Sunday, August 31, 2008

Camouflage Culture.

Camouflage entered American parlance after the The Great War (now known as WWI). Military folk used the art of camouflage to blend in with their surroundings so that they would not be detected, thus facilitating the process of killing without being killed. Hunters discovered that clothing that helped them to blend in with their surroundings made their avocation easier as well. Colleton County is largely wooded, which means there are woodland animals available to kill for sport. There will be hunters. There will be camo. Colleton County is also largely rural, which means there will be camo-culture (an oxymoron, to be sure, but bear with me). The Lads and I ventured into one of the local barbeque establishments yesterday. You want to see fat people in camo (and, really, who DOESN'T want to see fat people in camo?) a rural Southern barbeque joint on a Saturday during hunting season is an excellent place to look.Talk about lack of function: this one dude was wearing knee-heighth boots with his camo shorts. At first I was puzzled: Camouflage is supposed to HIDE you; yet these yahoos are in a restaurant, not the woods. But as I looked around the restaurant and saw that many of the patrons- even those who had never been in the woods on purpose- were similarly dressed, it occurred to me: they were a lot less conspicuous than were the Lads and I. The camo-clad crowd became their surroundings; safe in their sameness.

Saturday, August 30, 2008

Friday, August 29, 2008

Breakfast for Dinner.

Oh, like yooove never done it!

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Ba(ra)cking Obama in Spite of Media Bias

Y'all know I'm not a political blogger. Many- maybe most- of my friends are Republicans, and my grandma taught me better than to discuss politics with friends. Still, I used to be quite active in politics. I actually ran for the Statehouse a few years ago (lost in the Democratic primary by about 1% of the vote). I've attended one State Democratic Convention. I went to the inaugeration of former Democrat Governor Jim Hodges. I've been a past vice-chairman of the Jasper County, SC, Democrat Party. But I'm generally content to do my job, raise my kids, and let everyone else bicker over the big stuff. Got to tell you, though, injustice pisses me off.

The Media- traditionally accused of favoring "liberal" causes- is doing such an unbalanced and unfair job of reporting the later stages of this Presidential election that I got to get my two-cents' worth in. I finally tuned in the Democratic National Convention last night. Joe Biden gave a pretty good speech. Bill Clinton gave an outstanding one. The glum expressions of Wolf Blitzer and the rest of the CNN news-team at the conclusion of Clinton's speech would have been comical if they hadn't been so scary. Their anti-Obama bias was palpable. Surely the obvious jubilation of the conventioneers, the story of reconciliation of fierce competitors, the clear, unified message of the Party of the failure of the policies of the last eight years would rate the front page, right? Nope. Yahoo news? There was a sidebar to the effect that Bill "did his part", but the main story was on Democrat's worries about security concerns for Obama's speech tonight. Were the reporters watching the same convention I was? Chase, you ought to be glad you're out of a profession that used to have some relevance, but now appears to be comprised of a bunch of punchless corporate cheerleaders.

Smackdown House of the Rising Sun 4: Just Folks

Frequent commenter on brother Andy's blog, and first time LITB visitor Roger suggested some new guy name 'o Robert Zimmerman. Before he went electric, Bob Dylan was a folkie. The volume is kinda low on this one, but you can't ignore Bob Dylan, can you?



Joan Baez was the Queen of the sixties folk scene. She still sounds pretty good. She, too, has caught the "House" fever.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Smackdown House of the Rising Sun 3: International Style

There ought to be at least one International version in the poll. There are a ton of them, but I'm only gonna put one in the poll. Let's start with the British Invasion. Part I: Duran Duran:



Next, those perennially peppy purveyors of prose (that was meant to be sarcastic, by the way), Pink Floyd:



For those of you who now need a lift after that last cheer-fest, how 'bout a little dance version from Gary Glitter? (and please, don't mention Viet Nam. It seems to bug him...)



Now a version of the House of the Rising Sun from the Land of the Rising Sun. The tune, at least, is house of the Rising Sun. The lyrics this gal is singing? Not a clue. Chiaki Naomi does have the blues sound working though, whatever the language.



Apparently they even know this song "Down Under" (least that's where I think Tommy Emmanuel is from):

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Smackdown House of the Rising Sun 2: Reggae

Don't like the Animals? Maybe Gregory Isaacs is more your style.

Monday, August 25, 2008

Smackdown House of the Rising Sun: Animals

Congrats to Marvin Gaye, winner of the "old school sex song" smackdown. And congrats to all you guys that voted. I wanted ten votes, and you guys turned out. One of my favorite songs is House of the Rising Sun. Like a lot of folks, I guess, the version with which I was most familiar is by Eric Burden and the Animals. The dude looks so young for that big-boy voice to be emanating from him. The dude knows he's cool. And so is the video.



Okay, that's "the original" (well, it's the first one I knew), but there are actually others, and in several genres. So, do your homework. Tell me if there are versions you know and like.

Saturday, August 23, 2008

The Explorer's Club.


Internet buddy, Chase, gave a recommendation for a Charleston, SC, group, The Explorer's Club a couple of months ago in his blog, Dirty Thoughts in this post. I commented that I'd try to catch them if they ever got out to my neck of the woods. Well, they played last night at Windjammers in the Isle of Palms. The Isle of Palms is about an hour and a half drive from the Boro, and is just North of Charleston. The show wasn't supposed to start until 10:00 p.m., which should've put me home at about 2:30 a.m. (it didn't actually start until 10:30, and I didn't get back until 3:30 a.m.), and since this was technically my weekend with the Lads, the prospects of my being able to go looked bleak. At 2:30 p.m. yesterday, Tyler was able to talk his mamma into letting them spend Saturday night with her in Beaufort (Mom, please! I've got another date. Puh-Leez!). Great. Pouring rain, and no one to go with me (okay, I'll grant you, five hours isn't a bunch of notice), but I told Chase I'd see these guys, and by golly I was gonna see these guys. I was not disappointed.

First order of business: find some people to hang out with. Randy and Cynthia from Greenwood, SC, were a lot of fun (though, being good Baptists, they weren't drinking with me).I talked to a few other folks, as well. Hey, Chase, looks like this guy's from your neck of the woods. But you don't care about all that, do you? I'll right, I'll bring out the band. Here, listen (Here, Hear?).



Sure, they sound like the Beach Boys, but these aren't wannabees. This is their gig. These guys were the real thing. And, though it's cliche', you really got to see them live. It's all about the music, baby! The set was late, and short, because another band, The Unusual Suspects, followed.

The Unusual Suspects were pretty good. They did an excellent cover of Tom Petty's "I Need to Know". They sang well. They played their instruments well. And they were "pretty". Maybe that's what bugged me: Everything was too perfect. The Explorer's Club were kind of like Jack Black's band in School of Rock; the Unusual Suspects were kind of like the band that kicked Jack Black out to get prettier, more formulaic replacements. That said, the Unusual Suspects seem to have the tools to do well.

...and check this out: The drummer, Neil, and one of the guitarists, Jimmy, from the Explorer's Club let me pull a Chase and get my picture with them (and Jimmy let me hold his guitar!).

Hair!




The Lads are at public school this year. In general, I think this is a good thing. Social attitudes are better. They have access to things like shop (oh, sorry. "Industrial Arts" is what they call it now) and music. Sadly, the dress code is quite a bit looser, and, if I want to put the hammer down on their self-expression, I can't use the school as an excuse as I had last year. I'm not wild about it, but it's not a health issue. Maybe their football coach'll say sumpin.





Thursday, August 21, 2008

Earache My Eye.

Today is the first day of school for the Lads. Getting them out of bed is always a struggle. This is not a unique problem, of course. Just part of the on-going battle between kids and parents. I remember, vaguely, being on the other side- the kid side- of this struggle. I also remember Cheech and Chong. "Earache My Eye", along with "Basketball Jones" (and check out the guest stars on THAT song. George Harrison, Carole King, Billy Preston? On a Cheech and Chong track?) and a few other of their bits, included some pretty good music to go with their comedy (in this one, the music is first, the skit about three minutes into it). In seeking out some incarnation of Earache, I noticed that KoRn, Metallica, and Soundgarten have all done versions of it.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Separated at Birth 3




...and the Cat actually got a better score in the balance beam.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Hail to the Chief.


Yesterday afternoon I went to the swearing-in of my boss's boss, the new Circuit Public Defender. A few judges, a few attorneys, and the S.C. senator who got the bill through the General Assembly were there. All in all, it wasn't too bad. Still, a couple of mentions at the very end of Senator Milloy's speach sent shivers down my spine, "We couldn't have gotten this passed without Justice Toal's strong support" (or something to that effect), and the phrase "Case Management System". Jean Toal is the Chief Justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court. She's the first woman to hold that position. She is also very powerful and she has done a lot to consolidate that power and increase the ability of Columbia to keep an eye on the Judges, Magistrates and lawyers in the State.

The Case Management System (or CMS) is one of the ways that information at the County and City level (Magistrate and Municipal Court) has been made more immediately accessible to Court Administration. I was briefly a Magistrate, so I know a little about CMS. A unified system for case-tracking is not a bad idea. It would be nice, for example, if a Magistrate setting a bond in Beaufort could know that an inmate has a pending case (and bond) in Greenville, or to have information on inmates who are already in the system in other counties. Sadly, the information in CMS goes one way: to Columbia. As unhelpful as CMS was to Magistrates "on the ground", it at least makes sense for Court Administration to be able to keep up with its Judges. The prosecutors are also required to be on CMS. Okay, I guess Court Administration ought to be able to keep up with the prosecutors. I guess. I've got some very serious questions as to why Court Administration should have any business in our files, though. We represent individuals, not "The State". Individuals have privacy rights. Individuals have attorney/client privilege. "Well", you might say, "You don't have to key in the stuff they told you". No, perhaps not all of it; however, we will have to key in basic information, like their addresses and phone numbers. Consider this irony: South Carolina refuses to enter the national "Real I.D." system because of our concern for individuals' right to privacy, but it may well be that when an individual in South Carolina is charged with a crime, the prosecutors and judges can find them using their attorney's database. The system is also very poorly designed, but that's another nightmare.

Monday, August 18, 2008

Treasure Hands.

Sometimes, you just gotta play a movie. This grunge song was one I used to like a bunch back in the 90's. What, you never heard of Lucy's Fur Coat? Yeah, well, so hadn't a lot of people. Still like the song.

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Roadtrip: Florence

Ah, Florence. Images of the Renaissance. The food of Tuscany. Wait. Not THAT Florence, THIS Florence. Cathy had business in Florence, and I had to see some people in jail North of the Boro, so we made a day of it (Mostly my jailed clients are in jail about a block from my office, but every now and again, I'll get some that are being held at other jails or prisons). I saw my peeps, and Cathy had her hearing. Might as well get some sight-seeing in, while we're out. While Cathy was at her hearing in Florence Courthouse pictured at left, I was wandering around the area taking pictures (with her camera. Mine's given up the ghost)Here's an interesting Church. Neo-classic with brick columns?

Looks like a pretty typical Southern downtown, a lot like the Boro, but clearly no longer a nice section of town.

Ever wonder were you could get those gold overlays for your teeth? Well, wonder no more. Thank Heaven for little grillz.

Ready for that long, dirt nap? Here's your destination. Any place else is less than Ideal.

The Wipe Me Down Carwash. Yet, somehow I feel all dirty.

And you thought outhouses were only out in the country.

Looks like they had this last month. But, of course, the warm memories remain.

Well, Florence isn't far from Dillon, SC, home of Pedro, and South of the Border. SOB is every bit as trashy as you'd think, but I can't resist. SOB is also where I won a stuffed lion for my oldest when he was about five months old. Davis still has it.

It's hard to imagine that these statues were meant for any purpose, other than the purpose to which we put them.




In spite of the Mexican theme, we weren't really in South of the 'Merican border; the border to which Dillon is just South is the North Carolina border. Anyway, the trip was successful and fun (though my clients remain in jail, so, from their standpoint, the trip was probably neither).

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Run, Run AndyMan...

My brother, the amazing ultra-runner, AndyMan, got up very, very early this morning to compete in the second of four 100-mile ultra-marathons he's entered to be conducted in a three month stretch (he completed a 100-miler in Vermont last month). The Leadville Endurance Run commenced at 4 a.m. Mountain Daylight Time. This race may well be the toughest of the four runs for which he is entered. Maybe 50 to 65 percent of entrants in most 100-milers complete the course; Leadville's completion rate is only about 40%.

First of all, as you might expect for the Rocky Mountains, the race is at a high altitude and it's mountainous. I'm told that races at altitude mean less available oxygen. And, of course, half the run is, like, UP the mountains. Andy's lives and trains in Florida, which is flat, and low; so this will be especially tough for him. This race is also crowded for a hundred miler. Something like 560 people have signed on for this one. Okay, compared to marathons, where, say, 35,000 people might be signed up it's not so many; but it's a lot for a 100-miler. Lots of people running means lots of people around whom he must navigate. Unlike marathons, which are generally run on well-marked streets, ultras are run on trails and paths through the woods, across streams, and over gravelly sides of mountains. On a good day, a 100-miler takes about 24 hours to complete, which means half of it is at night. Having people around can sometimes be helpful, I'm told, to encourage and help with directions; but they can get in the way, too. Oh, yeah, and the forecast in that part of Colorado for today? Snow. In August. Something that they don't have a lot of in the Sunshine State. It ain't Christmas, but I hope Santa brings Andy a decent finish anyway.

Friday, August 15, 2008

There's No Recovery From That.

Brian Regan is a very funny fellow. Four or so years ago, my oldest, Davis, loaned me a c.d. of some of his material.
I enjoyed the whole thing, but the beginning riff on trying not to look stupid in normal conversation had some stuff about which Homer Simpson would say, "It's funny because it's true". Here. Here's the first part of it (set to the visual background of Kingdom Hearts videogame):



One of the lines in there was, "Did you ever get somebody's gender wrong? There's no recovery from that". Well, I've done it twice. Once at a outdoor shop in San Francisco (in my defense, the lady filled out her plaid shirt exactly the same as the male attendants in there, and her voice was deeper. For what it's worth, she seemed like she'd expected it. I actually said, when she'd rebuffed me with, "It's ma'am": "Well, I guess there's no recovery from that"). The other was last night at Applebee's in Beaufort. This time, it was a baby. I've sired four babies, and I'd've probably taken offense if folks got their genders wrong, but let's be honest about this: babies look pretty much the same. Oh, sure, some are cuter than others, but, as a rule, diapers are covering up pretty much the only indication of their gender. Isn't that why parents dress them up in pink or blue? 'Course, I probably SHOULD have read the "Where's my tiara?" plainly plastered on the front of Pat's pink shirt before telling pop, "Yeah, he's gonna be a stud". Hoo, boy. Well, take luck.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Last Chance to Vote.

There is no good reason for this picture. It's about seven years old. The little fellah in the picture is my oldest son. We were at the Heritage Golf Tournament in Hilton Head. The picture is at Harbor Town Marina. This is a more recent picture. Obviously, Davis has fared better than his pop. Anyway, make sure you vote in the poll, if'n you haven't already.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

If It Ain't Broke...

...Then don't fix it. The State, apparently, is going broke. Well, maybe not broke, but economic hard times generally are causing funding cutbacks that are redolent of teacher layoffs. Our Public Defender's Office has been running efficiently for years, with a combination of County and State funding, through a private corporation. It ain't broke, but the State General Assembly decided to fix it. Last year the Legislature voted to transfer control of public defender offices from private County-responsive systems to a State-controlled Circuit system. Our first 14th Circuit Public Defender was just elected. Just like that, I now have two bosses instead of one. Control of the office is not in the Boro anymore; control is nominally from Beaufort, but with a lot of oversight from the State Capitol in Columbia. Although I'd've rather seen my boss, Harris, appointed to the position, the guy that won, Gene, is also a pretty good guy. It is my understanding that he wants to leave us alone to do things the way we have done them. He says he may even try to get us more money. That'd be great. Shoot, take another 1% from the schools if you need to...

Sunday, August 10, 2008

The Grim Reaper

Lots of deaths lately. Bernie Mac and Isaac Hayes. You've heard of them, and can look at some of their work below (it's a little blue, so if you're easily offended, well, if you're easily offended, you really probably weren't a fan anyway). First, the music:


Now, some cookin' from Chef:


Ah, loveable, safe, Bernie Mac. Not! Before he was cleaned up for t.v., he gave us this:


I've sorta had fun making fun of how seriously people take death. I guess "insensitive" is a fair description of my attitude on the subject. And when pets passed? Insensitive would be generous. I remember visiting the Orlando home of Lee Killinger, who'd been a buddy of mine at Sewanee. I'd only been to the home once before, but I noticed the absence of their particularly yappy dog. I asked Lee's dad, Dr. Killinger, about the whereabouts of Little Muffy. He looked grave. His eyes watered as he faintly said, "Muffy... went the way of all dogs". Now, this was a DOG. I know. House pets are important. Yadda, yadda, yadda. Anyway, Mr. Sympathetic here, seeking a bit more clarity, asked, "Kicked the bucket, huh?". Anyway, death has a way of demanding respect. It's hard to maintain my flip attitude when people I actually care about "go the way of all people". Bernie Mac and Isaac Hayes weren't a huge part of my life, but a couple of my friends also died last week: Sammy Rivers and Robert Barrett.

Sammy was a good guy. He was friendly, and decent. I used to draw cartoons on my oldest son's lunch bags every day; and when Sammy got Yemassee police officer of the year, I inked his likeness on one of the bags (I'd put up a picture, but my camera's not working). Sammy was 50.

Dr. Barrett was my Chiropractor and my friend for years. He used to get me and my bud, Mike Laney, tickets to the Heritage Golf Tournament in Hilton Head. We played golf a few times. He treated some of my clients, too. Bob was 59. Rest in peace, guys.

Stealin'

The Lads got an education this weekend. Taylor gave his World of Warcraft password to someone he didn't know, with predictable results. The scum promptly changed the password and stole the account. They've had the account for a couple of years, and have several characters. Get a new one, I tell them. Tyler says, "Dad, I was a level 60! A level 60, Dad! Do you know how long it took me to get there?" No, Son, I don't. "A year and a half". They're working on trying to recover it, but bought the account from their step-brother, who can't remember his recovery information (or won't. They don't always get along). On the good side, I rediscovered a song I used to like when I was their age.

Saturday, August 9, 2008

Shootin' the... Breeze.

Okay, this is not my story. Jodi, our paralegal at the Public Defender's Office told me that this happened yesterday to her husband, Ray. But it's funny. If I get some of the particulars wrong, Jodi will, I'm sure, correct me. Ray is a County Sheriff's Deputy and was on patrol yesterday with his partner. They noticed a older van driving way too slowly for the area, and got suspicious. They tailed it for awhile, when, suddenly, the van pulled over to the shoulder of the road, and the driver leapt out the the van, and tore off into the woods. Ray bolted after him. Ray's partner pulled his service weapon and approached the van. Ray's pretty fast, but this guy had a decent head start. Still, Ray was gaining on him. Ray had almost caught up with the guy, when the guy suddenly dropped his pants, squatted down, and took a crap. Pooped. Shat. Pinched out a grumpie. Evacuated his bowels. Made number two. Meanwhile, Ray's partner was talking to the passenger- an embarrassed wife- who explained that her husband had had an upset stomach all day and really, really needed to use the bathroom.Jodi didn't tell me whether the guy got a ticket.

Friday, August 8, 2008

Sex Smackdown: The Poll

No, not pole: Poll. We've listened to lots of Old School songs about hooking up. The airways and internet are flooded with songs about people getting together- or trying to. We've listened to pleas through the ages for carnal bliss From the 1960's The Beatles didn't want to spring for a room, "Why Don't We Do It in the Road?". Me? I'm thinking, "Gee, I don't know. Cars?". Anyway, it's not making the list, but the 60's were represented. The 70's brought us Marvin Gaye, Donna Summer, Rod Stewart, Barry White, and, yes, Jimmy Buffett wanted to take us back to his trailer. Rick James urged us to Give It To Me in the early 80's. R. Kelly wanted to us to "Sex Me" (well, him, actually) and to Bump and Grind with him in the 90's. During that same part of the 90's, James wanted to get Laid. No shout-outs for the current decade. I'm sure they're still making songs about sex, but it's natural enough, I suppose, that we'd be thinking about the songs that spoke to us when we were first making our way into that world. Rihanna and John Mayer are still wanting us to git wid dat, but they don't understand it like Marvin did. Least that's my story. You guys vote for whomever you want. Just vote. Vote for more than one if you want. I'm looking for at least ten votes here.

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Sex Smackdown 4: Miscellaneous

White guys are way too direct. Even famous ones. Like the Beatles.


Okay, maybe it iddint just white guys. Maybe it's also White guys. Hey, at least Barry did it with style.


Maybe we could learn something from our more soulful breathren. Like Justin Timberlake did.


...and, of course, the response.


I'll post the poll tomorrow. Absent some last minute nominations that catch my fancy, the nominees will come from the videos you've seen the last coupla days.

Sex Smackdown 3: Rick James, Rod Stewart, Donna Summer

I wanted to post R. Kelly, Col (though Sex Me instead of Bump and Grind), but embedding was disabled, so we'll have to stay Old School. You were dead on (yes, I'm aware he's dead) that Rick James needs to be on the list. Sadly, the decent videos have had embedding disabled. So, enjoy the music and open another tab and do something else while it plays.


AndyMan had suggested Rod Stewart. Tonight's the Night held some appeal for me back in the day. Rod has really done some morphing in his day, hadn't he? Early rock with Faces, Maggie May, then Disco Rod, and now standards. Dude makes the Rolling Stones look like pikers.


Rod idnit disco enough for you? John suggested the Queen of Disco, Donna Summer.

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Sex Smackdown 2: Jimmy Buffett and Marvin Gaye

Can't decide between a couple of classics. I'll pick one of these. First, Jimmy Buffett "ode to lust", Why Don't We Get Drunk (and Screw).


Let's face it: white people are really just playin' at this sex thing. You want real? How 'bout Marvin Gaye.

Shoot, maybe I'll pick both of those.

Star was recommending some Prince, and frankly, it'd be a travesty leave Prince off of any list of songs involving sex. Or Rick James. Right, Col? Still got a coupla days yet...

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Sex Smackdown 1: James

Aight. My last coupla Smackdowns have not gotten a lot a votes. Some comments -for which I'm grateful- but only a few actual votes. I'm hoping for at least ten votes on this next one. Now, let's see? AndyMan, Chase, John, Star, onest in awhile Kate, and every blue moon, QJ make six. Cool Col from NY has checked in a coupla times. Lynne has gotten in her two cents a few times. Amy's been in Cali of late, but I bet they got computers there. I recognize Tamv131 as one of Kate's regulars who gravitated over once. I'm not sure we can count on my running partner, Sunny (though I know she's lurking). Still, that's ten votes. 'Course, to be on the safe side, I better let people vote twice. Anyway, with this topic, if I can't get ten votes, well, I probably never will. Let's start with James. Then y'all can make some suggestions.

Monday, August 4, 2008

Lightning.

Yesterday at Church the priest used the adage, "The best laid plans of mice and men will often go astray". It always puzzled me. I wondered what kinds of plans mice had, and how would we know of them? I debated with my oldest son, Davis, about whether mice ever had plans. He opined that Douglass Adams had already answered that question in "Life, the Universe, and Everything". Certainly mice had plans, big ones even. I can't speak to rodent dreams, but my own little plans have gone astray. I scuttled my little morning run this a.m. because of lightning. Rain doesn't bug me. See? I'll even give you a rain video to prove it:


Uh, I'm pretty sure that the video about rain, but containing no images of rain, was meant to be ironic. I think. Anyway, no run this morning. Maybe I'll post something about the weekend past. Davis and I played Frisbee all weekend and we saw a funny picture in Church that I determined to capture photographically. 'Cept it appears my camera is again taking a break. I suppose I could steal a picture of a Frisbee, but that wasn't the plan. Ah, what the Hell. There. Happy? Geez.

Saturday, August 2, 2008

Standard Saturday Run.

My running partner, Cathy, journeyed to the Boro for our Saturday run. I packed my camera in my fanny-pack (I know, I know. But how else am I gonna carry the camera?). Started out at the Great Swamp Sanctuary. There are two sections in the Sanctuary, and one of the entrances to the first section is about a block from The Manor. The first section winds about a mile through a wet swamp.
Cat-tails and beaver ponds. I put the camera away to get up a decent head of steam (for us, anyway) for the remainder of the first section.
We slowed a bit for the next section, which is about two miles through a "dry" swamp. This is Cathy by one of the six or seven creek-bed bridges that span the second section.
Little baby reptiles are everywhere. What is this?
Oh, a baby skink.
Coupla sticks on the trail?
Nope, baby snakes.
I'm lichen this!
Where's Waldo?
There he is!
Out of the Sanctuary; into the urban forest. This Crepe Myrtle is draped in the the finest Spanish Moss.
Cathy tells me this is a native poinsetta. Guess I could look it up. Nah, y'all'll tell me if that's inakrit.
Mimosa, anyone?
Kudzu.
A little present for JiIL.