CONTEMPORARY EXPLORER

A soft mist rose from the Savanah River, as I looked out from the Partridge Inn veranda. A warm sweet day lay before me. Such it was on my low and slow trip to Augusta. Augusta is famous for one week a year, The Masters, but remains a working town the rest of the year. A perfect stop on what I have grown to favor, small Cities around a couple hundred thousand population. Ones not spoiled by a manufactured persona. Places with little traffic, the patina of old architecture, local shops, genuinely good cuisine, welcoming people and lots of simple wandering. You don’t have to fly or take freeways to these place. You can take slow back roads instead. Through towns like Chester (the town on the hill), Carlisle (where the trains cross), Newberry (the town Sherman could not bear to burn) and Saluda (the town of river fame).  Broad Street is the heart of Augusta’s historic district. A crossing train might interrupt your walk but you won’t mind. Here are bookstores, a 100 ye...

My camera can never resist the “Parked Art” of aging truck fleets and equipment. The patina of their color and classic lines always draw me. I met Tom Moore while photographing an old truck company lot. The firm was closed, but Tom had stayed on to keep the equipment in order and caretake the yard. Tom is a strong man. Someone who carried a lot of work responsibility on his shoulders.  Work that left him with a legacy formed in working for a small company. This was his church and he had his own relics. As he explained it, the owners loved the business and poured all their life into it. Even though business had ended, they liked to have the old iron around to remember the best of days and the work they did. For Tom, their long time employee, the legacy fell on him to preserve those memories.  Beyond the sheer art of the place, meeting Tom reminded me of opportunities that still remain working for some small companies. They are often overlooked in the gig economy...

I rode the new Blue Line Rail extension just opened in Charlotte. It travels through the not yet fully tamed East side and carries, on its shoulders, the hope of the City’s dense living plan. Here the remnants of industrial sites and forgotten areas of the City stretch before you. The goal is to bring together transportation, living, shopping and work.   All tied together by the light rail.   Like all rides on light rail, you pass things that grab your attention. Three stations cut through a long strip of land where rail yards, graffiti art, construction remains and power lines come together. It called out to be photographed. A few days later, armed with my trusty GPS and maps of the Blue Line, I found my way back to this place with camera in hand. It can be found on the north side of the Blue Line under a rail overpass. No one was there, freeing me to wonder, hear the sounds of the passing trains and to take in views of the City in the distance. The whole ...

The Mall, Tall on my mind. I went to spend, But in the end. The same Mall, Blanks down the hall. The same, In a City of Same. The Mall, Not tall on my mind.

The South is woven with small towns. Each with history, good stories and a couple of mysteries. I find myself drawn to these places because of my roots in a small town. One that I left to find my life in the larger world. I recently traveled to Hamlet NC with my niece Michelle Murphy who knew of it’s history. The town is perhaps best know for the infamous plant fire that killed 25 workers in 1991. Michelle had met some of the survivors when they toured the North East seeking safety reforms for plants. She wanted to see the actual site of the fire, now only marked by a small monument.  Hamlet looked like a town just barely hanging on, with faded buildings and empty storefronts. The most notable feature was the train tracks running north and south. We were both surprised to learn it was the birthplace for the great jazz saxophonist John Coltrane (nicknamed TRANE). I wondered about how much this small place influenced his music and life. At an early age, he took the tra...