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Friday, August 27, 2010

The Cowpens




The Battle of Cowpens (January 17, 1781) was a decisive victory by American Revolutionary forces under Brigadier General Daniel Morgan, in the Southern campaign of the American Revolutionary War.


Visit this historic monument near Chesnee, South Carolina

Or check out the NPS website
http://www.nps.gov/cowp/







The Only Double Envelopment in the American Revolution

“…our success was complete…”
Daniel Morgan to Nathanael Greene, January 19, 1781

A pasturing area at the time of the battle, this Revolutionary War site commemorates the place where Daniel Morgan and his army turned the flanks of Banastre Tarleton's British army. This classic military tactic, known as a double envelopment, was one of only a few in history.



Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Carolina Sunrise








After the years long drought there has been no shortage of rain the past few months in Western North Carolina - From late summer downpours to the drenching by tropical storm Ida. The silver lining on all these clouds is the spectacular sunrises we've been getting. There's nothing like the edge of a front mixed with the morning sun.









Saturday, October 17, 2009

Box Turtle Rescue




I picked this little lady up off the yellow line on a street in Shelby, NC. Why she was in town with nowhere to go I guess I'll never know. I had an hour drive home and it was a hot day so I put her under a tarp in the back of my truck.

I have a two acre property near a stream and find several box turtles each year in my yard. I couldn't think of a better place to relocate my new friend so I kept her overnight in a large tub with some water and a tomato from the garden to let her calm down a bit.

I let her go the next day in the sun and snapped a few pictures as she made her way into the woods. Maybe we'll meet again.


Female Box turtle - around 13 years old


Box Turtle

Box Turtle

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Crab Spiders



Crab Spider (Thomisidae)

One of the greatest joys of having a flower garden is watching the many critters that its success attracts. This year the most interesting visitor to my mini nature preserve was a crab spider that positioned itself on a purple dahlia.

Crab spiders forego elaborate web building, instead these stealthy predators earn their nickname "flower spiders" as they will sit for days at a time on a flower waiting for a meal. Their unsuspecting prey might be a butterfly or honeybee simply going about their normal flowering business.

Crab spiders are found throughout the world and come in many different colors. One species can even change shades to better blend into its cover. So look closely at your flowers this spring and you might just catch a glimpse of this marvelous creature in action.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Hatteras




I was sitting atop a picnic table in a sea of sand dunes overlooking the raging Atlantic on a cool, windy day in June of 99. We were camping at Frisco on Hatteras island.- maybe my favorite place in the whole world. The moment inspired one of my favorite poems I've ever written - maybe not my best but a favorite because it is raw and real and it takes me back every time I read it... back to a moment when the world was mine and life was good.




Hatteras

bordered by the churning blue flaring her frothing white
falling grains fly like hellbent snow... stinging devils
leave sandblasted shell structures accumulating tapered tails
yet gracefully in the distance they swirl like powder angels
lying down in between... moistened by foam fingers
gleaming golden singing shining praise from holes in cloud shadows
a chorus with the gulls and my thoughts of Hatteras
where we still feel small...



Sunday, November 9, 2008

Kayaking Lake Adger, NC


http://photos.imageevent.com/afap/photographix/picturesoftheworld/adger.jpg

While I'm not able to hike much anymore and my rock climbing days are certainly over, on good day I can still get out on a lake in my kayak. Cutting quietly through calm, glassy water with no motor has its advantages; especially for an eager photographer. Animals don't seem to mind a paddler as long as you aren't trying to break an Olympic record.

On Lake Adger, five minutes from my house, it's possible to sneak up on a large variety of wildlife, from birds and squirrels right on up to otters and deer. I always set my boat in at the public landing and as the fishermen and pleasure cruisers zoom off to deep water in a blaze of wake and gas fumes... I slip unnoticed through the shallows where the Green river feeds the lake with cold mountain water and sand bars.



http://photos.imageevent.com/afap/photographix/highlights/Painted%20Turtle.jpg



If my luck is good I'll be able to spot a tribe of river cooters camped on their favorite old sun bleached basking log. They never let you get too close though, scooting into the water in a flash and a splash, I suppose that's why they have lived long enough to reach basketball size. My last trip in however, I was able to slide up next to a log where a painted turtle was enjoying the sun. He posed quite well and made a nice picture.

Painted turtles are pretty amazing. They will bury themselves under three feet of mud and in temperatures of 3° Celsius (37.4°F) they can survive without oxygen for up to five months, longer than any other known air-breathing vertebrate.



This is the beaver who so graciously lends out his home


http://photos.imageevent.com/afap/photographix/highlights/beaver.jpg



My destination is usually a mud bank next to a beaver dam. The beavers make for some cuddly pictures as they really don't pay me much attention, just a quick glimpse and back to gnawing. The real excitement comes when Mama otter zips in. You see, Mama otter has borrowed an apartment in the beaver's dam to make her nest (It is quite common for otters to be such claim jumpers). If I sit quietly in the tall grass of the mud bank I can hear her whelps cooing and burping down under the sticks.


Mama Otter


http://photos.imageevent.com/afap/photographix/highlights/Ottersm1.jpg



Mama otter has warned me several times, popping her head out from amongst the brush, grunting and barking. I'm not sure exactly what she thinks of me, there by my big blue thing with my funny white face... but I do know that she'd like me to stay away from her babies. So usually I try to slink off in another direction without much commotion.



http://photos.imageevent.com/afap/photographix/highlights/Ottersm.jpg



I leave the beaver dam behind, happy with snapping some pics of mushrooms and water spiders. Often, as the sun dips down, I'll catch a glimpse of a deer or a raccoon as they catch a stealthy sip of water. Then when my ears tell me they are cold enough for my toboggan, I head back to the dock breathing in the mountain sunset on the way as the river willows hurl their feathery seeds all around like flurries caught in the very last light of the day.


Another Painted Turtle with Friend (Musk Turtle)

http://photos.imageevent.com/afap/photographix/highlights/Painted%20Turtle%20and%20friend.jpg


Spider that I unfortunately found with my face

http://photos.imageevent.com/afap/photographix/picturesoftheworld/spider.jpg

Cooters prepare to dive


http://photos.imageevent.com/afap/photographix/picturesoftheworld/cootr.jpg

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