Beautiful Carolina blue skies here at Keenan Stadium on graduation Sunday.

Carolina is a great school. North Carolina's not bad either.

I got the KUEEEEE to the highway

Just stuck my nose into a big sweet Magnolia blossom and took a deep breath. Ahhh!

Am installing Adobe CS4 to use on a project for the Geography department. Very exciting. Lynda here I come!

One more exam!

Falling Slowly on 99.3 WXRY. Love that song!

Wow, what a beautiful day in Columbia SC!

Sometimes only Led Zeppelin will do. This is one of those times.

Today is an uncannily cool, fresh, dry, and pretty day here in Columbia, SC.

is enjoying a Carbon Leaf drive to Greensboro

Search high and low, far and wide, and you still won't find anything more exquisite, sublime and beautiful as a plain tuft of near-white dandelion seeds

in waiting...

It's a beautiful day in Columbia SC. Birds are crazy loud. Cute little baby leaves out every where. Iris blooming.

beautifully cool...air clear...oak catkins covering ground in heaps...good for compost...birds seem happy

A storm's a'brewing here in Cola SC. Bring it on. We need the rain!

A gloriously clear cool and breezy Carolina April morning

Cruising the Horseshoe

Heather G, Marie B, and Laurel G at the University of South Carolina Horseshoe, Saturday April 3, 2010.

Why I Am Pulling for Duke

Here's my "pullin' fer" hierarchy whuich explains why I am pulling for Duke Monday night.

1. I always pull for Clemson and South Carolina against anybody else, period, always. Though I grew up as a little duffer a UNC fan, I became a rabid SC fan during the John Roche era, and then a crazy Clemson fan when I went to Clemson, and then later I also graduated from SC. If Clemson and SC play each other I usually pull for Clemson unless SC has a lot more to gain by a victory.

2. I always pull for UNC unless they play Clemson or SC. My dad went to UNC and I grew up light blue and pulled for them all the time until the John Roche basketball team captured my imagination.

3. I generally pull for UNC, Duke, WF, and NC State against other ACC teams, except Clemson.

4. When these teams play each other I generally rank it as UNC, Wake, Duke, State - but if one is having a great year I may pull for them.

5. I ALWAYS pull for ACC teams - no exceptions except against South Carolina. Even the new ACC teams.

6. I almost always pull for the mid major teams and underdogs - except when playing ACC or South Carolina.

So, as to Duke vs. Butler...as much as I'd love to see Butler win an NCAA championship, the ACC trumps a mid major, so I'm pulling for Duke.

In Defense of the Easter Bunny - Sort Of

Over the last few days I have had either my first bad cold in years or my first allergic reaction to pollen in my life. Because my eyes are swollen and burning I think it’s the pollen. So, to spare my neighbors my sneezing and coughing and dripping I am sitting this Easter Sunday out.

But about Easter: the bodily resurrection of Jesus is at the very core of the New Testament revelation and the Christian message. “Going to heaven when we die” is all the rage but really isn’t what Easter is all about. Easter is all about “Jesus is Lord.” He has risen from the dead and he sits at God’s right hand and is the living Lord of heaven and earth. He is not risen as some sort of disembodied spirit but as a human being with a real human body. And yet he also as God the Son is very God of very God and upholds all things by the word of His power. Yeah, heady stuff that…

The Christian faith is centered on the BODILY resurrection of Jesus. It is the central reality of his bodily resurrection that reveals that God who is Spirit has truly broken into the world of human life and history and is now connected to it forever. Jesus’ bodily resurrection is the central sign of this world-changing in-breaking of God and His kingdom into our world in order to fulfill His purposes for His creation.

Popular American religion believes that every person who dies goes to a better place. This incipient universalism is no part of the Christian message. It is not creation-affirming but creation-denying. It is also not Jesus-affirming but Jesus-denying, no matter how it is dressed up.

This belief has always made funerals very tricky because everyone wants so much to believe that Uncle Frank has gone off to a better place. Perhaps Uncle Frank has, perhaps not. But where do we get this notion that there is this better place to which Uncle Frank’s spirit gets to go? Oddly, we really don’t get it from Christianity though it is sure dressed in Christian language.

The truth is we have no reason whatsoever to believe that there is a “place” called “heaven” to which we get to go when we die, unless, that is, the bodily resurrection of Jesus really happened. And if Jesus’ resurrection really happened then we have to base our understanding of the fate of our earth and of our bodies and spirits upon His teaching both before and after His resurrection.

Behind the very obvious good news of Easter is the uncomfortable news that Jesus of Nazareth really has risen from the dead and is now King and Lord and judge over all. Yes, over and over in the New Testament Jesus is presented as the judge who is coming back to set things right and bring His Father’s purposes for creation to final completion.

This kind of sucks for us if we don’t really believe that Jesus is Lord and Judge and Messiah.

Here’s the deal. Going to heaven isn’t the deal. Yes, being with Jesus in spirit/soul until the general resurrection is way much better than not being with Him, and it is better than being here in the midst of pain and trial and grief. But that isn’t the goal. The goal or end game is a renewed heaven and earth – a New Heaven and New Earth which is physical and bodily and fleshly. The ONLY connection we have to the possible reality of a New Heaven and New Earth where there will be no tears and where God will dwell most intimately with men and women and all creation is, well, Jesus’ physical/bodily resurrection. That’s it. Because of this connection our only hope of New Heaven and New Earth is Jesus.

The idea of living some permanent blissful disembodied existence for all pretty-nice people (or even scoundrels with “good hearts” and so forth) is not a Christian one. It’s not part of the Christian proclamation. Read all the sermons in Acts – you won't find it there. Read all the teachings of Jesus. You won’t find it there either. Read the letters – you’re right – not there.

I have no idea why so many people who don’t otherwise give Jesus the time of day would want to go to church on Easter. Easter ought to scare the bageebies out of people. I can see why people would flock to Christmas services, you know, God with us, little baby Jesus and all. But Easter – no way. Jesus is the resurrection and the life - for people who believe in and trust in Him as the resurrection and the life. The New Testament witness is that he will return to wrap up his purpose for creation, and how we have responded to him and to those who are His followers will determine whether we are sheep or goats. It’s serious stuff.

But then there is that whole Easter Bunny/Spring Equinox/Fertility thing. I know some of you who have managed to read all this now expect me to distance myself as far as possible from pagan/fertility ideas. But I’m not going to really. There is a connection between real Easter and those Spring pagan fertility rites.

You see, the pagan fertility rites are right about something: the creation does matter, including fertility and how little bunnies get made. Many people are flocking to pagan spirituality because Christendom has for so long dismissed the significance of real world physicality. In fact, it is NOT dying and going to “heaven” that is the goal of the Christian message. Rather it is that Jesus Christ who is Lord and King sitting on his glorious throne surrounded by worshipping angels and elders and creatures of heaven – that this Jesus will come and restore the Earth to its glory and populate it with people resurrected with real new physical bodies perfectly fitting for this New Heaven and Earth.

I have noticed something about myself lately. There have been days in my life when I just wanted a meteor to hit me right on the head and obliterate me, such as in the middle of a really really bad migraine. I am not exaggerating at all. And there have been times of grief or psychic pain when I really would have been happy to depart for the other side. Unrelenting pain – physical or psychic - does this.

But mostly now, when I am about my life, awake, and not so miserable, I find that I live in this amazing “in between” of new and old. I feel so at home in God’s creation. Birds and bees and flowers and trees bring to me tears of joy. I know deep down that as the Earth is "renewed" there will still be an Earth, with (I think), all sorts of familiar earthly things – like the birds and the bees and the flowers and the trees. Since I know I will rejoice in these things then – later – I can easily rejoice in them now, which gets me back to the Easter bunny. Resurrection does in fact affirm and signify the fundamental goodness and beauty of God’s creation. It affirms bunnies. It affirms sex – animal sex and plant sex. It affirms bounty and fruitfulness and multiplying. It affirms play. My fellow Christians, let’s not drive people to paganism by leaving God’s good and bountiful earth in the dust, OK?

And one more thing: though the idea of Jesus rising from the dead and now seated at God’s right hand “from thence He will come to judge the living and the dead” should sober us up like a cold glass of water in the face, well, there was Good Friday. Jesus who is risen and enthroned at God’s right hand not only is enthroned as a man with a body, but is enthroned as a Lamb, a sacrificial Lamb, and who yet still bears the marks of his sacrificial death. And with these nail pierced arms wide open, He says to us “Come unto me.”

We are all invited to the party. Our Creator has seen to it to reverse our great mistake as a species made in His image, and to rescue us from ourselves. Jesus who is coming back as judge is also the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, And He can take away your sins too, if you will attach yourself to Him in belief and trust. Though is plenty that is scary about Easter, it’s not all scary; before Sunday there was Friday - and Jesus on His heavenly throne with the marks of death in his hands and side and feet.

Some day someone is going to do your funeral. Don’t make them have to avoid the uncomfortable possible truth that you never gave yourself to Jesus. He is alive. He is Lord, He has born your sins. Trust him. Put your whole self, body and soul, under His care. He will take you home, not to float around as a spirit for all eternity, but to run and jump and skip about in unbelievable joy around the New Heaven and New Earth. Let this Easter be your Easter.

Am selling my 2002 Ford Windstar minivan. Excellent condition. 87000 miles. 6K non negotiable. Great deal.

Hey, stop to tell someone they're doing a good job today - a teacher, a store clerk, a janitor, a child, a friend. Just dn it.

All this juice and joy - sheer gift - echoes of Eden, foretastes of New H and New E

Both the hoky and the live oak behind Collcott are blooming. Collcott always makes me think of Stevie Ray...

Ahhh...Today is as perfect a Carolina morning as there could be

Today I Saw a Bald Eagle

Today I saw a bald eagle flying lazily over a swollen Congaree River. I saw a raven-back-blue Carolina night sky - and like an excited child followed the line from the big dipper right to the north star. I heard the southern wind gusting wildly through the swaying pines. I breathed in deeply the sweet goodness of a big yellow dandelion. I felt the sun warm my tired eyes and almost fell asleep waiting for the bus.

Am really enjoying Henri Nouwen's The Inner Voice of Love. Highly recommend.

Japanese Magnolia and Forsythia blooming. Lamnia. Ant Lions out in force. Don't tumble in!

It's a beautiul Carolina day and A cool Carolina wind keeps a blowing me...name that group!

Sometimes I hate AI. Bye Lilly.

Mary Oliver, "Messenger:" Is She Describing Me? Seems.

Messenger

Mary Oliver, from Thirst

My work is loving the world.
Here the sunflowers, there the hummingbird —
equal seekers of sweetness.
Here the quickening yeast; there the blue plums.
Here the clam deep in the speckled sand.

Are my boots old? Is my coat torn?
Am I no longer young, and still not half-perfect? Let me
keep my mind on what matters,
which is my work,

which is mostly standing still and learning to be
astonished.
The phoebe, the delphinium.
The sheep in the pasture, and the pasture.
Which is mostly rejoicing, since all ingredients are here,

which is gratitude, to be given a mind and a heart
and these body-clothes,
a mouth with which to give shouts of joy
to the moth and the wren, to the sleepy dug-up clam,
telling them all, over and over, how it is
that we live forever.

Lacey, Siobhan, Didi and Lilly were all pretty good, but Crystal is in a league of her own. She has it all - voice, swagger, & star quality.

Jungle taming today in brother's back yard - beautiful day for it. Clemson-Carolina baseball game Sunday. A week of spring break to get life together :-). Mucho school work. Must...get...organized.

Whoever thought I'd be reading about LNAPL's and DNAPL's late on a Wednesday night!

As do Michael, Lee, and Alex.

Crystal, Lilly, and Paige rock (especially Crystal). And Siobham's high note - wow!

Road House Blues. Full Moon. Empty Highway. Ahhh. OK...keep your eyes on the road you hand upon the wheel....

Beautiful moon

Great view of Hanging Rock from Greensboro Urban Loop over Market Street WOW

PS 10 Bucks to the right guess on the blues song

Blues only drive to Greensboro. Blues makes me happy. Guess what's playing? I'll write it down. 919AM.

Cold. Eyes closed. Facing into warm sun. Air crisp. Perfect.

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...

The Great Snow of 1973

I heard some kids on the shuttle today talking about the "big snow" event this past Friday in Columbia, and...they even had the unmitigated gall to compare it to the great snow of '73 :-). So, I told them the story of that snow fall in a really annoying "I was there" kind of way. It was so much fun thinking of how much that would have embarrassed my daughters that I decided to re-post on Facebook a link to a piece I wrote about the Great Snow of '73 last year. Then I thought I'd do that here too. Thought some of you might enjoy this.

Here is the link - http://joelgillespie.blogspot.com/2009/02/great-snow-of-73.html.

Would love to hear of any memories you might have of that snow fall.

On the road north. Bad weather ahead. Good music makes such drives calmer and better.

For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning. Ps30:5

A HUGE flock of Robins has descended on my brother's yard zipping up down to and fro - one chubby little guy is on a chair just watching...

Memories of a fun snowy day past in Country Park Greensboro - http://ping.fm/MZxS7

It's a beautiful crystal clear winter's day in Columbia today - I bet it's a beautiful clear bright white morning in Greensboro

On a Dionne Warwick kick today. This Girls In Love. Walk On By. Good stuff. Miss you, Dad.

Heading home!

Discovered www.lynda.com tonight. Wow. Perfect for me. Thanks @Laurel! No excuses now!

Discovered Lynda.com tonight. Wow. Perfect for me. Thanks @Laurel!

Time to Finish the Job with the Confederate Flag

Ever since the Confederate Flag was removed from the top of the SC State House back in the year 2000 I had had it in my mind that it had been placed somewhere on the west side of the State House grounds. Last year on a visit to Columbia I was strolling around the university area and downtown and I walked up the stairs of the State House. I've always liked sitting up there.

It's hard for me not to envision that horrific photo taken from the same spot in 1865 looking out on the city burned and destroyed. I try to picture in my mind that horrible day and week, and I give thanks that the cause of so many of my great great grandfathers (and one great grandfather) did not in the end prevail.

It's perhaps part of the uniqueness of southern culture and identity that I have always had a tendency to consider myself first a southerner and South Carolinian, and then an American. I exaggerate somewhat but the association with my home state and region is deep.

And I always thought it a profound offense to the people of my home state to have the Confederate battle flag flying on top of our State House. I say that as a son of the Confederacy many times over.

What surprised me last summer sitting up top of the State House steps was finding the Confederate flag in such a prominent position on the grounds. Looking FROM the State House steps toward downtown it is the Confederate flag one mainly sees. Approaching the State House from Main Street the flag is perhaps even more prominent now than when it was on top of the dome. I had just been unaware of this the last ten years, and was quite taken back.

I wanted to write about it then but a SC friend suggested it would not be appreciated and might close doors for me as to work in my state. It's pretty sensitive stuff apparently.

Southern secession, the Civil War and the Confederate Flag are an unexcisable part of the history and heritage of South Carolina and many other states. I'm not sure these things should be celebrated, but they should be remembered, and there is a place for monuments and flags and exhibits in their memory. Just not in front of the State House. It its current position and prominence the Confederate flag's presence feels more like a celebration, or if not that a direct statement as to a current identification with the Confederate cause.

The Confederate flag is also, quite understandably and rightfully, a cause of profound offense to a very large part of South Carolina's population. Try as many do (in needful revisions to revisionist history) to disconnect slavery causally from the Civil War, well, it is just not credible. In fact the inordinate political turmoil and sectional politics of the latter first half of the 19th century was due largely to the slavery question and rooted deeply in and around the institution of slavery. There is a direct organic line of causality between the very first importation of African people's here as slaves and what eventually became our darkest hour as a nation. There is no way to disassociate the Confederate flag from the unspeakable inhumanity of the enslavement of millions of human beings by other human beings. I know the hundred objections that may follow. I also know that not one of them holds water.

The Confederate flag in its current placement and position is morally, socially, and spiritually oppressive. It is an unkindness of gargantuan proportions. It's time to finish the job and move the flag - again.

The Memorial honoring the Confederate dead is appropriate and quite prominent enough. One might like to see a Memorial honoring the enslaved dead given as much prominence. And I can see a Confederate flag placed on the west side of the Grounds perhaps, accompanied by a sober and non celebratory Memorial, one that honors the profound deep historical significance and human/cultural/economic cost of the War Between the States.

In the end the Confederate cause is one not worthy of celebration. The untold human stories of bravery and kindness in the midst of the conflict may well be worth celebrating, but not the cause itself.

To this day when I read books about the Civil War, and about battles where the Confederate side lost, I feel a kind of aching sadness. I cannot watch the Ken Burns documentary without coming to tears over and over again. At some visceral level I identify with the South even in her very worst moments. But waking up from pulling again for the military underdog (when I wish that we had taken Little Round Top and wished Lee had not sent Picket up that hill) I give thanks for defeat, and feel a deep sorrow for the centuries of oppression and enslavement that ultimately led to those two great armies clashing in the fields and woods and hills of Gettysburg.

And now, today, we need to stop poking our African American neighbors in the eye, or maybe more accurately, in the heart. The flag needs to move. Let's finish what we started in 2000. Love demands it.

A new, good, day ahead. Outlook woes will just have to wait.

"Lord show to me your face; Lord show to me your skin; Lord show to me the places, where they put the nails in." Bill Mallonee, VOL

Pat Robertson needs to shut up. He cannot read Providence. His hubris sickens. His tactlessness is childish. http://ping.fm/NA525

My favorite seasons - winter in the SC Sand Hills, summer in Vancouver, spring in Hampshire England, and autumn in the NC Mountains.

So this guy was in a "Monster" truck handing out free M-80 drinks in very tall cans. I took one. Wheeeee! So much for a nap.

Just listened tn Love Reign O'er Me twice through as loud as I could take it. After all these years it still gives me goosebumps.

An excellent article about how NT Wright has ruined Jesus movies AND Christmas - http://ping.fm/QfMRS

Remembering Rennie

I am not sure when I first met Rennie Perrone. My first clear memory of him is fixed however. After his dear wife passed away he moved up to Greensboro from Florida. One day he came to church with Charlie and Terry. As with many people and Rennie, it was friendship at first site.

Rennie was always the best dressed guy in the room. He had suits of every color of the rainbow, with matching kerchiefs. He liked to look good.

I started hanging out with Rennie as did many others, mainly going with him to lunch. We usually ate Italian food – and Vito’s Italian was our favorite hangout. Dennis Frohlich more often than not joined us. Rennie liked the food at Vito's, and he liked talking Italian with the owners. He always insisted on paying. He was a very generous man.

Rennie always had a glass of wine for lunch and usually no water. He would situate his cloth napkin just so, with half of it under the plate and the other half hanging down in his lap. Usually we both ordered Eggplant Parmesan. Well, I always did, and he often did.

It was fun to shoot the breeze with Rennie. I liked it that he would occasionally cuss. Nobody likes to cuss around a pastor and I’m glad Rennie felt free to do so. He always made me laugh.

Usually our conversation at some point would bring to his mind his wife or the business he owned or his time in the army. Rennie was Italian and was very free with his emotions. Thoughts of his wife always brought Rennie to tears. He missed her terribly. He liked to tell stories about his children too – Paul and Terry. I heard the story of Rennie meeting Terry’s future husband Charlie many times.

Rennie looked at me to some degree as one does a priest, and our conversations were often much like a confessional. Rennie was Catholic by culture and upbringing. He was faithful in attending Catholic mass on Saturday evenings. He was of that generation that did not speak easily about matters of faith, and he was also of a generation of nominal Catholicism. He didn’t buy a lot of it, yet he could never walk away from it either.

I think that Rennie had a real and legitimate faith in Christ. Despite his natural generational reticence we talk many many times about faith and belief and about life and death.

I loved sitting by or near Rennie in church. He had a really nice voice and very good song memory, singing not only the hymns but the more syncopated modern choruses very well. He liked my preaching too. “Good speech,” He would say to me. Rennie liked to grab your hands when he talked to you. There was no talking in passing with Rennie. It was hold each other’s hands and talk closely or not at all. As his eyesight failed him, touch became ever more important.

Rennie was a gentleman, and he was at his very best in the presence of ladies, whether five or ninety years old. He was so very kind to my daughters. He always sent birthday cards, and always asked me how each individual child was doing. They had the privilege of knowing and visiting him often along with Susan.

It is not the norm anymore to bring an elderly parent in one’s house to live out his or her days in familiar surroundings, and that is what Charlie and Terry did, thus giving Rennie the stability and the dignity of a home. They lived out in a very real and personal way the commandment to honor your mother and your father.

Rennie’s real name was Arazio, or something close to that. I think the “z” had a “dz” sound. I liked calling him Arazio. I think he liked it too.

Rennie was an army veteran. He served in the European theater in WWII, not as an infantryman but as a cook. He often told the story of how one day his camp, close to the front lines, came under mortar attack. He had been standing in front of the big metal coffee pot making coffee for the guys, and for some reason unknown to him had just moved a few feet to one side and then Bam!, a mortar shell exploded outside of the tent and a big fragment sliced right through the coffee pot. Rennie liked to say how God had given him a chance at more life that day, and he was always very grateful.

Rennie had taught himself to play a Liberace type piano over the years, and Charlie and Terry had set up a very nice digital piano for him in the den. I loved to listen to Rennie play. Sometimes when no one else was around I would play a little with him or sing along. We were a good team.

I had not seen Rennie much in the last six months but so many many times spent with him are etched into my mind and heart. I count it one my greatest honors in life to have been Rennie Perone’s friend. I will cherish his memory all my life, and await with joy holding his hands and talking in the New Heaven and New Earth.

Am reading The Omnivore's Dilemma. I have a feeling that this book will be a life changer, like "Diet for a Small Planet" was 30+ years ago.

Laurel and her friend Stephanie are painting Madeline's bedroom. Madeline is serving as DJ. Pink walls, white trim.

Southern Gothic

See More Trees Here

Trees in Winter

There was a time in my life during the season between the end of daylight savings time and the winter solstice, when I think I was prone to a mild case of seasonal affective disorder, or maybe just the early sundown blues. Thankfully that time is long past. I’m too busy now for one thing. And the other thing is that I have fallen in love with the woods in winter. I look forward to winter woods like some people look forward to spring flowers. More than anything, it is the trees. I love trees in winter.

For the sake of modesty and warmth people need to put on clothes. But clothes hide what people “really” look like (though I’ll just take the clothed look, thank you). As for trees, all those leaves, as beautiful and green as they are, hide the unique and often magnificent personality of the tree beneath. The uniqueness of each and every tree is more evident in its nakedness.

There is a White Oak out my side window. It is almost completely leafless now, with only a few red hanger-on leaves dangling here and there. I see its twisted and gnarly branches more clearly than ever. They reveal its story. This White Oak grew up in its early years with some good competition, but then, that competition diminished. About thirty feet up some very stout limbs grow straight out from the trunk. I am guessing, by the size and age of the tree, that the “competition” was cleared for the building of the houses around, and the builders decided to spare that White Oak. It’s a grand old tree, though it’s a little sick, and I worry for it.

It’s easy to notice tree bark in winter. I am one of those odd fellows who thinks that tree bark is very beautiful and quite cool. The sun likes to highlight the bark of a leafless tree, especially the higher-up bark. Winter is time for the bark to shine. Some bark literally does shine. Sycamore trees peel off huge plates revealing a bright chalky white underbark. Take a walk through Latham Park and you will see plenty of that.

Lots of stuff hangs from trees in winter letting you know about the tree. Tulip Poplar balls like to hang around for a while bouncing in the wind. Plus the last Spring flower cups are very visible reaching to the sky at the end of the high stems. Locust Tree bean pods like to flutter in the breeze throughout the winter rattling like old bones. There’s always the stubborn Sweet Gum balls that won’t let go, just waiting to drop in early Spring when your are just first walking out in your bare feet! Gotcha!

Many trees keep their berries throughout the winter. You’d think for example that the birds would eat up all the dogwood berries right away, but the berries often dry out a little and provide food for the birds all winter long. Same for Red Cedar berries, those lovely little gray-blue balls that often cover a Cedar tree. Same for Black Gum. Same for American Holly. I know our Holly bush is not a Holly tree, but it brings joy all winter watching the Mockingbirds eat berries from our Holly bush. It’s like they know how to ration the supply. Interesting.

You may need to be a bit of a tree geek for this one, but tree buds and tree stems are fascinating in the winter. By looking at a bare tree stem you can tell how much it grew the last growing season. It’s really easy. You can also tell a lot about the leaves, even when there aren’t any. You can tell if they come off the stem opposite to each other or whether they come of the stem in whorls. You can also tell how many main tree “veins” feed each leaf. From this, more or less, you can often guess if the leaves are compound or not. You can know a lot about what kind of tree it is by how the buds are arranged. Is there one big bud at the end of the stem? Is there a cluster of buds at the end of the stem? Is the bud really at the end or sort of off to the side toward the end? In fact, you can key a tree, that is determine what it is, in winter, without the leaves at all.

The future fate of life on earth is nestled in those little buds. That is just barely an exaggeration. What is it that protects the life inside that bud (and hence next year's growth, and next year's ability to feed flower and seed) from the cold of winter? It is those scales around the bud. Different trees have different kinds of scales. Some bud scales are like two plates meeting in the middle. Some are like fish scales. You can tell a lot about a tree from those scales.

Winter is the time for Pine trees to make their presence known. They kind of pop out and say "We're here" in winter. Hey, I am a South Carolina boy. I was raised on climbing Pine trees to the top, looking up to the deep blue sky through the black branches and green needles of Pine trees, spending half an afternoon trying to get Pine sap off my favorite jeans, engaged for hours in Pine cone wars with the enemy across the wall next door, and nursing skinned up legs from shimmying up and down Pine trunks. In Greensboro there are a few places where I like to go just to breathe in the Pine tree air, peel off some plates of Pine tree bark, fiddle with Pine tree cones, and just generally feel at home.

It’s nice to walk the woods in winter. You can see farther for one thing. You can tell more easily what has been the history of the land you're walking for another. I like trying to figure that out by the ages of the trees, the kinds of trees, the ways that the terrain has been changed by man, how or where a fire may have swept through fifty or so years ago. It’s a kind of sleuthing that I enjoy.

Maybe my favorite thing to do, especially on a cold winter day, is to find a nice stout tree that I can sit against, one with the sun shining full force right on the bottom of the trunk, and just take a seat. Oh how I love the sun on my face in winter. And there I sit. No bugs. Quiet. As quiet as I can be. If the winds are right, and if I'm still enough, the animals will soon not notice me. Many times right here in Greensboro deer have walked near, hawks have flown and perched close by, even squirrels have nervously scampered quite close to my feet. I cannot measure the joy of such times.

Such joy gives me strength to go back and re-enter the world of people. Trees are not fickle and moody and complicated and proud like people, like me. They just "are." How I love them so.

(edited from a post first written November 17, 2006)

As Kingfishers Catch Fire

"Each mortal thing does one thing and the same:

Deals out that being indoors each one dwells;

Selves—goes itself; myself it speaks and spells,

Crying Whát I do is me: for that I came."

From As Kingfishers Catch Fire, lines 5-8, by GM Hopkins

I ask myself, what is the essence of this mortal thing here, this being, this self, dwelling in this frame, at this stage and age, and what to do, how to live to be what this self was made to be?

I guess we each in our own way ask the same...

What Would the World Be

"What would the world be, once bereft

Of wet and of wildness? Let them be left,

O let them be left, wildness and wet;

Long live the weeds and the wilderness yet."

G.M. Hopkins, from Inversnaid (lines 13-16)

If Every Picture Tells a Story

...then what story does this simple picture tell?

Downtown Greensboro.

Encouraged

I had a comment on my blog today that encouraged me and which really gets at the core of why I take pictures of downtown Greensboro, or anything else for that matter. And though this comment came from "Anonymous" the person gave a valid Twitter username, so it's not totally anonymous really.

I don't repeat this comment in any spirit of self congratulation but simply because it feels good when the purpose for what I do is realized. Here is the comment:

"Anonymous said...Love the Photography!!! Makes me really proud of our downtown. I just started tweeting as GborRealPolitik. I tweeted your blog post this am, I hope you don't mind because I thought it was fabulous. I look forward to reading and viewing your work in the future."

It was the one phrase that stuck me - "makes me really proud of our downtown."

I am the first person to admit that I am at best just a decent amatuer photgrapher. I hope to get better - much better - but Ansel Adams I am not. I may have a mildly artistic bent, and yes, I do often "see" things that other people don't (no, I don't see dead people), but mainly because I'm looking and they're not. There is a way of looking that opens up the mind and heart for impressions and nuance of light, color, perspective, and composition. I hope that as I get better at photography I will be better able to capture these things.

But in the end my purpose in taking pictures is to celebrate the uniqueness and diversity of place and of life.

Buildings may not in themselves be "life" but they are given a kind of personality as it were by their designers and builders. The jumbled interplay of forms and styles in a cityscape creates fascinating impressions. And though buildings do not walk around they do change their appearance or "impression" throughout the day and throughout the seaons as light plays upon them in a multitude of ways, the "impressions" changing with the varying backdrop of cloud and sky and sun. And as one walks around in different seasons and at different times of day, always looking, there seem to be infinite combinations of viewpoints and angles. For example, from March 21 to September 21 you will never see sunlight striking the north side of a building. And only at this time of year will be noon day sun be at such a low angle.

For me, the goal of capturing as much of this as possible is that another person may smile, or as in the above comment, feel proud of his or her "place." There is no higher compliment that could be paid to me than this.

What is true of inanimate buildings is of course even more true of forests and trails and the tiny bits of "nature" inhabiting our city. Not only are there countless things to discover along a trail such as odd formations of life and ever interesting points of view, but a trail itself is in many ways a different trail depending on season and time of day. We think of different kinds of light - the slanting light of morning, the overhead light of midday, and the slanting light of afternoon. Each provides a unique impression and opens up different interactions of light and subject. Each season provides its own glory, so that, when you do the math, a trail has twelve personalities, three each day for four different seasons. Not only that but small intangibles like fog and mist and cloud give further variation within the twelve personalities. I could walk the same trail a hundred times and never run out of things to photograph.

But then, again, the point is not that someone would say, "that's a great picture" or whatever (I take enough pictures where some of them are bound to be pretty good even if by accident). The real reward is when, like the person who commented above, someone feels blessed, proud of being a part of such a world as this and community as this, thankful for the people who helped make such views possibile, and thankful to the author of such beauty.

And for me it's not just beauty but even decay in a strange way that I celebrate. Early this week I drove back from Columbia the "back way," taking secondary (and tertiary) roads, going through small towns and seeing many many abandoned and decrepit old buildings and homes. What interests me about these old structures are the stories behind them, the histories of the communities, the reasons why people came there in the first place and why they left. Every abandoned old building was once a person's business, a person's dream, a place where they invested their fortune and their sweat. More often than not there was a time of properity for that business, and I imagine all the people who came and went and worked and shared stories with each other. It's the story of people and their lives that fills me with a sense of wonder and respect walking around an old abandoned filling station with a faded out Esso sign still dangling from a pole.

I think the same way about our own Lee Street. Yes, I'd like to see Lee Street cleaned up, but I also am fascinated by all the stories locked up in those old buildings hugging the sidewalk between Elm and the Coliseum.

Anyway, it's a nice feeling when the purpose of what you're doing seems realized even in a small degree. It inspires me to get better so as to bring more blessing and to make more poeple proud of the community and the world that they live in.

One final note: as I write this it dawns on my how much I have been impacted by my literary hero, Gerard Manley Hopkins. Thanks Gerard.

Center Pointe from Guilford Building

I came across this shot looking for something else and thought, "I like that!" More downtown Greensboro pictures.

Joy

Shannon Joy, Vancouver, BC, 1988. See more pictures of Vancouver Days.

The Fear of Christ (an Advent Reading)

“We have become so accustomed to the idea of divine love and of God’s coming at Christmas that we no longer feel the shiver of fear that God’s coming should arouse in us. We are indifferent to the message, taking only the pleasant and agreeable out of it and forgetting the serious aspect, that the God of the world draws near to the people of our little earth and lays claim to us. The coming of God is truly not only glad tidings, but first of all frightening news for everyone who has a conscience.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, an excerpt from "The Coming of Jesus into Our Midst." Read the rest of the message here.

Is Multi-Culturalism New?

I had just finished reading a rant sent from someone who was certain that multiculturalism meant the sure and certain demise of our nation, when I saw a link to a speech made by Howard Dean praising America as a multi cultural nation, and I wondered to myself, "Self, have we not always been multicultural?" And Self answered, "Yes, we have. There was the culture and language of African slaves, the culture of Southern plantations, the culture of upcountry Southern farmers, the culture and language of German and Irish and Swedish immigrants who didn't start speaking English when they stepped off the boats, the culture of Puritan New England, the culture of Spanish Florida and French Louisiana, the culture and language of many and various Indian tribes, the culture of Roman Catholic settlers in Maryland, the culture of young and old in the 1960's, etc. " I tend in this case to agree with Self. I don't always.

Granted we have never known such a massive influx of non English speaking people as we do today, but are we sure that second and third generation Mexican immigrants, say, won't speak English?

Seems we've always tended to blame our problems on the newest to arrive, or on the politically weakest around.

I went on a four mile walk today. I saw a lot of people working hard. They were all Hispanic. Just saying.

The Beauty of Christ (an Advent reading)

"And this man, whose picture I have tried to draw for you, brethren, is your God. He was your maker in time past; hereafter he will be your judge. Make him your hero now. Take some time to think of him; praise him in your hearts. You can over your work or on your road praise him, saying over and over again/ 'Glory be to Christ’s body; Glory be to the body of the Word made flesh; Glory to the body suckled at the Blessed Virgin’s breast; Glory to Christ’s body in its beauty; Glory to Christ’s body in its weariness; Glory to Christ’s body in its Passion, death and burial; Glory to Christ’s body risen; Glory to Christ’s body in the Blessed Sacrament; Glory to Christ’s soul; Glory to His genius and wisdom; Glory to his unsearchable thoughts; Glory to his saving words; Glory to His sacred heart; Glory to its courage and manliness; Glory to its meekness and mercy; Glory to its every heartbeat; to its joys and sorrows, wishes, fears; Glory in all things to Jesus Christ God and Man.' If you try this when you can you will find your heart kindle and while you praise him he will praise you – a blessing. "

from Gerard Manley Hopkins, Sermon, for Sunday November 23, 1879, at Bedford Leigh.

One Left Foot

Thanksgiving, 2009, Columbia, SC - seven first cousins, one left foot.

Happy Thanksgiving

Columbia Thanksgiving 1978

Thanksgiving, 1978, Columbia (Dad must be taking the pictures) - Joe, Mom, Mary, Bobby, Mike

More Columbia Thanksgiving Pictures here)

He is Darkness....But...

He likes Saturdays and holiday and appointments. He comes, like a thief, in the night. He consumes whole days. He is darkness.

But I have seen blue sky through needles and branches.

I have felt sharpness of clear mountain air.
I have walked breathless in ancient cathedrals.
I have known the deep love of friends.
I have held hands as the shadow descended.
I have breathed tea olive wafting in summer
I have heard bluebirds and blue Memphis blues.
I have bathed clean in cool crystal rivers.
I have run fast along knife-edged ridges.
I have seen and I've heard the first breath of life.
I have kissed and told my mother goodbye.
I have been blessed by the laughter of children.
I have watched spiders weaving their webs.
I have held animals while they were dying.
I have felt colors assaulting my neurons.
I have cried tears until no more tears came.
I have watched seedlings burst through to the surface.
I have surfed waves from the morning to evening.
I have known joy in afternoon breezes.
I have enjoyed a hundred great singers.
I have sat on the edge of the Ponte Vechio.
I have joined voices with worshipping angels.
I have stood awestruck above Lake Garibaldi.
I have have smelled coffee at first light of day.
I have helped friends in their hour of trouble.
I have seen sundown from Cadillac Mountain.
I have heard songs that cut right to the marrow.
I have seen lighting bolts split apart pine trees.
I have smelled roses throughout Longwood Gardens.
I have seen countryside from top the South Downs.
I have watched fiddleheads unfurl in springtime.
I have been taken to the gate of third heaven.
I have waded through inlets toes feeling for shells.
I have stood in the middle of vast rustling marshes.

And I have climbed ancient castles and slept along rivers.

Twin Oaks - Laurel Bluff Trail

from Laurel Bluff Trail, Greensboro Watershed Trails, and NC Mountains to Sea Trail, Greensboro, NC

More Greensboro Trail Pics Here

Profound Wisdom About Unemployment

A week or so ago I posted a list of "odd jobs" that I would be able to do for people, needing the money as I do and such. Then I received the following comment from "Anonymous." On the surface it looks as if "Anonymous" was using my willingness to do almost anything as an example of a particular kind of "rags to riches" grit. I hate to be used however as a springboard into such a rant.

Before blogging I had never realized there were so many people named "Anonymous." The name sounds as if it must be of French derivation -" a-non-ney-mous." I think "mous" derives from an old French word for intelligence, and "ney" derives from a word meaning "gonad." Using both "a" and "non" does not create a double negation but rather is a doubling for emphasis, typical of French, with "a" meaning "without" and "non" meaning "none" or "zero." So the whole word means something like "without any brains or courage," or, framed in the positive, "stupid and cowardly." I'm glad I don't have a name that means that.

The comment I received however illustrates how the meaning of our names, even if we inherit them by adoption, often has a hidden power to shape us. I hope that you will read this comment over and consider the possible relation between the name and the content of the comment.

A formerly homeless guy was on talk radio this morning. He now is purchasing his 1st house by his sweat, blood and good hard honest days work. He said it makes him very angry to see people sitting around and complaining about no work out there. He said they are just sorry people. He said if anyone REALLY wants a job they can get one but most people who say they are looking for work are just too lazy to work. He said if you have a lawn mower you can make money. He went on to say you have to go after work it ain't coming looking for you. Your efforts indicates how badly you want work. This guy was mad! And rightly so. He proved it can be done.

The talk show host then added that he has a friend who is in the temp business. They can't get enough people to fill the jobs they have!!!!! People come in saying they don't want to do this and won't do that or they want better pay. They are not willing to do whatever it takes to make money.

And you wonder why hard working tax payers are sick and tired of paying the way for lazy a_____ people who are not willing to do whatever it takes to make a living. You see signs for help wanted in practically every fast food place. But some folks think that type of work is beneath them I guess. Let's hold people accountable - no work, no eat. Things would change real fast in this blood sucking society.

Revolt is on the way!
People are getting fed up with people who are takers not givers.

I don't know who is leading the revolt, or whether it will be headed up by the various dumb and cowardly people who write stuff like this or what. I think watching such a revolt will be kind of fun. Maybe it will be called the "lawn mower" revolt. I can see a million people pushing mowers up the mall in Washington.

Speaking of mowing lawns (and having mowed some 8.5 million lawns in my life), I was talking to a good friend the other day who is busting his butt working on lawns and such. It is certainly not a given that one can make a living mowing lawns. There are hundreds and hundreds of "mow and blow" crews out there who work on such volume that they can undercut almost any price. It is very competitive. And there is a point when the cost of mowing yards (equipment, vehicle, etc) requires a certain minimum price per yard and a decent volume. Even that very simple way of making money is not a given at all.

As for myself, I am sure there are lazy bums out there; I just haven't met many of them.

Joel

Boots Posing in Tree, As Seen by Madeline

I think Boots should be in the movies. As captured by Madeline Sunday 11-15.

My photostream

Can't Kill Norton - Ideas?

OK, first of all, no smart stuff from you Mac people...:-)

Was asked to fix a problem. Computer a giant mess. Symantec was disabled I think in changeover of ISP. URL's being misdirected, all sorts of crazy stuff. Some malware program or Trojan popping up and in the way of everything. Finally got rid of the malware thing, found an antivirus and spyware that would load, cleaned up disks, etc. Got rid of crazy misdirects to porn and shopping sites - BUT, get this - would let you go to, say, CNN, Craigslist, personal blog, Facebook, but would not let you go to Google, Bing or ask.com, would not let you use any embedded search powered by Google, AND, though it would let you go to yahoo.com, would not let you search via Yahoo. All search engines disabled. On third separate spyware scan (this time using Spybot), finally caught the misdirect imbeds - so, solved that problem.

But here is the final kicker. It will not allow removal of, or repair of, or overwriting of Norton 2009 or what's left of it. Norton's online uninstall tool won't work. No trick I could read about has worked. Uninstall keeps saying it wants the CD but the system came with Norton installed so no CD. I've spent 5-6 hours on this. Right click a file in file manager to delete and it doesn't ask you if you're sure you want to delete but takes you right to script asking for CD. Any ideas?

It appears that whatever this was or is had programed computer or browser to block all attempts to repair it - very clever. Also will not boot in safe mode, no matter what.

Cat in a Tree

Boots posing for Madeline on our birch tree. A great little model, and Madeline a good shot!

Fall Pastels, from Laurel Bluff

My Flickr Photostream

Thanksgiving Goblet

http://www.flickr.com/photos/joelgillespie/

Odd Jobs - Call Me

While I plan and prepare for a third career - this one in environmental stewardship and creation care, I still need to meet my financial needs, SO...here are some "odd job" and "part time" things that I can think of that I can do. On some of these I hate to have a "fee," but time is time. Price per job.

Plant shrubs or trees, rake (or mow/mulch) yard, plant bulbs, baby sit, degunk slow computer, back up hard drive, clean out gutters, edit papers, take close up pictures, deliver packages (legal), take a list of desired photographs, teach SS, scan and upgrade older photos, scan slides or negatives, paint house (exterior), clean out attic, tutor, build web site while you watch, remove overgrown shrubs,write corny poems, counsel, disinfect house and car, lead blessing of house ceremony, prepare garden for spring, do botanical survey, write speech, change out light bulbs, spread mulch, get soil tested, chauffer, digitize medical and/or financial records, bless pets, help with FAFSA, make phone calls, start your family genealogy, grade papers, officiate wedding, run errands, write difficult letters, prune, write essays, clean bathrooms, wash floor, make holiday cards, lead hikes, shred paper, send daily encouraging e-mail, edit and post blog articles, moderate dispute, preach sermon, write your bio, find people for you, send Christmas cards, visit shut ins, send packages, dig up stumps, split firewood, pay bills, remove and deliver to collection center hazardous household wastes, etc.

Contact me...

Joel Gillespie
301 S Elm Street, Suite 516
Greensboro NC 27401
336-207-0196
E-mail: gillespie.joel@gmail.com
Linked In: http://www.linkedin.com/in/joelsandersgillespie
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/joelgillespie
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/joelgillespie/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/joelgillespie
Blog: http://joelgillespie.blogspot.com/

Some Rain Songs - For the Occasion (Enjoy)

Have You Seen the Rain - John Fogerty (see also)

Easy As the Rain - The Little Willies

Covered in Rain - John Mayer

Early Morning Rain - Gordon Lightfoot 

Why Does it Always Rain on Me - Travis (Live8 London)

Rain - The Beatles

Here Comes the Rain Again - The Eurythmics

Fire and Rain - James Taylor

The Rain Song - Led Zeppelin

Rain King - Counting Crows

It Never Rains in Southern California - Albert Hammond

Let it Rain - Eric Clapton

Rainy Night in Georgia - Brook Benton version

Rainy Days and Mondays - The Carpenters

The Rain in Spain - from My Fair Lady

I Wish It Would Rain Down - Phil Collins

Who'll Stop the Rain - John Fogerty

A Hard Rain's a-Gunno Fall - Bob Dylan

Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain - Willie Nelson

Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head - BJ Thomas

The Lake Townsend Desert, Then (Sunday)

On Sunday I took a hike on the Laurel Bluff Trail. Coming from the east this trail follows the Reedy Creek Fork of Lake Townsend eventually to it's headwaters on the western end of the trail near Lake Brandt Road. Although lake Brandt water levels have been kept up, Lake Townsend has been drying up. The top picture is taken from out in the middle of the lake a few feet from Reedy Fork. It was amazing to stand out there - it seemed like such an expanse. The former lake bottom was covered in the area with grasses that were moist and marsh like - quite beautiful really.

The second picture was taken a little further west, maybe 3/4 of a mile or so further "up creek" than the picture at top. It was taken in that area where all the tree cutting has been done presumably for the safety of the small planes coming and going from the Air Harbor Airstrip. Here the "headwaters" looks like a scene from out west. You just about expect to see a group of cowboys riding out of the brush. The red-brown parched hues were really quite beautiful.

If the above pictures are "before," I hope to get back in there today or tomorrow to take a picture "after" this rainfall (or during). Since Lake Brandt is close to full (I don't know about Higgins) I suspect Townsend will rise a couple of feet anyway.

See more Laurel Bluff Trail pictures here. Some of them are quite "purty" if I may say so myself.

What Do You See in This Picture?

I see a dragon with a wry smile, with flames coming out of his nostrils. It's actually a broken, knobby, healed over limb of a Beech tree.

You can see the broader view of this odd Beech tree here: My daughter thought this looked like a horse.

Clam-Like Fungi on Old Log

Taken on the Laurel Bluff Trail, Greensboro, NC, also part of the NC Mountains to Sea Trail.

There were bunches of these clam-looking mushrooms up and down a fallen log, even on the drier sunnier side. Kind of cool I thought.

See more pics of Greensboro Hiking Trails Here.

Autumn Reflections - Laurel Bluff Trail

Late afternoon autumn reflections, Lake Townsend, west of Church Street, off Laurel Bluff Trails, Greensboro, also part of Mountains to sea Trail. More Laurel Bluff Pictures.

A VERY Tall Tulip Poplar - Piedmont Trail

Liriodendron tulipifera. Piedmont Trail, Greensboro, NC. More Pictures

Wolf Spiders Rock

There's a Wolf spider on the carpet about three feet away from my foot. He started to run across the room and stopped when he saw my foot move. Oops, my cat just came into the room and went over to check the spider out. Mr. Spider ran under the chair, but I can just see him waiting for the coast to be clear.

I like to get down on the floor and stare at these eight eyed beasts. It's weird because you never really know which eye is looking back you - one, three, all eight? That sort of thing bugs me when people do it and I don't like it with spiders either.

And I always get the feeling that they're watching me back, not in the obvious sense of "how do I get away from this giant" but in a curious sense, or maybe a predator sense. "Hmm, I wonder if I could take him." Personally I always feel like we've bonded.

If the Wolf spider were bigger than me he would eat me. I'm glad he's not.

Sometimes I watch Wolf spiders race across the floor from one side of the room to the next for no apparent reason. I get the impression that maybe it's a race and another spider hiding under the couch has a stop watch.

Wolf spiders aren't dainty and delicate like a lot of the orb weavers. They have thicker and shorter legs. They run around until they see dinner and when they see it they run fast and eat it. They're kind of like a lot of carnivorous mammals that way.

Wolf spiders are hairy like tarantulas. That seems to make them creepier to a lot of people.

I like having Wolf spiders around. They eat all sorts of nasty bugs such as roaches, earwigs, crickets, ants, and pretty much any other critter than they can whip in a fight. All in all, I feel safer knowing we have Wold spiders looking after us.

They can bite if you provoke them but their bites are not dangerous as in necrotic or anything. And they aren't going to just up and attack you for no reason. They're not stupid.

They seem to enjoy toying with cats, which I find entertaining. Our cats don't seem to like to eat them but they do catch them every so often. Usually though the Wolfe spider kicks into gear and races under something.

Sometimes when I am on the couch watching TV like a total slob one will race across my chest or leg. I just say hi and go back to the program. I figure they're on their way to eating a roach or something. Maybe that's why we hardly ever see roaches.

By far their greatest value is in scaring daughters. You'd think the spider were five feet tall and the daughter a quarter inch tall given the screams. With great reluctance and selfishly just to stop the screaming I have caught and disposed of hundreds of them over the years

With a Wolf spider in hand and a threatening gaze you have great powers of persuasion you would not otherwise have with a teenage daughter. It's also very much fun to chase said teenage daughter around the house with Wolf spider in hand.

OK, I'm curious about what happened to the little guy that went under the chair. Think I'll go find out. He may still be shaking with fear because of the cat. I think a kindly eye to eye stare down will make him feel better.

No, the Greensboro Pregnany Care Center Is Not a Lie

....as Liv at Greensboring said.

What is the case is that the article Liv cites (and one must give due weight to the idea of citing) from the so called journalists at The Carolinian Online is itself a fusillade of lies and misrepresentations.

I don't know about the breast cancer story. I'd like to know the details. Could be a legit complaint, I don't know.

Crisis Pregnancy Centers do not in fact represent the far right of the pro-life movement.

Nor do they claim to be medical clinics, though many have doctors and nurses on staff or who come in as volunteers.

They are generally staffed by caring and compassionate and non judgmental workers and volunteers, volunteers who care both about the pregnant women and their babies.

Yes, they do use ultrasounds. They want the woman to see the life inside of them. Why wouldn't the abortion clinic want to do the same?

Will revisit in 2-3 hours. Liv, you are off the chart smart, and the very last person around I would want to tangle with, but for real, citing as a source an inflammatory piece in the Carolinian...Come on. You're better than that.

Lake Brandt Sundown

From the Nat Green Trail. Part of the Greensboro watershed trail system and the North Carolina Mountains to Sea Trail.

Nothing New

Roch is right

The outcome of the elections in Greensboro hardly qualifies as "historic" or "monumental."

Do we really know for sure that Mayor Johnson lost because of her politics (or political associations) as opposed to her style?

And the addition of Danny Thompson, I mean, he is a young, dynamic, personable, and energetic new face on the scene - I don't think it's all that historic that he won.

OK, if Robbie Perkins were sent packing by a resounding vote then I think the outcome then we might be looking at a more deep seated rejection of the status quo, but that didn't come close to happening.

Ebb an flow, ebb and flow...

It will be interesting to see how Mr. Knight does when he butts heads against the quiet power structures behind the scenes. He could well end up as a one and out.

Local Color - from Nat Green Trail (NCMST)

Looking across the Lake Brandt cove as the sun goes down behind me. The Nat Green Trail is part of the NC Mountains to Sea Trail as well. I was wearing my Clemson hoodie that day so I fit right in. Props go out to the folks at Greensboro Parks and Rec Trails Division for overseeing, promoting, and generally looking after our trails. More Greensboro Trails here.

I'm Glad for Change but Don't Like the Map

It's probably proof enough that I don't have the killer instinct to be in politics, I always feel bad for the folks who lose elections, even when I vote or would have voted against them.

I wish Mayor Johnson and Council member Sandra Anderson Groat every happiness in whatever is next for them in their lives. I have personally appreciated Mayor Johnson's "chill" attitude, though I think that that's one factor that finally undid her. Too many rambling conversations without much apparent order. I actually LIKE watching channel 13. I hope the mayor elect can take a humble and cautious posture and not come in gunslinging.

I'm glad for change. I may have wanted just a little more but I'll take it. I just hope it ends up being a good change. We'll see.

There is one disturbing aspect to this election which Roch Smith captured on his past You Gotta Show Up...

It's not so much the low turn out that bothers me but the colors on the map.

I see a map of a city still much divided politically along socio-economic lines. Perhaps it is fair to say "along racial lines," but I am not sure if that's accurate. Maybe others can make that connection.

Blue Heron in Cove - Nat Green Trail

I had the privilege of watching this guy from the north-facing bluff on one of the inlets or coves off the east side Lake Brandt. I was walking the Nat Green Trail when I thought I saw a flash of blue below. I really wish that I had had a tripod and a 400mm lens - or binoculars! This is the best view I could get from so far away and through all the trees. After watching him for a while I tried to get closer but my movement spooked him. I post this very mediocre picture of a wonderful bird to show what sorts of delights await the hiker on our Greensboro Watershed Trails.