Penning Photography Daily

This afternoon we took a tour via van with an 80+ year old lady of Charleston society (She went to school with Babs Bush who was a boarder at her school).

Mrs. Jane Thornhill lives in the old part of the city and knows absolutely every house and structure and it’s lineage, and who owned it or stayed there or when it was gutted by fire or hurricane.

She looked a bunch like my mother and talked 100 miles an hour (if any southerner can do that) but so you could understand.

She has stood in front of bulldozers so old structures could be preserved. That type of gumption is rare. She is a strong force for preserving the historic Charleston. She knows all the folks that make the city work.

She’s at home with the elite, and with us plain folk.

Jane took us to her wonderful home, showed us her china, silver, wedding photos of her mom and her and her kids, told us the stories behind all the precious items, and kept repeating “I didn’t have any idea how precious these things were then”

Her husband, who was much more typical 80 year old southern gentleman and running at 16 rpm, was at the Battle of the Bulge in WWII – I pipped up with dad being a field surgeon at the battle and that won us the tour of her home and a conversation with her husband, who stayed a year after the war – he was a field engineer and assisted in the re-building efforts.

Wow was she a whirlwind of knowledge. We are so grateful that she shared her time and knowledge of this elegant city with us.

That’s really the crescent moon up there, not a star or an alien ship. =)

Before we headed out to a final night out dining (The Studio – We highly recommend it), we headed for the beach for some last sunset photos.

This one is the last one we took – there are others in our photo set at Flickr.

I wanted to get the beach, the ocean, the sunset sky and some of the beachfront vegetation in the shot.

Looks peaceful doesn’t it?

It is.

Hoping for some peace in your life.

If you get some from this, all the better. =)

Sunset on the Beaufort River.

The river flows out to the Atlantic ocean, just past Parris Island.

The city of Beaufort, is 2nd only to Charleston, South Carolina, on the list of oldest cities.

It is full of still-standing historical homes, buildings, cemeteries, and such.

We come back to further sample the locale each time we’re in the area.

Today, we found a wonderful small restaurant, Wine & Gourmet, which has a wine, cheese and bread store in addition to fine food. It’s around the corner from our favorite chocolateer in the whole world, The Chocolate Tree.

My lovely bride, Karen, had taken to the shops, and I had taken a stroll on the waterfront.

With timing being perfect, the sunset coincided with the end of my stroll.

Simply lovely.

Guess who came to play in our front yard this afternoon?

There were a group of dolphins, cavorting in the Atlantic off the beach.

I couldn’t help but smile at their play.

The birds were hanging around, as the dolphins kept moving Northwards. I think they were using the dolphins as good fish guides. =)

Having a great time.

Wish you were here.

Does she drive me crazy, sometimes yes.

Is she the love of my life, yes.

Does this show how beautiful she is, You betcha it does.

How could I not put this up as my picture of the day.

We went on a tour of Daufuskie Island, only reachable via boat.

5 miles by 2 miles and full of interesting folks, stories new development.

The weather was great – 76 F.

What a beautiful smile.

What more could a guy ask for?

My favorite of the day.

We went down to the beach at sunset and took a bunch o photos.

I was aiming to balance out the light – expose for the sunset and fill with flash. It seems to work just fine.

The sunset was spectacular, and seems even more so because of the ocean waves crashing nearby.

I had to move more than once, as the tide was coming in.

We did a jump shot, or at least attempted one – hard to time it with a delayed exposure. It was a bunch of laughs doing it though. These smiles attest to that.

Having fun, wish you were here. =)

Sometimes, it pays strange and wonderful dividends to have to get up frequently for bladder relief.

This sunrise greeted me this morning when I crawled out for nature’s call.

Nature rewarded me with a beautiful sunrise over the ocean.

My first shot was entirely out of focus – I didn’t have my glasses on. I hit the autofocus button and this one came about.

Tilted but nice just the same.

Sort of like I was at that time.

I crawled back for more shut-eye.

Karen requested that I nudge her awake should any more natural beauty pop up during my nightly strolls. =)