Memories of a Princess

 

Princess Tawnee Nicole

07/27/1996-08/02/2009

 

Today at 2:17 p.m. we lost the Princes Tawnee Nicole to cushings and a heart murmur. After a normal morning of barking at a golden and feeding the squirrels she began to have problems breathing and after an hour on oxygen at the Emergency Vet she crossed to the Rainbow Bridge.

She was a wonderful dog, wanting to be with us every minute and always wanting all of us in the same room. 

What a great little traveler she was, always ready for the next vacation. She recognized the La Quinta sign and loved to stay in a motel and ride elevators. It was all I could to to control her when we went down the hall and people had set out room service dishes. 

Savannah was her city, River Street her favorite walk. She especially loved the hard luck folks, “bums” as I say, she would always want to visit them. Once a group of young hobos were there hanging out and they really connected, maybe she was something from home they missed. As we walked away Peggy said,”that girls hands were dirtier  than Tawnee’s feet”. They were heading to New Orleans and we often wondered if they made it and survived Katerina. 

Benches, she loved to bench sit and would watch people for hours on River Street or in Charleston or on St. Simon’s Island, her three favorite places. They will never be the same to me.

On our first visit we were in Bonventure Cemetery and heard a car horn blowing-it was ours, Tawn just a pup was standing with her paws on the steering wheel and her weight caused the horn to blow, then she would back off and start the process all over again. At least there weren’t many others there! 

On another trip as we rounded the block that the “Midnight” house was one a wedding was taking place at the synagogue  across the square. Almost blocking the street was a horse and carriage and as we squeezed by the horse turned and stuck his head in the window, shocking all of us. At least she didn’t bark! 

Through the years she got hundreds of toys but her favorite was always her old tennis ball. With her heart problems we weren’t supposed to allow her to be so active but she still wanted to play and when you barely rolled the back she gave you her “look”  like why don’t you throw it? Once we left it at her granny’s house in Va and she hunted and hunted so we called and granny mailed her the ball, but it was HER ball and she knew it so it was boycotted until our next trip up and we found HER ball. It still is here on the floor in front of the TV.

No Paddle

Well a last minute work schedule has cancelled my planned morning paddle from Peachtree to Enterprise in celebration of my birthday. Also missed my bike ride yesterday so my goal of reaching 500 miles and 75 rides by today is gone.

Paddle at Hwy 9

Paddle 6

06/29/09

HB Spokes at Hwy9, Chris Anderson Landing

6:30 p.m.

90˚ hot in the sun, but nice in shade
flat smooth water

N 33˚54.687′

W 078˚42.872′

2.14 miles

Max 4.4 mph

Moving Avg 1.8 mph

Moving Tine 1 hr 12 min

Stopped 21 min 39 sec

A couple of years ago during the drought I came to this landing for photos to illustrate the drought. A walk down stream revealed a river that you could cross without getting wet at the power line crossing. Another visit after rains and the river was looking like a river again, but I never paddled here until today.

After completing projects at home I decided a late afternoon paddle would be a good change of pace and might provide some really nice light. Right on both accounts!

Plenty of water in the river today, maybe even flooding a bit, but smooth and I had the place to myself.

Paddled down past the power lines where a man fished from the bank, it was hard to believe how low it had once been at this spot. Today it was so hight that it covered the ground that usually separates the river from the swamp. Around a bend and then as I looked back into the swamp, the high water seemed to be the perfect time to explore the swamp back toward Hwy 9.

This was a very good decision, with beautiful scenes unfolding and the wonderful evening light adding drama and texture. Included the power lines in several shots because they are now a part of the landscape and they provide the birds with additional perches as they flew around the swamp. And sometimes it is fun to try and take an ugly element and work it into an interesting photo.

As an osprey watched from high above I continued my exploration of the Waccamaw Swamp all the way back to the road, then I let the slow current carry the Roxo Paz where ever it wanted to, with only an occasional steering correction, photographing all along the way.

I paddled back up the river past the landing and under the highway to view H.B. Spokes, a biker bar, from the river, where it looks much larger than it does from the road. Across from the bar on a wooded island was a cabin that I had never noticed from the highway. Looked like a good place for snakes to live and I expect it gets flooded quite often.

A beautiful intense blast to red evening sun light created red bands on the trees and I struggled to position the Roxo Paz for a photo and hoped my guess exposure would be close. I am very pleased with the photo, even if the light looks like painted stripes on the trees.

The sun was dropping fast and as I headed back a cool sunburst came through a window in Spokes, one final surprise to end the day.

I can’t wait to return here and explore more of the river.

___________________________________________

Blue Trail Inaugural Paddle

Waccamaw River Blue Trails Inaugural Paddle

06/20/09

Conway Marina, north on Waccamaw

N 33k49.758′

W079˚02.669′

90˚ very hot day, but good breeze

3.20 miles

Max 4.7 mph

Moving Avg 2,4 mph

Moving Tine 1 hr 20 min

Stopped 29 min 13 sec

Last to leave marina after having to wait for a bass boat to load, so had to paddle hard to catchup, not what I wanted to do on such a hot day and against the current.

Interesting to see the Carolina Southern RR bridge from the kayak, would like to have seen a train pass over.

When I caught up with the group, Christine Ellis and Matt Rice had found a great spot of shade to view the line of kayaks along the river. Matt took a swim and used his Flip to shoot a video with Christine. A overhanging branch made the perfect frame for photos and I nestled the bow of the Roxo Paz into the folds of a cypress stump and shot away.

Paddling up to shoot returning paddlers face on I found it impossible to keep the Roxo Paz pointed straight to compose the images I really wanted with the current dragging me around unless I was actually keeping motion with the paddle. The joy of kayak photography!

Staying behind to shot I again found myself alone on the river after paddling over to inspect the burned wreck of an old 40-50 foot wooden cabin cruiser, with refrigerator and water heater still visible. Hamp Shuping told me later the boat was abandoned and was actually sitting on the bottom when vandals set it on fire. He likes the recently passed law that allows for easy removal of abandoned boats in South Carolina waters. The peeled paint did make for really cool photos in perfect light. I like the B&W conversion, that will end up on my wall.

It so different, people who are paddling to get someplace and my goal of enjoying the paddle, the water, the light, but when everything comes together visually the photography takes over, if I don’t get around the next bend on this trip that’s OK. My advice is if you are paddling to make time don’t take a photographer along, especially me!

Because I had a long hot night of work ahead at the speedway, I got into a good pace heading back until I spotted the bright red Cow-itch trumpet vine on the bank. Worth the stop, but I would liked it if bees had been visiting the red flowers, but it was worth the stop. Don’t know how I missed it on the way up.

Fun to see another section of the river.

Smooth Waccamaw Paddle

Headed out from Enterprise Landing just as sun rose this morning. Went straight up Enterprise Creek enjoying water smooth as glass with no wind or current. About halfway up I spotted some nicely lighted Swamp Rose, with large bumble bees working them. Used my newly learned draw stroke to position the Roxo Paz for the photos.  Just as I reached the Waccamaw River at Red Marker 2 I spotted an Osprey keeping an eye on things from a branch next to it’s massive nest. 

The sound of an outboard broke the silence of the morning and soon the wake created wonderful, interesting abstract reflections from Red Marker 2, the blue sky and the bright green foliage. 

Paddling north I spotted a little creek I had never explored and headed in, enjoying the full water of high tide for my adventure. A very beautiful paddle, I never found bottom and continued until a fallen tree blocked the channel. I think this was close to the end, at least it looked that way on the Topo map on my Garmin GPS. Yes I never travel without all the toys.

Spotted my first Spider lilly of the season and plan on returning Wednesday to look for a more photogenic example.

On the way back I first  heard and then saw, briefly one of the largest woodpeckers I’ve ever seen. It sounded like drumming in the woods, tried to imagine what this sounded like a couple hundred years ago as these waters were explored. I am also amazed at how much cooler birds that I see everyday in my backyard look even more beautiful in the swamp along the river. A Bluebird and a Cardinal along with what I think were some finch all just looked more vivid in the wild. The Bluebird didn’t stick around long enough for a photo.

After a very enjoyable paddle and photo shoot I was hustling the Roxo Paz back down Enterprise Creek when I hit something, probably a submerged piece of wood, so hard it lifted the bow and made quite a thud. OK, I’m pretending it was an alligator, that makes a better story!

300 Miles

Today I passed the 300 mile mark riding my bike for the year. So much progress since barely being able to pedal around the block in January. Really enjoying my time on the bike, excerise in the outdoors is always better, even the 26˚ day in January.     The numbers: 46 rides 303.12 miles Average speed 10.99 mph Riding time 27:14:15 slate0@yahoo.com

Blue Trails

2.32 mi. 2 mph Tuesday I had the pleasure of a two mile paddle along the Waccamaw River with Staci Williams, the Blue Trails Organizer along with Matt Rice and Brooks Yelton of American Rivers.    It was a perfect sunny, 75˚ no humidity day on the river, would have loved to have spent more time exploring, but, that will have to wait. Staci will be mapping a trail along the river from the state line to Winyah Bay and working to secure throw-ins and camping spots along the way. It’s much more difficult shooting another person kayak to kayak than my usual scenics! At least when shooting scenics only the camera is moving, add camera and subject moving much more of a challenge! Hoping this will lead to me finally getting to paddle the entire Waccamaw, which I will document in this blog.

Staci Williams, the Waccamaw River Blue Trails Organizer on the river south of Conway. 05/12/09 Photo by Charles Slate

Self portrait in Conway Marina after a paddle with Staci Williams. 05/12/09 Photo by Charles Slate

The Cypress and other trees were still sporting the bright greens of spring as we paddled the Waccamaw south of Conway. 05/12/09 Photo by Charles Slate

Paddling the Waccamaw and Peachtree Lake

04/30/09
Peachtree Landing
N33˚41.673′
W079˚02.901″

62˚ foggy/smoke from Hwy 31 fire
3.69 mi,
Max 4.4 mph
moving avg 2.1
Overall avg 1.4
Moving time 1:45
Stopped 0:49:31

Peachtree to Waccamaw River, where I saw what I believe to be an otter, then north a ways, turned off to the west into a creek that wound back south, going to fully explore at a later date. Nice photo opt of two ducks sitting on a log. Lost GPS contact in the woods.

Meet a man in a fishing boat, wanted to know how far down the creek I went and why I didn’t fish, “never had any luck was my reply”.

Photography is a lot like fishing, I make a bunch of casts (218 frames today) and had several “keepers” at the end of the day. Nothing to gut, though!

17 frames were totally useless–mostly focus, movement–part of kayak life in the low light of early morning, of the 201 remaining, I selected 35 finalists, then 27 were good enough to work and post on Flicker.

Back to to Peachtree Lake stopping to shoot lilly pads at the Red marker 4. Brisk paddle up the lake, still waiting for the sun to burn off the morning fog/smoke from the Hwy 31 fire.
Shot a Snowy egret fishing in the reeds, before a Great blue heron ran it off, then breakfast in the middle of the lake (water and a Nurit-grain bar) slowly drifting with the falling tide.

Tawnee gets wheels

The Princess Tawnee Nicole has been on the sidelines lately, since her vet said walking should be limited due to her heart problems. She has missed walks and seeing her friends, especially, Mikey. Some we searched and found a pet stroller by Solvit that can be pushed or towed behind a bicycle. Yesterday it arrived and we used some treats to bribe her inside. We had put her cool bed and a blanket inside so she settled in quickly and off we went. She really enjoyed the ride and we went all the way down to the lake at Wisteria, Mikey wasn’t out, but she really settled in and enjoyed the ride. We’re going to continue with pushing her and add the bicycle tow in a week or so. Already wishing I had bought a second hitch for Peggy’s bike.

Back in the Water!

The first paddle of the season, and my first in many months was great. The weather was great, OK the wind was 10-20 and the full moon tide was racing up the waterway. I think it would have carried me NC with only strokes to steer if I wanted. But distance wasn’t the objective, just getting the Roxo Paz back in the water and paddling again was all I wanted.  A quick paddle across the ICW and then into one of my favorite coves, less wind but the tide was still strong. I came to a small branch, I had tried to enter before, but then the tide was falling and I didn’t want to get stuck in what looked like great alligator habitat. But with the tide very high and still rising, I ventured in. Of course on this first warm day I figured the gators were still asleep. The tide carried me along making it difficult to stop and shoot photos and some trees were draped with bright green Spanish moss,  compelling subject matter. So I paddled in reverse a lot trying to steady for some shots. Hearing a beep I picked up my GPS and it said “satelite reception lost”! Finally my way was blocked by a fallen tree and it was time to turn around, at least with the high water there was plenty of room. 

The trip out featured beautiful backlight streaming through the cypress and tupelo reflecting off the dark water. I paddled back toward the waterway and sunning on a bleached log resembling an alligator was a large yellow slider, who uncharacteristically didn’t disappear into the water, I paddled closer, zoomed  to the max, shot a couple of frames and the let the tide  carry me away, I figured the slider deserved to sun in peace after the long winter. 

With the camera batteries on low, I headed back to Enterprise Landing after a very satisfying morning on the water.

Well, I didn’t see a gator where I expected to, but on my evening bicycle ride, there in the sunset light a large 7-8 foot gator floated in a pond just down from the house. The only camera I had was my phone so I walked over to the bank and the gator was moving my way at a good clip when I realized he was stalking a turtle. The chase continued almost up to the bank, then the turtle sank out of sight. The gator stopped and after a bit with nothing happening I returned to finish my ride. I don’t know if the gator had dinner or not.

Mondays can be great when they are your day off and you have a paddle and a bike ride. And burgers on the grill in between!