The snow came, and the snow went. It was that simple, but it helped to make what I’m sure will become one of the most memorable weekends in our family’s story. Charleston’s first snowfall in over 20 years crashed the party on Friday, blowing everyone’s mind in the process (look at that frozen marsh below!) Our kids hadn’t really ever seen snow before, and are still recovering from the madness. On Saturday, Jen performed Serenade with the Charleston Ballet Theatre, which was her first time on stage since 2002 (what a rock star!) Sunday was Valentine’s Day, and Monday was Presidents Day. Seriously, I need another weekend to recover! But hey, what did Ferris Bueller say, “Life moves pretty fast…”

Last weekend, we got to spend some family time together at the studio. The kids always seem right at home on the marley, and I wonder where their feet will take them. Here’s a shot of Zoe and her mom…

We love our resident banana spiders, and each summer we chart their progress as they move around in search of the perfect spot. Back in July, a giant female setup shop in a vast expanse of empty space near the marsh. She built her web about five meters above the ground and is still there as I write this. She attracted 2 males and a female, who together patrolled a giant swatch of our backyard airspace  for the better part of 2 months. I’ll miss her when she runs from the cool temperatures to come, so today I made sure to take a photo of our banana spider of the year.

What problem can’t be solved with social media these days?

Our neighborhood was having trouble communicating, working together, and behaving like a true community, so we turned to Ning.com to help us improve that.

Using Ning it took only minutes to create a full-featured social network complete with groups, discussion forums, an event calendar, blogs, and photo sharing. After a few tweaks, neighbors were invited and The Longpoint Commons was born.

I’ve been working with online communities for years, and Ning has always impressed me with how easy it is for people to use. It seems like everyone who signs up immediately begins to write blog posts, join groups, or just build out their profile. A volunteer brigade, neighborhood crime watch group, and resident meetups appeared right away. It’s clear that social media makes it easier for busy, family-oriented suburbanites to connect. It really does take a village, and technology can make the village really hum.

We always seem to have praying mantises in the yard, which makes me happy. Last night while I was fixing the Sirius antenna, this friendly guy kept checking me out. Eventually, he jumped onto my shirt. I gently set him down, got my camera, and came back out. He then crawled right onto my hand for a few pics – what a trooper.

Previous blog posts about praying mantises living in my yard:

• A Mantis Among Us
• Mister Mantis

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My friend, who has a sweet job at the local NOAA office, sent me this sea level analysis of my house and immediate vicinity. I’ve always wondered exactly how low our property sits, especially when high summer tides roll into our backyard. This color overlay shows elevation, with red being lower, and green being higher.

My house is dead center in the image below, and the elevation of our lot ranges from 4.3 to 6.5 feet above mean sea level.

The boys and I have been spending our late-afternoon grungy time on Wild Horse Island, the uninhabited plot of land just behind our house on Foster Creek. We’ve been busy mapping the terrain, blasting battle droids, cleaning up trash, and generally having a romping good time. With attractions like the Temple of Vines, Lonely Palm Trail, and the uncharted wild interior, I’m wagering our adventures our only beginning. 

Today I had my camera slung over my shoulder, so while the boys were taking on an entire division of droids, I  captured some of the textures on the island. The diversity was amazing for such a small area, yet the palette was noticeably consistent. Here are a few slices from the survey:

We often bring home pieces of bamboo from the large, wild stand near the Sullivan’s Island playground. I recently was able to get a large, fresh, green piece that looked rather interesting next to a dried piece that had split down the middle. Original resolution on Flickr.

During Peter Thum‘s keynote address at the 2008 Conference for Nonprofits, I snuck a few shots from under the North Charleston Performing Arts Center‘s giant red curtain.

The boys and I were wandering around Daniel Island today and bumped into this extremely tame red-shouldered hawk. It looked as big as a red-tailed hawk on-site (around 50 cm), but when I saw the photos I knew otherwise. His long yellow legs were the real giveaway, as well as the rusty breast. It is always a pleasure to see a critter like this up close, especially with my kids…

There was a cool, low-hanging sun hitting these grasses at Palmetto Islands County Park, so we stopped to check them out. I know my son enjoyed the tall crunchy plants as much as I did…you gotta love Fall in the Lowcountry.

Color, color everywhere, so here’s a bradford pear…

Home of the daily, and sometimes nightly, grind.

Here’s something from a few snaps I took of Citadel cadets registering to vote.

Running in for dinner, he stopped for one last squirt skyward.

While I knew there was no tornado, tonight’s hail storm still impressed me. The white wall coming in off the marsh was cinematic, but the real star came seconds later when the hail arrived.

I could tell right away that the chunks were big, and they looked like broken snowballs bouncing into the windows. It made me think about density, and how if this hail was made from rock, every window in my house would be broken.

It lasted a good 10 minutes, so we waited, listened, and suddenly it stopped. Out I went with a bucket for the kids, which is now in our freezer. Cooper ate some, and said it tasted like water.

This was big hail…maybe the biggest I’d seen since I was a kid. It was easy to spot actual golfball-sized hail, but it was melting fast.

Most of the big pieces had a distinct cloudy ball in the middle, about the size of a raisin, which was surrounded by thick, clear ice. This pattern was enhanced as they melted, and they began to look like sliced kiwi.

Here are some pics of the aftermath…

Stars, moon, sun, and jets. Palm tree, cypress, pine, and oak.

I love seeing something new when flipping through old stock. This shot is from the NE corner of the Custom House in downtown Charleston, SC. A low hanging January sun was throwing off some interesting colors.

I have terrible equipment for capturing celestial phenomenon (a 17-40mm), but my not-so-inner geek always pulls me out into the yard. I’ve caught meteors, rainbows, and even the northern lights (rare for SC), and tonight I got two more — a lunar eclipse and a moonbow — only 90 minutes apart.

It was pretty cloudy in Mt. P, so I quickly snapped the moonbow shot at about 7:45 thinking that was that. I caught brief glimpses of the eclipse, and then at 9:15 there was a relatively clear patch. I took a few shots with my wide angle gear, but focusing was nearly impossible. Still, the moment was captured, and along with the moonbow record a wild 90 minutes up there.

As a skater, I never stop analyzing every curb, planter, ditch, gap, and set of stairs for potential skatability – even if most of these tempting street obstacles would send me back to the hospital for sure (I’ll stick to the parks, thank you).

Anyway, because I can’t stop gawking at these urban artifacts, they really stand out over time. Waxed curbs, scuffed walls, chipped paint on hand rails – it’s like Luminol on carnage to me.

So when Coop and I walked up the East side of the Ravenel a few weeks ago, I noticed that almost every skateable feature had been hit. The benches have been ground, and the cable anchors have been carved. Definitely an interesting setting for a session, and I imagine the photos were even better.

And seriously, I swear I’m not obsessed with this bridge or anything…really. I’ll post about other stuff soon, I promise!

I hope all you late risers didn’t miss the show this morning! Commuting over the bridges providing amazing views of the thick layer of fog that had settled over the rivers and marshes. I crossed the Wando bridge around 8 a.m. this morning, and snapped two quick shots.

The first one is looking Southwest down the Wando, towards the Ravenel Bridge. From left to right you can see the Channel 2 broadcast tower, both towers of the bridge, the cranes from the downtown port, and finally a couple of the MUSC buildings on the far right.

This second shot is looking Northeast up the Wando, and seeing nothing but white. The fog seemed to be way thicker up that way, and it reminded my of flying over cloud cover – nothing was penetrating it.

Well, we made it through another one.  Here are a couple shots from today’s excursion downtown.

The East Tower:

The Customs House:

North Charleston Coliseum, North Charleston, SC, 2007.

The strangest thing about wandering around an empty coliseum is the feeling that there could be any number of people watching your every move. Like from a skybox or tunnel…or some creepy dude sitting up on the nosebleed section. I snapped a quick photo and bolted before something went down…after all, I was in the nation’s 7th Most Dangerous City.

I snapped some shots with the family cam out on IOP on Friday night. The whole area between 3rd Street and Breach Inlet is eroding, and there are crazy formations and wave action – I couldn’t resist. We were there at sunset, and an area the size of a football field had angled waves moving in both directions…wild stuff. Here is a shot of a cool pock-marked area up near the high tide line.

Last night as the Riverdogs were playing Hickory, I commented to my friend Josh that our seats seemed to be in good foul ball territory. Mid-way down the third base line, just past the covered pavilion.

Then just as our boys were cracking open juice boxes, it happened – A crack and the ball was coming our way. It took a hard bounce down low, then landed three rows in front of us. Everyone kind of froze.

I made my move, and before I knew it the ball was in my hand. I instinctively raised my fist high with its trophy, and my crew howled.

I gave it to the boys, and realized after 34 years, I finally had my first foul ball.

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