Lidnsey

This is to Lindsey. A FOB (forward operational base) in Kandahar, Afghanistan adopted Lindsey. She was the one who would listen to each and every troop that was stationed at the base. She looked up with those big brown eyes and touched the heart and soul of our troops. She followed, she sat, she ate and she loved. Just as our troops needed someone, she needed them. The bond between them grew and the love exchanged was free. She looked forward to seeing them coming back and they looked forward to her being there. A constant in their ever changing life. I guess you could say that Lindsey was their home. Looking at your loved one. The spark that said "I love you". Well Lindsey is gone. Not forgotten. Unfortunately, the troops have to look at each other and, well, you cannot scratch your sargent behind the ears, but if your are quick you can rub his belly. Woof, woof, woof for Lindsey.

Another view of the road to the ruins.

A view from the ruins.
What should have been a quiet walk.

This is just a view of half of the vehicles that did haul ATVs.

February 17, 2008 Fergusons Landing

More artifacts. 
 
 
 

February 17, 2008 Fergusons Landing

 This is the frosted glass from one of the buildings. Beautiful.
 The tire tracks of the ATVs come close to this manhole and cover.
 Large rusty bolt and pottery.
 We all know the horse shoe.

February 17, 2008 Fergusons Landing

 Road to ruin!

 Chain links.

 Plumbing.

 The main structure.

February 17, 2008 Santee State Park

 Exposed drop off with exposed roots.

 Close up of roots.

 Catfish head.

  Me and catfish head.

February 16, 2008 Cathedral Bay SC

 Cypress with a twist.
 Ivory-billed Woodpecker?
 Two trees together.

February 14, 2008

Today we decided to take a trip around Lake Moultrie and check out some of the boat landings. The only walking we did was at the fish hatchery. As we walked out onto the beach we spotted someone else. I pulled up my trusty binoculars to have a look. He was carrying a shovel. As soon as he saw us, he went into the woods. And we knew why.

Several years ago Jerry and I were at a small state park walking around looking at the flora and fauna and a small child approached and asked if we were park rangers. We told him “No, we are not”. Because we wear light color clothing and wide brimmed hats he thought we were. We got rid of the kid. We told him where he could find a dead bird.

Another story….somewhere in Texas…near the border. A young couple was having talking with a couple of guys on the other side of the river. Jerry and I pulled up got out of the truck and put on our hats. We talked to the young couple for a few minutes and I noticed a young Mexican kid wading across the river with a bottle. He walked up to me and asked me if I was a ranger. I told him “No”. He looked me in the eyes, tilted his head toward Jerry and said “What about him?”. “No.” The kid turned around and with bottle in hand and left!

My guess is that the person on the beach was there for no good and when he saw us in our hats, he left thinking we might be park ranger looking for looters. If I was a ranger I would have chased him down and whooped his butt! We looked around and found no evidence that he had a chance to stick his shovel into the sand. We might have saved an artifact and changed his mind about digging someplace else.

This a great photo of the exposed roots of a cypress tree. 
 Exposed beach with power plant in the background.

 Two views of Francis Marion's grave.
 

February 13, 2008 Santee Wildlife Refuge

 The sign with the hours. We made note of the closing time and went on our tour. There are so many things to see. We stopped several times and took short little walks.
  One was to examine the new canoe trail. It is not fair to judge the trail with the water low. I did have a vision on paddling to the pond and sitting for an hour or two to see what wildlife would appear. While there we noted the time and realized we needed to leave. It was hard to focus on the gate when, if we took our eyes off the road, we would see something else to make us stop. And you guessed it, we saw
  what we thought was a hole in the bank that an alligator might spend its nights. Wow! Oh! Look,
  an alligator! Not a big fellow, but an alligator. What beautiful eyes. This is wonderful. The sun was shining on its eye. The sun was hidden by clouds and peeking in and out, just teasing us. Now, time is running our. The gate will close in about ten minutes. Well we made it to the gate with 10 seconds to spare. We sat there and thought about where we would go next and still the gate was open. We drove down the road to another landing and looked around. Driving back the gate was still open. We had plenty of water and energy bars, maybe we should have spent the night. Just kidding. Someone would have driven through to make sure no one was left in the area.

February 11, 2008 Santee State Park

  Here you see the shells of clams and snails that have died and washed ashore. I thought this shows the rythum
 
 
 

February 11, 2008 Indian Bluffs Recreational Area

 
I am not sure what the bumps are on the sand. It makes for an interesting landscape.
 
This is just pretty with the curves.
  There was a fire on the other side of the lake and the wind was blowing in the other direction. I was a little dissapointed until the wind shifted and I was able to catch it drift over the lake.
  This is the swimming area of Indian Bluff. We were there several years ago with the twins. They must have been about 4. Jerry was in his kayak and the kids asked him to swim with them. He jumped into the water only to discover that it was over his head. He thought they were walking on the bottom. They had on life vests and were bobbing in the water.

Leaving Indian Bluffs we met Rosie Price. She was very nice and we talked for a few minutes. They are getting ready to publish a book about the Edisto River. He took the photos and she added the narration. She did not think she could do such a thing and was proud to tell us she did better than she thought. I felt her pride.

February 10, 2008 Blacks Landing

 
Now we were off to Black’s Landing to see what Santee Cooper was doing that was so exciting. As we pulled up we noticed three gentlemen standing on the dock. Below them was the boat ramp with Santee Cooper employees and equiptment. A little bull dozer and a track vehicle with a large shovel. When the three gentlemen heard a rumble in the back ground one said here comes some rocks. I asked about the project and they began the story. A few seconds later the truck came and I retreated for fear of the deadly “rock dust”. “No fear mam, it isn’t dusty.” replied one man.

I looked at the boat ramp and figured that there must have been four loads of rocks unloaded and I began to wonder….how long had they been standing there? My thoughts? For what it is worth, they have nothing to do. I have seen this in small towns across the states. Nothing to do? Watching grass grow? Watching someone work? It is like sitting on your front porch. Oh, you don’t have a front porch. Well, a fun thing to do is watching the world go by, you know, watching. The kids playing across the street, kids laughing, giggling, and coming in your yard. Kids don’t come in your yard? Oh, kids don’t walk down the street laughing giggling and having fun. Well, those guys are the kids that use to laugh and giggle walking down the street and now they are having fun watching other people. Yes, the are laughing and giggling the way only old men can laugh.

So what I thought was to be a tragic tale of old men I realized it was a reminder of youth. Take that thought as you would like. As age catches up with us, so does youth. We are able to recapture the sights, sounds and laughter of youth through bleary eyes, muffled ears and a giggle that remains the same.

  Santee Cooper is digging a canal from Blacks Landing out to the Santee Canal.

  I think the cost to the owner is $180,000. A high price to pay but it should be worth it in the long run.

  This is General William Moultrie. He is in pretty bad shape and needs some restoration.