Tag Archives: carolina

Catch Up

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I’ve been out of the loop for about two weeks.  I feel like I’m at a party but not in the gossiping circle.  Ah well, I’ll catch up over the next few days.  I hope that all of you are doing grand.  I’m much better thanks to meds and a peppy attitude.

This evening, I decided to go out on the town and celebrate.  Celebrate what?  Anything, really.   :)

I had to make a quick stop at the store for a few bare essentials.  While in queue with my two items, I caught a glimpse of the woman clerking behind the counter. 

A brunette with tints of gold intermingling with a dark chestnut mane falling to her waist.  Our eyes met, both blue, and a mutual smile overtook our faces.  I chortled and she turned to ring up the person in front of me.

A few moments later, I stepped up to the plate.  She smiled, I smiled and asked how she was doing.  We talked and smiled like two blabbering idiots. 

I kind of got lost in the bright lights and lost track of time.  The bloke behind me cleared his throat and moved to another clerk.

“Three, ninety-nine”

“Really?”  I enquired whilst smiling.

“Yes, really”, she responded whilst laughing.

I pulled out a wad of cash and flipped through the 100’s, 50’s, and 20’s to find a 5 dollar bill.  She watched me intently, as I flipped through the money.  She licked her lips and started making gestures that any idiot could pick up over the age of ten. 

Whilst still grinning from ear to ear, I paid her in full.

“Do you have a girlfriend?”  She asked whilst smiling and leaning over the counter.

“Nope, not at this particular second”, I replied, as I held up my bling bling Swiss watch.  (I’m terrible, I know.)

“Here…Here, let me give you my number”, she said whilst looking around for a pen.

At that particular moment I noticed a wedding band on her ring finger.

With rosy cheeks and the cutest smile, she handed me the number.

“I’m afraid I can’t take this”, I muttered whilst handing it back to her.

“Why not?”  She pleaded, as her smile transformed to a scowl.

“That ring on your finger.”

“Oh that….I’m gettin’ a divorce…he…he treated me like dirt”, she answered whilst fiddling with the plain gold wedding band.

“I’m proud of ya, but as much as I’d like to take you out, I can’t ‘til you at least get separated.”

“Why?”

“It’s called a gentleman’s code of honour.”

“Oh, I like you”, she yelled, as she leaned over within Eskimo kissing distance.

She stuffed her number down my coat pocket, and said, “You’re going to need this".

I looked around to discover an older gentleman behind me motioning and giving me a winking thumbs up.

Most men in these parts wink to show approval.  I never have figured out why.  It’s just one of those southern attributes, I reckon.

Anyhow, I said bye and left.  I went downtown and ran into some old friends and had a blast.  I could not get that chick out of my head though.  Sometimes my code gets in the way. 

Should I have asked her when she got off of work?  Hmm….

Odds are I’d get busted and have a maniac husband chasing me around with a gun.  That’s my father’s job.  I play it cool. 

I over analyse everything.  I wondered while driving downtown whether it was the money, the bling bling, or just me that she liked.  I’m trying to learn to live in the moment.  It’s hard to do for a person who naturally observes the social intricacies of humanity.  I’m workin’ on it though.  :)

New pictures and post coming very soon. 

Camp Greenville Pond

Pet Peeve

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This afternoon I took my daily walk, as I always do.  After a few times around the block, I discovered a older gentleman going door to door with pamphlets.  I watched as he knocked on the doors and either handed the flyer to a neighbour or left it inside the door. 

He encountered me whilst coming back towards the road.  He slowly made his way to me, while wiping the sweat off his brow. 

“Hello, may I hand you a pamphlet?”  He cheerfully asked, as I greeted him and shook his hand.

“What is this about, sir?”  I asked whilst trying to scan the bleached out paper in the mid day sun.

“We’re trying to get the real facts out about what President Bush and John McCain have accomplished while in office”, he answered, as he smiled and continued forward.

“Ah, may I ask if you work for the McCain campaign?”

He stopped in his tracks, turned around, and replied, “No, I volunteer with a local Baptist association”.

“Well, thank you, sir…Try to stay cool in this heat…”, I responded whilst making my way towards the house.

I came in the house and laid the paper down on the desk.  I got busy doing chores and didn’t get around to reading it until about three hours ago. 

It gave legitimate facts about Bush, but what got me was the wording.  It used the words (if you want to call them that) Ya, Y’all, Darn, and Dang throughout it. 

It’s as if whoever wrote it was cogitating, “Welp, them Southerners will never understand real statistics or logical wording, so I’ll just dumb it down for them”.

Southern Americans inside the United States have the stigma of being stupid and  uncivilised.  Unfortunately due to circumstances that I could write a thousand words about, a large portion of Southern people are illiterate.  That does not mean that we are all eejits!  I rail against such notions.

I’m not mad at the man that handed me the flyer, for he was just trying to do his part for the community.  He has a right to his views as do I to mine. 

It is insulting to me and every other civilised Southern American.  Give me facts.  Give me the hard core statistics.  I’d much rather spend an hour going through a well formed report, than I had getting red faced over a thirty second scribble!

There’s one more wee thing that is bugging me.  What is a religious organisation doing dabbling in politics? 

signal

P.S.:  I let my Uncle look it over.  As soon as I get it back, I’ll put it in this post.  :)

XXX – Walk this Way

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After writing the previous post yesterday, I went downtown to walk around and enjoy the lovely river music.  I had to park on the far side of South Main street.  So, I made my way up Main street.  I stopped in a few shops to speak to friends, and continued on my walk up to the top of north Main St.  I live in a very mountainous area.  There’s about a 150 metre elevation difference between the lower part of downtown and the upper part.

Map image

Anyway, I took a few shots along the way up and started back down the other side.  When I reached the City Hall Plaza, I caught the glimpse of a young lady in the crowd approaching me.  I knew the bow in her hair, and the blouse she was donning.  I knew the walk and the fake laugh.  It was my ex girlfriend downtown with another guy.

So, I panicked and slowed to a turtles pace until I could figure out what to do.  “What am I going to say…What am I going to say???”  I cerebrated over and over while trying not to be obvious.  I sped up a wee bit but still didn’t have anything worthy to say.  Something marvellous came over me, and a huge smile overtook my countenance. 

Just before we met in the gang of people, she leaned over and whispered something to him.  I looked straight ahead, as we passed one another.  A huge burst of laughter spilled out of my mouth. I couldn’t restrain it.  I stopped to catch my breath, and her boyfriend (I reckon) spun around and gave me that South Carolina go to hell look.  I smiled and muttered, "Ah, fair play to ya".

Bluegrass on the Reedy

She proceeded to pull out her lipstick and smile.  I can only guess she was hoping to see a fight.  Given her demeanor and the time we spent together, she would’ve loved for two men to fight over her.  What woman wouldn’t?   :)

"What the hell is that supposed to mean", he demanded with nostrils flared.

The strange thing was that I wasn’t mad nor scared.  Of course, he was small boned like me but about six inches shorter. 

Laughingly, I yanked a cigar out of my shirt pocket, tore the wrapping off of it, and proceeded to light it up in front of him.  Then, I said, "What I meant was better you than me, pal".

He turned around and muttered something like, "I aught to kick his ass".

She grabbed him by the hand and they continued walking. 

People were whispering and snickering throughout the plaza.  It was a grand end to a rotten day.  How was your day?

P.S.:  I know that I wasn’t going to post so many personal stories in the future, but I just had to post this one due to the humour of the situation.  I’m quite proud of myself.  I could have decked him without ever uttering a word.  But, she would have liked that.   :)

Water Steps

Let’s Ride

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I have always admired the short film, “C’était un rendez-vous”, by Claude Lelouch.  It is eight minutes of extreme speed through the streets of Paris.  Actually, it took place in 1976.  Some people argue that it was an S-class speeding through the streets, while others say it was a Ferrari.  Regardless of the type of car used, it was a grand short film. 

A few people have asked me countless times about where I live and what the surrounding area looks like.  I reckon they are not happy with the thousands of photos on flickr?

Anyway, I had planned to get up early this morning and record my ascent up into the mountains.  I had hoped to get up before dawn and get to Caesar’s Head during dawning.  The alarm clock didn’t go off due to a brown out, so I didn’t get up until after daybreak. 

Anyway, I did it just to show you all what the roads look like around here.  It would have been a much better video had I woken up!  :)

I may do another one in the morning, when I go downtown to walk.  Hopefully, gootube will not muck it up.

P.S.:  Close to the end, the camcorder went airborne due to me taking a 15mph curve at 25mph.  :)

Long Weekend

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I had a very long weekend at the lake.  I drank too much, swam too much, and danced too much.  All in all, I had a grand break from the constant preparations here.  I’m very energised and beat at the same time!  ;)

UPDATE:  I realise that I was supposed to write a post about the weekend, but alas I have been very busy.  Many apologies.  I’ll be back Wednesday evening with one or two new post.   :)

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