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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Ha! I just rediscovered this shot while going through my Relay for Life stock. This couple was great. The shot might seem mundane, but there was definitely some flirting and occasional patting going on.

It’s not fog, it’s smoke! And it’s back?!?!

What gives…this is so weird. It’s not suppose to look like this at 5 p.m. It’s suppose to be clear and delicious. Instead, look at these shots from 526. The first one is looking down the Wando River at the Ravanel Bridge. You can’t see anything but a little bit of Danial Island on the right. It looks like a morning commute in December, not an afternoon rush hour in May. So it goes…

When Spoleto rolls around, I always get a little nostalgic for those days of aimlessly wandering around downtown without a care kid in the world. I saw this shot today while browsing my hard drive and vowed to hit the peninsula for at least one event this year. So, that’s that.

One of the things I enjoyed about Relay was all the activity happening at hours when we would normally be sleeping. Shag dancing, beauty pageants, and boccie ball normally happen during the day - not in the middle of the night.

Despite the countless footballs and Frisbees flying around the infield, it was the volleyball setup that saw the most action. Setup by the Wando High School Student Council, it was open to all and used the entire night. I got some interesting shots, but I really liked this one (also featuring the moon).

3 months ago when I decided to participate in Relay for Life, I had no idea what to expect. The event itself sounded cool, but I mainly focused on raising money. I wanted to do this for my Grandpa, my friend Alan, my uncle John, and my recently diagnosed Dad. I wanted to do this for everyone I knew who had suffered so much at the hands of this awful disease. What I didn’t know was how much fun it would be.

I knew hanging out with work friends would be great, but the event itself was a trip. Considering the Mount Pleasant edition is only in its second year, I was impressed. Between the cross-dressing “Miss Less” pageant and the Office Space-inspired fax machine smashing, it was hard to tell we were at a serious fundraising event. Kilts, night volleyball, kids running everywhere…it was extremely exciting and fun. I’ll post more pics later, but here are some to get started.

I should have focused on the fact that we may have cleared $80,000 $85,000 for the event (Mount Pleasant didn’t even crack $30k last year). I should have focused on the survivors in attendance. I should have focused on all the lives that are affected each year by this nasty beast. But except for the silent luminaries lap at 10 p.m., I mostly tried to have fun. I focused on my friends as we shared cancer-related stories from our own lives and contributed to this amazing event. Is that wrong? I don’t think so.

Graham Russell, 2007.
How high is this ollie? You’ll never really know, will you? (pssst…it’s huge!)

Check out these two shots of Austen Heard at the Mount Pleasant Skatepark. The first was taken two days ago, while the second was taken six months ago. This kid’s been eating his Wheaties for sure.

- April 2007

- October 2006

Jordan Fuller, 2007.
A very fast frontside down the rail at the Mt. Pleasant Skate Park.

Jordan Fuller, 2007.
Nosegrinding like he can’t believe it’s not butter, on a wicked weird winter day.

Some Guy, 2007.
This shot does no justice to how huge and smooth these ollies were.

Some Guy, 2007.
He was going mad huge over the center box at The Park.

Kyle Jackson, 2007.
Some more action over the ever-popular death rail.

Kyle Jackson, 2007.
Bluntslide down the death rail on a Saturday afternoon.

John Ribes, 2007.
Going clean over the rail in Mount Pleasant.