These delicate purple flowers were blooming under a tree along a path to a nature trail. There is an abandoned house nearby so these could be a remnant of long ago garden.
The sun was just coming onto this patch and the blooms were in various stages of opening.
This one had spread a dusting of pollen.
Here’s a wider view with more of the foliage.
Leaving Lodge Pond at Donnelley Wildlife Mangement Area feels like stepping into a mysterious world.
January 25, 2020
Ted spotted them when I was driving and of course yelled “stop!” He got out of the car but I could not–it wasn’t a safe place to pull over plus I didn’t want to spook the pigs.
It was almost sunset with the sun was already down below the trees. I got a few images out the car window at a bad angle, in between watching out for cars running up behind us.
I was amazed how jet black this last little fellow was.
I expect Ted will have a variety of pictures and maybe a better story to tell.
The gates of rice field trunk, which controls the flow water from the Ashley River into the pond to the left, is surrounded by a yellow and gold fall glow.
November 27, 2019
We had frost Sunday and Monday night so I was surprised to see a Gulf Fritillary out and about today.
It was warmer, but windy, and he was working hard to stay on the flowers at the top of the Lantana.
Hurricane Dorian blew by Charleston at the beginning of September leaving some destruction in its wake.
Some old trees at Magnolia Cemetery could not stand up to the wind this time.
Some that weren’t so old took a fall, too.
September 26, 2019, Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, SC
I spotted the metal cupola and wind vane through the branches of one of the huge Live Oaks that line the entrance to the Magnolia Plantation property.
I backed up and found a spot that framed the house with the tree, which is many hundreds of years old.
Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, Charleston, SC
The sunset was a bust but the afterglow was pretty.
October 17, 2019
There was a lot of activity to be seen on a late afternoon boat ride into the Harbor River from Russ Point on Hunting Island, SC even as the day came to an end.
From the beach near the dock a fisherman was casting into the river.
A Bald Eagle watched over the river and surrounding marsh from a dead tree.
A pod of Dolphins was all around us as we set out, probably fishing for the last meal of the day.
Off in the distance it was raining.
The Harbor River is at the southern end of the Ashepoo-Combahee-Edisto (ACE) Basin National Estuarine Research Reserve.
The Reserve’s 99,308 acres of pine and hardwood upland, oyster reef, forested wetland, barrier islands, cypress swamp, and tidal marsh combine to make this one of the largest undeveloped estuaries on the East Coast and home to many endangered species.
South Carolina is dotted with ruins of churches and other historical buildings. Fire, at the hands of an enemy during war or by accident, was a common culprit. Sometimes they were ravaged to use building materials elsewhere.
Old Sheldon Church Ruins
The Old Sheldon Church in Beaufort County was originally built around 1750.
The owners of the property have recently added a fence to keep visitors out of the ruin for safety purposes and hopefully from taking souvenirs. Oddly, to me, this has become a popular spot for wedding and other portrait photographs.
The giant Live Oaks surrounding the property lend to the feeling of times gone by.
