Category: Low Country

8.21.2026 – clearer about sunrise

clearer about sunrise
the sea-bottom lifts itself
towards the surface

The early morning air of the African highlands is of such a tangible coldness and freshness that time after time the same fancy there comes back to you: you are not on earth but in dark deep waters, going ahead along the bottom of the sea.

It is not even certain that you are moving at all, the flows of chilliness against your face may be the deep-sea currents, and your car, like some sluggish electric fish, may be sitting steadily upon the bottom of the Sea, staring in front of her with the glaring eyes of her lamps, and letting the submarine life pass by her.

The stars are so large because they are no real stars but reflections, shimmering upon the surface of the water.

Alongside your path on the sea-bottom, live things, darker than their surroundings, keep on appearing, jumping up and sweeping into the long grass, as crabs and beach-fleas will make their way into the sand.

The light gets clearer, and, about sunrise, the sea-bottom lifts itself towards the surface, a new created island.

Whirls of smells drift quickly past you, fresh rank smells of the olive-bushes, the brine scent of burnt grass, a sudden quelling smell of decay.

From Out of Africa by Karen Blixen (Putnam: London, 1937).

Sunrise over Broad Creek on Hilton Head Island, 8-21-2026

5.31.2026 – is no way one can

is no way one can
anticipate accurately
such wreathing vapors

The clouds were swift-moving, and I made a series of exposures.

There is no way one can anticipate accurately the positions of such wreathing vapors;

one situation appears worthy of an exposure —

and then appears another situation that seems even better.

From El Capitan, Winter Sunrise in Examples : the making of 40 photographs by Ansel Adams (Little, Brown: Boston, 1983).

This are images of a storm front over Port Royal Sound as viewed from Fish Haul Beach on the northern most edge Hilton Head Island on Saturday, May 30, 2026.

The clouds were swift-moving, and I made a series of exposures.

One situation appeared worthy of an exposure.

And then appeared another situation that seemed even better.

There is no way one can anticipate accurately the positions of such wreathing vapors.

And let me saw (and I have said this before) in NO WAY can I or DO I compare or imagine that my shots with an iPhone could be included in any honest discussion of the work of Mr. Adams … but, be that as it may, I am also the guy who edits Shakespeare into my definition of Haiku … so there you are.

But I get the girl in the end so all’s well that ends well.

For some reason, I just discovered the simple majesty of that phrase.

5.19.2026 – a small sailing craft

a small sailing craft
is full of strange promise and
the hint of trouble

If a man must be obsessed by something,

I suppose a boat is as good as anything,

perhaps a bit better than most.

A small sailing craft is not only beautiful,

it is seductive and full of strange promise and the hint of trouble.

EB White in his essay, “The Sea and the Wind That Blows,” (1963; Essays of E. B. White, p. 205)

5.3.2026 – the running water

the running water
home of living fish and
silver of the sun

The mountains stand up around the main street m Harper’s Ferry
Shadows stand around the town, and mist creeps up the flanks of tall
rocks

A terrible push of waters sometime made a cloven way for their flood
here

On the main street the houses huddle, the walls crouch for cover
And yet— up at Hilltop House, or up on Jefferson’s Rock, there are
lookouts.

There are the long curves of the meeting of the Potomac and the
Shenandoah,

There is the running water home of living fish and silver of the sun
The lazy flat rocks spread out browns for green and blue silver to run
over

Mascots of silver circles move around Harper’s Ferry
No wonder John Brown came here to fight and be hanged
No wonder Thomas Jefferson came here to sit with his proud red head
writing notes on the great State of Virginia
Borders hem the town, borders of Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland,
Be absent minded a minute or two and you guess at what state you
are in

Harper’s Ferry is a meeting place of winds and waters, rocks and ranges

Landscapes Including States of the Union by Carl Sandburg as publishing Good Morning America in The Complete Poems of Carl Sandburg (New York: Harcourt Brace, 1950).

Yes I went for the one line, There is the running water home of living fish and silver of the sun, to go with my photograph of Horse Creek on Hilton Head Island.

It is not Harper’s Ferry.

This is Harper’s Ferry with me on Jefferson’s Rock and my brother Eddie standing in front of me.

As Mr. Sandburg writes:

or up on Jefferson’s Rock, there are
lookouts.

No wonder Thomas Jefferson came here to sit with his proud red head
writing notes on the great State of Virginia.

I have to point out that visitiors are no longer allowed to sit of stand on Jefferson’s rock.

Today there are guard rails to protect the rock.

In Jefferson’s day there were no were upright stone post to keep the rock in place.

BUT I DIGRESS.

My photo is of the sun over Horse Creek in the center of Hilton Head Island.

Miles from anywhere and miles from anywhere.

Be absent minded a minute or two and you guess at what state you
are in.