Ol' Sarge

View Georgetown Photo Walk in a larger map

Okay, here we go.  Here is the official route for the 2012 Georgetown Photowalk 2012 in Georgetown, SC.  

The details: We will be linking up at 9:30a.m. on March 31, 2012, at the Gazebo in front of the Georgetown County Chamber of Commerce building on Front Street (parking is available at the building and surrounding area).  From here, we will start our trek and see some of the following sites: The Cleland House (c. 1737), East Bay and Morgan Parks with their views of Winyah Bay and surrounding marshlands, Winyah Indigo Society Hall (c. 1857), Prince George Episcopal Church (c. 1735) and its cemetery with headstones dating as far back as 1767, The Kaminski House and the Harbor Walk providing a view of Georgetown Harbor, the third oldest seaport in South Carolina. We will finish up at the Rice Museum Clock Tower, then  please feel free to grab lunch and shop along Front Street.

What to bring: Your camera, water, light snack, bug spray, sun block, a bag for all this and comfortable shoes.

If you’re up for it, RSVP me by leaving a comment on this post, message me on G+ or Facebook or email me at ol_sarge_photography@yahoo.com

dachshunds asked: Thanks for your submission! What's your dog's name, so I can keep track of entries?

Funny you should ask.  This doxie is named Kailie, and she is not mine but just a cute dog I took a picture of a couple of weeks ago.  What’s funny about it is: my wife and I went to talk to the owners because we too have a pair of dachshunds, this meeting will more than likely lead to our 3rd doxie.  It seems as though the owner’s other dog gave birth to a litter and they’ll be ready soon.  I thought it was cool how a simple photo led to a friendship and maybe a puppy.

Today, I said goodbye to my Mother with several friends and family in a wonderful little celebration of life.

She asked that Temple Bailey’s poem on motherhood be read after she died.  Here it is:

The young mother set her foot on the path of life.  “Is the way long?” she asked.  And her guide said, “Yes, and the way is hard.  And you will be old before you reach the end of it.  But the end will be better than the beginning.”  But the young mother was happy and she would not believe that anything could be better than those years.  So she played with her children and gathered flowers for them along the way and bathed them in the clear streams; and the sun shone on them and life was good, and the young mother cried, “Nothing will never be lovelier than this.”

Then night came, and storm, and the path was dark and the children shook with fear and cold, and the mother drew them close and covered them with her mantle and the children said, “Oh Mother, we are not afraid, for you are near, and no harm can come,” and the mother said, “This is better than the brightness of day, for I have taught my children courage.”

And the morning came, and there was a hill ahead and the children climbed and grew weary, and the mother was weary, but at all times she said to the children,  “A little patience and we are there.”  So the children climbed and when they reached the top, they said, “We could not have done it without you, Mother.”  And the mother, when she lay down that night, looked up at the stars and said, “This is a better day than the last, for my children have learned fortitude in the face of hardness.  Yesterday I gave them courage, today I have given then strength.”

And with the next day came strange clouds which darkened the earth, clouds of war and hate and evil—and the children groped and stumbled, and the mother said, “Look up.  Lift your eyes to the light.”  And the children looked and saw above the clouds an Everlasting Glory, and it guided them and brought them beyond the darkness.  And that night the mother said,  “This is the best day of all for I have shown my children God.”

And the days went on, and the weeks and the months and the years, and the mother grew old, and she was little and bent.  And her children were tall and strong and walked with courage.  And when the way was rough they lifted her, for she was as light as a feather; and at last they came to a hill, and beyond the hill they could see a shining road and golden gates flung wide.  And the mother said, “I have reached the end of my journey.  And now I know that the end is better than the beginning, for my children can walk alone and their children after them.”  And the children said, “You will always walk with us, Mother, even when you have gone through the gates.”  

And they stood and watched her as she went on alone, and the gates closed after her.  And they said, “We cannot see her, but she is with us still.  A mother like ours is more than a memory.  She is a Living Presence.”

I love you Mom, rest in peace.

Alright.  I have been stewing on this one for a while now.  I am so sick and tired of the “Muslims are all terrorists” and “how dare someone place a mosque near Ground Zero” and “hey! Let’s burn a Qu’ran…that will be a hoot!” 

Let’s do some research before we click the “Like” button.  The Mosque near Ground Zero is 600 feet away or roughly two New York City Blocks.  Did you know that in the time it would take to stroll those two blocks, about 10 minutes, you could drive to the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii from the Arizona Memorial Visitor’s Center?  Why isn’t everyone up in arms and “Flying their Flag” about that?  I know WW2 vets that will not buy a Mitsubishi car because they used to make Zeros, but nobody threatens to burn down Sushi restaurants in protest.  More Americans have died at the hands of the Japanese than all of the Muslim countries combined.  Most Japanese practice Shintoism, Buddhism or both.  Why don’t Christians boycott Japanese places?  These religions do not recognize Jesus or even God Almighty, even the Muslims believe in the same God as Christians.  Now, I don’t have anything personally against Japan or it’s people, it was just a comparison, just as we tried to compare the attack on 9/11 the attack on Pearl Harbor.

When did we as Americans decide that we must always have a villain?  I grew up and joined the Military during the Cold War with the Soviet Union as our sworn enemy.  I never hated the Soviet people, just their Armed Forces.  When the Iron Curtain came down, we had to find someone else to hate.  We tried Latin America and the Drug Lords, but that just wasn’t the same; then came Saddam.  Saddam Hussein, now there was someone we could hate.  Part Hitler, part Stalin, never mind that we helped him during the Iran-Iraq War.  It was our preoccupation with the Middle East that helped create a whole new cast of villains because we just can’t help telling somebody how to run their country.  Funny thing about Arabs and most Muslims, they don’t like to be told what to do.  Now Muslims are the enemy du jour.

What did the Florida group hope to accomplish by burning Qu’rans?  Will the Muslim world see that and say “Whoa!  Those guys really do mean business!  We better leave them alone!”  Someone asked why do they get all upset about this, when we don’t get upset if someone burns a Bible?  Answer: because their culture is defined by their religion.  Just because you don’t understand it, doesn’t make it stupid.

Now let’s play the name game.  What do the following have in common: The Red Brigades, The Irish Republican Army (IRA), Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (Tamil Tigers), Shining Path, The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army (FARC)?  Answer: they are all terrorist groups and surprise! None of them are Mulsims.  So, it is fair to say that not all Muslims are terrorists and not all terrorists are Muslims.

I have friends out there in Cyberspace who fly their flag about the Ground Zero Mosque and burning the Qu’ran in Florida, all the while they forget that there are people that work beside them that are indeed Muslim, and they see this too.  How can you expect to be treated with respect when you spew ignorance and hate toward people you don’t even know or worse people that you DO know. And how can you say you represent the families of people in harm’s way when you jump on the uninformed band wagon and openly insult the very people you are supposed to be looking out for.

There is a reason people hate America, and it’s the same reason we hate them.  We complain that they are small minded and don’t think for themselves and believe whatever they are told and yet we do the same thing: some news organization tells us what they want us to believe and we soak it in without thinking for ourselves.  We use the COIN method in order to ensure others understand that we are not the bad guys.  Then, we post comments that tell everyone how much we hate them.  Confusing?  Maybe we need to apply COIN to ourselves.