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This is my first attempt at live blogging. You would think after 20 years of blogging I would’ve done this at least once. Now live blogging is now passé, but I’m gonna do it anyway. I’m using voice...
View ArticleFrom Sparkleberry to Packs Landing
Some days are just absolutely perfect for paddling. This past Saturday was one of them. It was a Second Saturday, which meant a trip with Lowcountry Unfiltered. This particular Saturday we would be...
View ArticleReturn to Newry
Several weeks ago I did a solo kayaking trip from Lawrence Bridge on Lake Hartwell up to the mill village of Newry. I’d done this trip before back in 2010, but thought it was high time I made a return....
View ArticlePaddling with Cicadas Below Hartwell Dam
Thursday was going to be a spectacular day and I was bound and determined to take advantage of it. I ran through my list of local paddling venues trying to decide where to go. I settled on a new place...
View ArticleTwenty Years of Random Connections!
My, how time flies. On May 14, 2004, RandomConnections first came online. 20 years and nearly 3000 posts later, and the site is still going strong. I know I’ve said this before on other anniversaries...
View ArticleA Farewell Reunion for Jack’s Pickin’ Parlor
This past Sunday I was privileged to attend the Farewell Reunion of Jack’s Pickin’ Parlor at the Belton Depot in Belton, South Carolina. For fifteen years Jack Ellenburg provided a place for musicians...
View ArticleDisrupted Paradise at Lake Glenville
Lake Glenville, north of Cashiers, North Carolina, has intrigued me every time I’ve driven past it, always on the way to someplace else. I really wanted to get on the water and I really wanted to...
View ArticleSea Shanties at 13 Stripes
Last week I learned that 13 Stripes in the old Southern Bleachery at Taylors Mill was hosting a sea shanty sing-along. I’ve been wanting to do one of these for a long time. I had even thought about...
View ArticleLiving It Up at the Pickens Flea Market
It seems like our numbers at the Pickens Flea Market Musician’s Circle have been getting smaller and smaller. We’ve lost some of our players to old age and illness. I looked back at some of the photos...
View ArticleSaluda River from Hunt’s Bridge to Farr’s Bridge
I’ve been wanting to get on the water as much as possible. Greg Springsteen had told me about a new outfitter group that rents kayaks and runs a shuttles on a specific section of the Saluda River. This...
View ArticleDad at 100
Today, August 3, 2024, would have been my father’s 100th birthday. He was born August 3, 1924. Dad died on November 3, 2011 at the age of 88, and I have missed him just about every day since then. It...
View ArticleA Legacy of Faith
Five years ago I went down a rabbit hole. I started obsessing about the architect of McCarter Presbyterian Church, where I had served as music director for a number of years. I wrote about my research...
View ArticleLooking for a Match
This story starts back last winter. It was a cold Wednesday morning at the Pickens Flea Market and we really wanted to get a fire going in Ralph Perry’s ancient 1902 vintage stove. The problem was that...
View ArticleBluegrass at Fireforge
For well over a year now I’ve been playing in a Bluegrass jam at Fireforge Crafted Beer in downtown Greenville. The jam is hosted by Matt Puriton and Sam Kruer and features some amazing musicians from...
View ArticleCatfished at a Family Reunion
…or, rather, catfished AFTER a family reunion. Most of my ancestors have stayed right here in South Carolina and lived within a couple of hours drive of where I now live. That makes genealogy a bit...
View ArticlePaddling Keowee on a Busy Saturday
It seems that my paddling group, Lowcountry Unfiltered, has fallen apart. We’ve all been pulled in different directions and Second Saturday trips are no longer a given. There’s another Facebook...
View ArticleGoing to Helene and (almost) Back
We knew there was a storm coming. We had charged up all of our devices and power blocks knowing that we would lose power. We had stocked up on a few things that we could cook easily on a camp stove. We...
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