Nature's splendor in sky over Columbia this morning.

Flying history

On a Virginia roadside

Ready for the sea

Old boats on the Carolina coast

Old Coast Guard Lifeboat Station, Salvo, Hatteras Island, N.C.

Thanksgiving, 2009

Preston Callison retires -- at age 86!

Preston Callison is a World War II veteran, a former member of the South Carolina General Assembly, a life-long Democrat, and a pioneering attorney in hospital-oriented legal practice in South Carolina.
But most important to me is that he has been my good friend. I was happy to see that Gov. Mark Sanford and others who know about his role in South Carolina's public life, chose to honor him with the Order of the Palmetto. He deserves it, and his inclusion in the roll of Palmetto honorees surely honors them all.

The Wilderness

REST IN PEACE, SAM CLAY

I just found out my dad's World War II crewmate, Sam Clay, died last year. Sam was the flight engineer on a crew of nine on a B-17 Flying Fortress based in Southeast England. They flew 35 missions in 1944. I met him at his home a few years ago in Hammond, Louisiana. It makes me very sad to know he's gone.

Wednesday, August 6, 2008 9:32 AM CDT
Published in the Daily Star, Hammond, La.

Death Notices: Sam Austin Clay Jr., 88, Hammond, died Aug. 3; funeral, 10:30 a.m. today, First United Methodist Church, Hammond; interment, Greenlawn Mausoleum, Hammond; Harry McKneely & Son Funeral Home, Hammond.

Harry McKneely & Son Funeral Home
Sam A Clay Jr. April 16, 1920 - August 3, 2008

Obituary: Sam Austin Clay, Jr., 88 years old of Hammond, LA, died Sunday, August 3, 2008 at the Richard Murphy Hospice House in Hammond, LA.
He was born on Friday, April 16, 1920 in Clarksville, TX. He had been a resident of Hammond since 1965 where he worked as a finance manager for Community State Bank. Prior to living in Hammond he and his family lived in Bogalusa, LA where he was a finance manager at CIT Corporation. He was married to the late Martha LeDuke Clay for 49 years. Sam was a longtime member of the Oak Knoll Country Club and he enjoyed playing golf for many years. Mr. Clay was a member of First United Methodist Church of Hammond and a volunteer with the Mary Bird Cancer Center and Hospice.
Surviving are his daughter and son-in-law, Sherry Clay and Doug Sommers of Ponchatoula, LA; granddaughter, Betsy Compton Corbett of Alpharetta, GA; grandson, Christopher Ducombs of Hammond, LA; 2 brothers, Ted Clay and Guy Clay; 3 great-grandchildren. He is preceded in death by his wife, Martha LeDuke Clay; parents Sam and Bula Parsons Clay and 3 siblings Blanch, Jamie and Dot.
Friends will be received Tuesday, August 5, 2008, at the Harry McKneely & Son Funeral Home, Hammond, LA from 6:00pm until 8:00pm and Wednesday, August 6, 2008, at the First United Methodist Church of Hammond from 9:00am until service time. Services will be held at the First United Methodist Church of Hammond, Wednesday, August 6, 2008 at 10:30am with Rev. Joe Donakey and Rev. John Johns officiating. Interment will follow in the Greenlawn Mausoleum, Hammond, Louisiana. An on-line Guestbook is available at http://www.harrymckneely.com

Pensacola Beach sunset

Growing joblessness, poverty make public education more urgent than ever

Growing joblessness, poverty make public education more urgent than ever

Posted using ShareThis

30th Anniversary for Jim & Elizabeth, with Sarah & Thomas, at Pensacola Beach

Visiting Naval Air Station, Pensacola, 43 years later

I first laid eyes on NAS Pensacola in the late summer of 1966. The United States was fully engaged in a war in Vietnam, and the possibility of having to serve there was real for all of us who were new in the American military. I was assigned to Pensacola after Navy Boot Camp, to attend the best photography school in the country, the basic photography program at NAS Pensacola.

Today, the base has seen its aspiring Navy pilots sent to other bases, and its photography school combined with photography programs of other services in Maryland. The 1939 building that housed the photography school is being renovated to become the base headquarters. The Navy and Air Force jointly train electronic warfare officers here. It is a thriving part of America's defense.

Oh, and the Blue Angels are based here.

The George siblings: Stuart, Elizabeth & Hunter

Chuck Leavell, tree farmer and piano artist extraordinaire

I had a really cool interview with Chuck Leavell today. He's a Georgia tree farmer. He plays piano for Eric Clapton and The Rolling Stones. He's a big advocate for family tree farmers and sustainable practices. He's behind the launch of a new website called the Mother Nature Network. http://www.mnn.com/

Leavell has been visiting senators in Washington to persuade them to treat family tree farmers favorably in the new cap-and-trade legislation that would give farmers tax credits for carbon sequestration. He wants to ensure that the benefits of the new law extend to more than just the big corporate tree growers.

Governor loses loyal staffer amid scandal

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Sawyer to Depart Governor’s Office

Columbia, S.C. – July 17, 2009 – Governor Mark Sanford and his Communications Director Joel Sawyer today announced that Sawyer will be departing the Governor's Office to pursue other opportunities in the private sector, effective Wednesday, August 5.

"It's truly been an honor to serve both Mark and the people of South Carolina for the past six and a half years," Sawyer said. "This has been one of the most difficult decisions I've ever had to make, because I have and will continue to be such an ardent supporter of what this Administration is working to accomplish. I firmly believe that despite recent events, great things to move our state forward can be done during the remaining 18 months of this Administration."

"The public nature of my job might lead some to speculate about my reasons for leaving, but I want to be crystal clear that my departure is purely about what's best for me and my family on a personal and financial level. I wish Mark and the rest of my talented and dedicated colleagues the best."

Gov. Sanford issued the following statement:

"Joel has been a wonderfully devoted and skillful member of our team. The people of our state have benefited greatly from his service, as has this administration , and I sincerely thank him. We will miss him, but I join the rest of the staff in wishing Joel and his young family all the best in their future endeavors," Sanford said.

Gov. Sanford's Cabinet Director, Ben Fox, will take over as Communications Director upon Sawyer's departure.

Patty George, Painter of this wonderful rooster

Scenes from California

A plant I've never seen before, growing on the forest floor at Lassen Peak National Volcanic Park.

First visit to my Martin ancestors, in the deep woods of Fairfield County, SC

On Sunday afternoon, in the pouring rain, Elizabeth and I accompanied Jackie Peden from Fountain Inn and Mark Paden from Hampton County to the old Martin-Aiken cemetery on Jackson Creek Road, in Fairfield County, S.C. We had come to see the graves of our ancestors Robert and Rebeccah Martin, who settled on this land around 1771-1772. They came from County Antrim, Ireland, with many other Scots-Irish Presbyterians seeking freedom and economic opportunity. Rebeccah was buried in her adopted land in 1793. Robert was interred with her in 1811.
Their sons Edward and David served in the partisan militia of Fairfield County. Edward was captured by the Tory militia in 1780 and threatened with hanging. But the partisan forces defeated his captors in a battle at Bratton's farm, and freed Edward.
Edward's sister Rebecca, probably just 4-6 years old when she sailed with her family to America, married my ancestor Alexander Peden, who had arrived in America from Ireland with his family at the age of about 15. They lived in southern Greenville County. Alex also fought in several battles with the Spartan Regiment of partisan militia, including the battle against Tory forces at Musgrove's Mill on the Enoree River.

This photo show me on the left, and Jackie Peden under the umbrella, with the gravestone of Robert Martin between us. Behind us is the grave of David Martin, Robert's son, and also our ancestor through the later marriage of Peden and Martin cousins.

Rest in Peace, Dan Foster, my old friend

Dan Foster died yesterday. He wrote sports columns for The Greenville News for 52 years. He was a good friend who always encouraged me in my career. He set an amazing example with hard work and determination to get a story, with a passion for telling the truth, but with compassion for the impact his story would have on people.

I will miss him.

Wood for winter fires

Excellent article on exploring Roman France

Travel
Roman France
By ELAINE SCIOLINO
Published: May 17, 2009

From amphitheaters and aqueducts to sarcophagi and statuary left behind by the conquerors, a hunt for what was once Gaul reveals traces of Roman civilization throughout the countryside.

http://travel.nytimes.com/2009/05/17/travel/17romfrance.html

I'll be interviewed on YOUR DAY radio show May 14

Your Day radio schedule for week of May 11, 2009

CLEMSON -- The following Your Day radio programs from Clemson University Radio Productions are scheduled to air on South Carolina ETV Radio for the week of May 11, 2009. The program airs from noon to 1:00 p.m., Monday through Thursday. Listeners can call in during a “live” show by using the toll-free phone number: 1-888-539-8859.


THURSDAY, MAY 14, 2009

Water resources and the US Geological Survey. Donna London, director of the Jim Self Center on the Future talks with Chief Hydrologist Dr. Robert Hirsch of the US Geological Survey, who participated in the 2008 SC Water Resources Conference.

Citrus Greening Disease. Peter Kent talks with Dr. Christel Harden, assistant head of the Clemson University Department of Plant Industry about the dangers of citrus greening disease.

A World War II experience. Roy Scott visits with Jim Hammond, author of Tom’s War: Flying with the U.S. Eighth Army Air Force in Europe, 1944.

For more information visit http://yourday.clemson.edu.

Greeting spring

The last frost appears to be history. Tomato plants are in the ground. There's grass to be cut.

It will be nice to see the end of the pollen season, and watch the green leaves grow to maturity.

So much has changed around the family's Greenville County (former) farm. Fresh deer tracks appear in the yard and garden overnight. There were no deer in the area when I was growing up there. We have turkey in the woods. The woods between the house and lake are a wonderful sanctuary for birds and other wildlife.

I planted four Shumard oaks, which are now beginning to put on their spring leaves. There's a little Johnny Appleseed in me; I like planting trees.

Nobody's Offering More Than $50 Million For The Austin-American Statesman

 

Nobody's Offering More Than $50 Million For The Austin-American Statesman

Follow Brad Warthen in his new incarnation

Brad Warthen has long been a voice of healthy scepticism about government and politics in South Carolina through his role as editorial page editor of The State. Now that McClatchy's debt has claim his job as well as those of many other terrific journalists, Brad carries on at this Web site:

http://bradwarthen.com/

Newspapers, Rest in Peace

Rest in Peace:

Rocky Mountain News
Seattle P-I
San Francisco Chronicle
Ann Arbor News

On the Bubble:

Philadelphia Inquirer
Minneapolis Star-Tribune
Detroit Free Press

But some news media are still hiring:

SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT – Washington, DC
Al Jazeera English

Musing with Mr. Poinsett

General Sherman welcomed to Columbia

The television news reader was describing the Civil War re-enactment that took place this weekend in Columbia, South Carolina.

The event was to "honor" Sherman, she said.

Ha!

She's not from around here, I'd bet.

Perhaps a statue of Sherman opposite the one of Gen. Wade Hampton will be next.

Saving the plane

The USAirways pilot who put the plane down in the Hudson River saved it when he lowered the plane's nose to maintain airspeed and keep it from stalling and falling like a rock. Hesitate for even seconds, and he'd never have made it to the river.

At a time when airplane designers are contemplating passenger airplanes without human crews, policy makers had better consider how quick action by this flight crew saved 155 people.

A computer-piloted or "UAV" jetliner would not likely be able to make such a judgment.