This may be my Lucky Day...

I started out my day today with a game of Hearts ...I won ...BIG TIME...never made a mistake...four hands in a row...perfect...How many of you out there have done the same?

Sunday's Zoo Pix

Here are a couple of pix taken on Sunday...It was overcast which brought out the colors in the flamingos...I guess if the sun had shone the green boa would have looked a little happier...

Old Old Color slide

I am learning how to copy my colored slides into digital images ...Here is one I took of my three children back in 1969...We were exploring the old ruins of the mill on the Saluda River ...

Old Covered Bridge...

Long Cane Covered Bridge photographed in 1977

Here is a copy of a colored slide I took of myself and my four children who were with me at the time...Daniel, my youngest is standing next to his sister, Sandra and to my left is my oldest son, Mark and next to him is Robert...I look pretty jaunty back then or I should say woodsy...I'm holding a Hasselblad camera...and I have my trusty light meter hanging from my neck...The bridge was not being used when I took this picture...It was constructed in 1892 and spanned Long Cane Creek near Troy, SC...Being no longer in use, a concrete bridge was built next to it...unfortuneately the wooden bridge no longer stands and was burned either by accident or by vandalism in 1979...

A Portrait of Ansel Adams

Several Years ago, Ansel Adams came to USC to give a talk on photography...his photography...It was standing room only in the Russell House auditorium when the students and his fans (I'm one) came to see and hear this great photographer speak...As we watched in awe...as the slide projector flashed out  the black and white prints (masterpieces)  he had compiled over many years of trudging up and down mountainous trails carrying various sizes of view cameras and their tripods and his box of sheet film holders loaded with fresh film ...(Those were the good old days)

Here is a photo I took of Ansel posing for a young photographer in the Russell House corridor...

Our art museum has one of his most recent exhibits of his work...He was the Beethoven of the photographic world...I understand he once aspired to become a concert pianist...Thank the Lord he chose the light meter instead..

La Danse

Last night a friend and I went to see,"LaDanse" directed by Frederick Wiseman...It was 159 minutes long ...Thank God I was sitting down to see it...For a non ballet watcher...it had held my interest for most of its length...it had english sub titles...I didn't mind this...I learned to read at an early age...It cut back and forth from nothing to everything...The artists were wonderful...young and old...I don't think there was a plot and if there was,it was lost in the French language they were speaking...The Ballet brings out the beauty of the human body and shows us just what our bodies are capable of doing...(I'm not speaking of my body of course)....

Daily Photo

Cold weather and sunlight can make a log mighty appealing to these turtles... they're neighbors of mine...

Daily Photo Panorama of Saluda Rapids

I tried out a new photo program called Photo Stitch...It looks like I will have to learn a little more about it before I can do it properly...

Daily Photo

Last Saturday this head popped itself out of the grass and I knew it wasn't Peter or Pumpkin so I snatched up my trusty Olympus SP-500UZ and zoomed in and snapped a shot off...

Then I ambled over to to Monky Island to listen to the howlers...GOTTCHA

More Pix

Millrace Massacre and Ice Man's River Race

I went down to the Lower Saluda River yesterday to watch the10th Annual  Millrace Massacre and Iceman Racers...In their kayaks...It was COLD and the water in the Saluda is always COLD......There was a whole bunch of them (around fifty) ...A few landed in the water as you will see below...They are a very hearty group...both men and women...I was highly impresed with them and their annual venture...Their families and friends came out to watch them perform...And perform they did...They had to carry their boats about a quarter of a mile up a railroad track to above the rapids to put in the river...Then they had to paddle their boats down a prearranged course thru the rapids and down to a pylon near the rocks where we watched...They were timed...This was only the first part of the day they rested up in the parking lot for a short time and then went back for the big race...I couldn't stay that long so I headed home...I was cold but happy...I think they were the same...

Another Daily Photo

Here is a Carolina Chickadee who visited my feeder...

Daily Photo...

My days have been filled with Cold, Cold weather ...But NO snow...

I'm not good with cold and I think it affects the arthritis in my knees...But I have been walking for 20 minutes each day on my tread mill...The cats look at me like I'm crazy...I think its helping me...Any kind of exercise I do,helps me...Here is a picture of Peter...taken today on the deck ...I made him stay inside last night but he usually sleeps outside even in the freezing cold...I'll be 20 degrees tonight...

Daily Photo

Happy New Year  Everyone...Uncle Ron