Peak times

I hate it when people make excuses. I also hate it when folks write sneak peak.

It's so dumb, it drives me crazy. When I read it, I have to start humming in order to stay sane.

That's because what they mean is sneak peek. As in, a wee furtive look at. And I'm all, like, don't they know the difference? Don't they care that there is a difference?

This falls into the same category (to my mind) as what appears to be a perpetual confusion between its and it's, your and you're, and loose and lose.

To name only a few language-related idiocies which seem to plague us as a society. Let's not even broach the sensitive subjects of capitalization and punctuation.

Hummmmmmmmm. Hmmm hmmmm.

As for excuses, generally speaking, they be lies.

However.

This is no lie:

I have been sick with a cold which morphed into a mini-bout with bronchitis.

I've certainly felt worse but I've definitely felt better.

I'm well now; thank you. But that's why I have been ignoring my dear readers.

Apologies. For a significant number of days I have been uninspired, unmotivated, and unable to come up with a thought worth sharing.

However.

On the day I awoke suspecting I was coming down with a cold -- but was not yet technically suffering from same -- Erica and I had made plans for a mini-adventure.

An avid runner and nature lover, our baby daughter is always on the lookout for new and interesting places to go where she may experience the outdoors, get some exercise, and memorialize the whole thing with a few pictures.

So it was that she was excited to tell us, several weeks ago when it was still so hot, about discovering the Palmetto Trail and, specifically, a marvelous old bridge, not a thirty-minute drive from where we live.

The Harry Easterling Bridge is where the Palmetto Trail crosses the Broad River in the map dot known as Peak, South Carolina.

When Andrew was home for Thanksgiving, he (my other hyper-outdoorsy child) and Erica kayaked twenty-two miles on the Broad River, paddling right under this bridge.

The HEB is in reality the second bridge in history to span the Broad River at Peak. The first was burned by Confederate soldiers to keep Sherman's Yankee troops from using it in their march to the sea in the late winter of 1865.

The Yankees made it anyway. Bygones.

Eventually the Palmetto Trail will stretch 425 miles across the state of South Carolina -- from the mountains to the same sea Sherman sought.

It is part of the federally-designated Millennium Legacy Trail and, when completed, will be one of only 16 cross-state trails in the country.

If I know Erica, she will want to walk and run the whole thing, if not every such trail within her reach.

She already wants to do the Appalachian Trail -- does she know there are bears? -- and other potentially aggressive ingabees? -- and, someday, I am certain she will participate in the New York City Marathon.

But back to the bridge. An old truss structure, it started out as Norfolk Southern Railroad's clever way of getting freight trains across the Broad River at Peak.

Now it's for hikers and walkers, and for those who love to stand suspended between water and sky, and hear the sounds of a river on its endless way, and watch the clouds and the birds inhabit that sky together.

Due to hip arthritis, I cannot walk far, but Erica knew where to go so that the walking would be minimal.

And I'm thankful she didn't run away from me.

I had Google-Earthed the environs of Peak and found a church ruin almost exactly where I knew we'd be joining the Palmetto Trail: St. Simons Episcopal, a tiny frame structure that has been left to rot.

Erica and I basically live for ruins. We have a list of such that we plan to visit. It's second only to my cemetery list, which eventually will take me to cemeteries from Boston and New York to St. Augustine and New Orleans.

With stops in between, in places like Baltimore and Richmond.

I'll keep you apprised of my progress. Don't hold your breath but do watch this space.

At any rate we visited the little church first, and it was a rare find, and a dream come true for a photographer.

There was even the shell of a long-ago-junked car beside the building. Talk about your extra three points.

It was chilly but not cold, and clear but not too bright. The bridge is stunning and we walked most of it before turning back to our car, and heading for home.

By the time darkness fell on Columbia, I knew I was in for several days of sneezing and coughing. But I didn't care.

I'd gone with my little girl to nature, which we both enjoy so much, and I'd had the privilege of taking lots of pictures that I'd later be able to play with, which is just about my favorite thing to do.

The Lord willing, Peak will see me again, maybe on a different sort of day, when everything will be cast in another kind of light.

I'd like to take Melanie, Allissa, Andrew, and Dagny onto the bridge and watch their amazed little eyes as they watch the river.

When I do, you know I'll share.

And that is all for now.

=0=0=0=

Happy Thursday

Comments

[Barb]

Be still my heart! An old bridge, a crumbling church, and a rusted car - you hit the photographer's lottery! It looks like the beautiful arched windows are still intact. And moss is growing on the wood and the bricks. My oh my - that is quite a find! I'm a tad jealous. I love Erica's goals of running and hiking to see the world. I've been thinking of hiking the Colorado Trail this summer - probably just in segments. However, I haven't broached the subject yet with Bob. I'm not sure he wants me out there alone, camping at night. We'll see. You changed your background to the blog - I like. Glad your cold is better. I try to remember to wash my hands whenever I've been out and about around people. Drat those germs!

[Sally]

I am so sorry you're sick. Bronchitis is awful! And, colds? I often why some refer to a "bad cold", in my opinion they're all bad.

LOVE the photo's. There's just something about old churches, especially the ones left to decay, that have my mind going in lots of different directions wondering what happened. I'm the same about old houses too.

That old cemetery in St. Augustine? While I haven't visited in a quite a while, I've been known to wool gather there over the past years. :)

Get feeling better!

xoxo

[irene]

I'm so glad you are feeling better, and may I say for someone with the oncoming issues of a cold, you did a great job. Love your photos.

[Mari]

You are truly my South Carolina sister! Spelling, and language errors drive me crazy too, especially when they are found in places that should know better - books, newspapers, websites...
I absolutely love ruins and taking photos of them. This church is a real treasure.
Our Nursing home is being overtaken by the cold of 2016. Many residents and staff members have succumbed but I have held out. However, I have a wee sore throat tonight and I am afraid of what may be coming.
Glad you're feeling better!

[Donna (Texas)]

You certainly found lots to photograph! Beautiful shots Miss Jenny!
You can also tell Miss Erica, for me, that there be Sasquatch in them thar forest!
Don't go alone!
Ever!
hughugs

[Erica]

You got great pictures! That was a fun trip.