Charleston park.

The shade it casts measures over 17,000 square feet in area.  Its age is estimated at between 400 and 500 years old and the property is now owned by the City of Charleston.  It has its own website.

Because of its size, it is difficult to photograph and few photos do it justice.  I did give it a try, though, during my two visits to it.

The Angel Oak has survived hurricanes and earthquakes.  Long may it stand!

"O" day on the Blogging from A to Z Challenge.  My theme "Exploring South Carolina and the Eastern United States."

Nature Preserve #AtoZChallenge

(If you are looking for my Music Moves Me post, please click here. )

Conastee Nature Preserve is a 400 acre preserve along the Reedy River in Greenville, South Carolina. 

Conastee has an interesting history.  In 1892, a dam was built to generate hydroelectric power and created Conastee Lake.  Over the years, the lake slowly filled in with sediment from industrial waste. In fact, the site was once designated as a Superfund site.  There are various educational plaques showing pictures from the past that I didn't photograph.

In February, 2023, spouse and I made two visits to the Nature preserve. There is a $3.00 suggested donation for walking the miles of trails (some paved) but no one is denied entry. Come join us for some of our walking.

Welcome.

Something under the water.  I was able to see tadpoles and small fish but they didn't come out in the photograph.

Was a beaver here?  (Also, look at the color of the water.  A lot of the water we saw looked like that, full of sediment.)

We were also doing some birding.  We added a red-headed woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus)  and a Carolina chickadee (Poecile carolinensis) to our life list at Conestee.  We got quite a good look at the red-headed woodpecker through binoculars and what a beautiful bird it is.  We were saddened to discover its conservation status is "near threatened".  It was too far away to photograph.

We were also hoping to see the Rusty Blackbird, (Euphagus carolinus) which winters there, but our visual skills may not have been good enough, and our Merlin app didn't pick one up.  We still consider ourselves beginning birders.

Meanwhile, we saw this mallard drake feeding and watched it for a few minutes.

You have to watch where you are going, even on the paved trails. (We tried a harder trail along the river, but I would have needed a walking stick, and I hadn't brought one.)

Do you see something in the middle of the photo?  It isn't a branch.  Look again.

Snake!  

I tried doing some research, zooming in on my picture.  Based on coloring, size, and fact that it was up in a tree, I think it's an eastern king snake, which is not venomous.  It had white stripes although they don't seem to be as close together as on some pictures I saw online. I know my blogger friends will help me here.

Join me again tomorrow for more Outdoors.  My theme this year is: Exploring South Carolina and the Eastern United States.

My Magical Life #MusicMovesMe

It's Sunday, and, at least for this April day, it's time for music.

Who are the Music Moves Me bloggers? We are bloggers who blog about music each Sunday or Monday and if you have music to share with us, you are most welcome to join! (Music Posts Only-meaning at least one music video, please!)   Our head host is Xmas Dolly, and our co-hosts are Cathy from Curious as a Cathy, joined by the knowledgeable Stacy of Stacy Uncorked and Yours Truly.

Why not join our music loving folks?  It's so easy. All you have to do is join the linky above with a music post that contains at least one music video.  No music video? Your post may be removed, or may be labeled *NO MUSIC*.   

Today our theme is given to us by Cathy at Curious As a Cathy and is from an inactive website: "Build a playlist for us to feel what makes life feel magical to you."

It is said that music is the language of the soul.  So, it's time to reveal some of my soul to you.  These are the things that make my life magical.

Taking pictures.  I've enjoyed taking pictures since I got my first camera at about eight years old.  I've never had an expensive one, if you don't count iPhones.  Film photography was the photography of most of my life, so I picked 1973's "Kodachrome" from Paul Simon.

Listening to music, of course, is also on my list of what makes me "me".  For much of my life it was through either a transistor radio or a phonograph. I couldn't resist this 1961 song from Benny Hill called "Transistor Radio" because what is life without laughter?

Writing is something else I've done almost all my life.  I wouldn't be surprised if I started writing right after I learned to read.  Some of my early writing efforts were primitive comic strips which I both drew and provided dialog for.  Later on, in junior and high school, came satirical comics and even a try at a play or two. (No, I didn't keep those).  In the play, I took familiar melodies and wrote different lyrics to fit into the play.

This beautiful song is the real deal.   From 1979, "I Write the Songs" from Barry Manilow.

I know I was already interested in gardening by the time I was in second grade.  Problem was, we lived in a New York City housing project, and there were no community gardens in those days.  I never gardened until I was in my 20's.

I can't resist John Denver singing "The Garden Song" with the Muppets.

I've always been a person who lives to eat, and I love my sweets.  From 1968, a song George Harrison wrote about his friend Eric Clapton's overindulgence in chocolate.  Bad teeth aside, I say there is no such thing as too much chocolate.  

Let's savor "Savoy Truffle".

Let's wrap this set up with a song from 1967, The Cowsills and The Rain, The Park, and Other Things.  Rain in April can make me happy because (if the storms aren't too severe) they lead to my favorite thing - flowers.  This song has both rain and flowers.

And that's a wrap!

Join me again next week for another episode of #MusicMovesMe.  Tomorrow, I would love it if you swing by for my Blogging from A to Z Challenge post.   My theme this year is: Exploring South Carolina and the Eastern United States.

Magical (Spring) #AtoZChallenge #GardenBloggersBloomDay

It's the 15th of the month, and also "M" day in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge.  Today, I'm returning home to the Southern Tier of New York and my zone 5b garden for a Magical spring post.  As part of the 15th of the month meme Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, hosted by Carol at May Dreams Gardens, we post what is blooming in our yards and/or houses.

We are ahead of where we are normally. We've had three consecutive days in the 80's.  (26-27 C).  Yesterday, we reached 87F (30.5C).

I don't even know where to begin.

Our crocuses are long gone.  In this early heat, other flowers will not last as long as they usually do, so I started to take pictures a day or two ago, just in case.  It's a good thing, too, because a couple of these are already gone.

I am going to start with an ephemeral native flower in my shade bed.  This is a flower I love except that even in optimal conditions, it only blooms for two or three days.  I took this picture April 12.  It is done blooming already but, although it technically breaks the rules of blooming on April 15, I'm showing it anyway.

This is bloodroot, which we bought from a wildflower nursery.  Last year, it did really well.  This year, we had hardly any blooms.

Our white Lenten Rose's buds died back in February when it suddenly (after mild weather) dropped to -5F (-20.5C).  Our purple Lenten Rose bloomed on time but it is not looking as good as normal; it only put up a handful of flower spikes.  I have no idea why. It's past peak, now.

Our Jonquils are starting to fade out.

These (taken several days ago) are our first daffodils to bloom.  They came with our house, which we've owned for some 35 years now.  We only got three blooms this year.  We probably should thin them (again).

More daffodils.

Yellow and orange. You can barely see the orange here.

Species tulip.

White hyacinth.  These, like the pink hyacinths, were originally forced hyacinths we bought at Aldi and planted in soil after they bloomed.

Pink hyacinth.

Periwinkle. 

Pansies.

Johnny Jump Ups.  The three dollar tag in the pot, by the way, is not current. Plant prices have sure...um, jumped up.

Brunneria "Jack Frost"

A light green brunneria, name forgotten.

One more brunneria. 

Indoors, more is blooming.  I won't overwhelm you - just a couple of note.

One of my African violets.  This is a fancy variety and the flowers are small.

 

Last but not least, the Phalaenopsis I bought several years ago at Home Depot for Black Friday on a whim has several babies (keikis) and I am afraid to separate them.  Well, one of the keikis is blooming now.  Any orchid experts out there?

Thanks go once again to Carol at May Dreams Gardens for this Monthly Meme.

"M" day in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge.  My theme:  Exploring South Carolina and the Eastern United States.   

I will be back Monday in South Carolina with More posts using my theme.  Also, look for my Music Moves Me post tomorrow.

What's blooming for you?

Lovely #AtoZChallenge

Let's check out some Lovely South Carolina skies today.

Kings Mountain National Military Park in South Carolina. 

Kings Mountain, another view of the sky.

Let's travel from Kings Mountain to Charleston.

Here's a sunset picture taken several years ago on the Ravenel Bridge that connects Charleston, South Carolina with Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina.

Here's a closeup of some of the bridge supports.  I love the beauty of this bridge; I even have a print of this bridge at sunset hanging on my living room wall.

The last of another Ravenel sunset.

How Lovely.

"L" day on the Blogging from A to Z Challenge.  My theme:  Exploring South Carolina and the Eastern United States.

Joining with Yogi and other sky watching bloggers for #SkywatchFriday.

Kings Mountain (National Military Park) #AtoZChallenge

I don't know much about the colonial era and our United States' Revolutionary War.  In recent years, we've been trying to fill in some of the gaps of our knowledge.

South Carolina is a good place to fill in some of those gaps, as this colony was the site of over 200 Revolutionary War battles, more than any other state.

The Battle of Kings Mountain (October 7, 1780), which lasted all of 65 minutes,  was a major turning point of the Revolutionary War, yet, in my schooling, I had never heard of it.   President Theodore Roosevelt said of it, "This brilliant victory marked the turning point of the American Revolution."

I learned about two of the South Carolina battles, the Battle of Cowpens and the Battle of Kings Mountain, from visiting the South Carolina State House in Columbia, South Carolina.   The people of South Carolina are justly proud of their role in obtaining the independence of the then-13 colonies.

On our way to Greenville, South Carolina in February, we took a slight detour to visit Kings Mountain National Military Park (not to be confused with Kings Mountain State Park).  This park is near the border of North and South Carolina - in fact, from the South Carolina Welcome Center we had to backtrack and exit off Interstate 85 in North Carolina and use a North Carolina local road to reenter South Carolina and the military park.  This can get a little confusing, but we made it.

Kings Mountain, incidentally, is not named after King George III, but a local settler.

 

To me, battlefields are sacred ground, and Kings Mountain was no exception.  You walk a quiet path on a mid February Sunday, and you would never guess at the bloodshed that occurred here on an October day in 1780.

Until you view historic plaques.

And a marker at the gravesite of a Scottish officer in the British Army, Patrick Ferguson, designer of the Ferguson rifle. (Fans of Louis L'Amour will recognize this name).

The Ferguson Rifle display at the visitor center's museum.

Another monument, showing its age.

Back to the silence of the forest where history was made so many years ago - history that helped to shape the county we of the United States live in today.

"K" Day in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge.  My theme:  Exploring South Carolina and the Eastern United States.