Attending The Lowrys Christmas Parade 2016

Hello Christmas travelers!

Once again yours truly took part in the annual Town of Lowrys Christmas Parade with the members of the Brigadier General Micah Jenkins Camp #1569 Sons of Confederate Veterans, the Ann White Chapter #123 United Daughters of the Confederacy, and the 6th Regiment SC Volunteer Reenactors.

It was reported that over 12,000 people stood along the parade route this year. We passed out over 700 small Dixie Cross banners and over a hundred pounds of candy. 

The Confederate soldier and his battle flag were both recognized and overwhelmingly applauded by all those in attendance. It is always a good feeling to promote the positive display of our shared Southern-Confederate historical heritage whenever and wherever possible.

The following photos were taken by me before and during the event.

Yours truly and members of the Brigadier General Micah Jenkins
Camp #1569 SCV preparing for the parade.

The Confederate 1st National Banner
"Stars & Bars" on display.

Once again I hope you enjoyed this photojournal journey with me. 

Have a Merry Christmas 2016 and, as always, have a wonderful Dixie day, y'all!

Christmas Candlelight Tour At Historic Brattonsville 2016

Greetings and Salutations Y'all!

On Saturday, December 10th, my travels once again took me back to Historic Brattonsville for the annual Christmas Candlelight Tours. This time I traveled with my sister's family -- including my two favorite nephews: Jacob Tyler (J.T.) and Caleab. 

You might remember from last year that I attended the 2015 Christmas Candlelight Tour, the blog post can be seen HERE. 

The annual evening event draws close to 15,000 people a year to Historic Brattonsville over two weekends in early December. It includes food, bonfires, and traditional Christmas music. 

The highlight of course is the candlelight tour itself, an educational recreation by several groups of living history reenactors depicting how Christmas was (and in some cases, was not) kept by pre-Colonial Scots-Irish Presbyterians that settled in the South Carolina Upcountry in the 1700s, then how the practice progressed among area residents on till the mid-1800s and modern-day. 

Here are the photos that I took from the event. Also included in this blog post is a planetary photograph I got of Venus in the early evening sky.

My brother-in-law David, sister Olivia,
& youngest nephew Caleab.

Historic Brattonsville Gift Shop.

Props from the film The Patriot (2000)
filmed largely at Historic Brattonsville.

Venus in the early evening sky over
Historic Brattonsville's Christmas Candlelight Tours.

Yours truly with Tyler & Caleab Morris.
Tyler looks like he is soooo evil here. LOL!

My sister Olivia & Caleab.

As with the previous year, I would like to thanks those volunteers and reenactors who again helped make the 2016 Christmas Candlelight Tours an overwhelming success. I know my nephews loved it, as did my sister and brother-in-law. Tyler especially enjoys learning new things whenever he can, as do I. 

As always, I hope y'all enjoyed this post.

Night Sky Photography - 12-01-2016 - All Of The Inner Planets In Western Sky!

Folks, this evening as the sun set and night began to fall, I managed to get a couple of really great shots, and a really great wide shot of the Waxing Crescent Moon and all of the inner planets in the western sky in the same photo!

The first photo shows Luna in her waxing crescent phase after sunset between Venus above in the evening sky and Mercury below on the horizon chasing the sunset. 

The second photo is a closeup of Mercury on the horizon with Luna overhead. I was most fortunate to capture Mercury while it was still above the trees. It would set entirely twenty minutes later following the sunset. 

Finally the best shot of all -- a great wide-shot of the other three inner planets of the solar system in the western sky over South Carolina, USA on Earth (Terra). Mars is the highest overhead and the farthest from the sun, with Venus above Luna and Mercury on the horizon closest to the sun.

 

The Waxing Crescent Moon will continue to climb higher in the evening twilight -- moving farther each evening from the sunset in its orbit around the Earth. Luna will sweep close to Venus on Friday, December 2nd. By the evening of Sunday, December 4th, Luna will sweep close to Mars. Good weather and planetary viewing conditions permitting, this blogger will endeavor to capture both events over the next few nights.

Night Sky Photography - 11-25-2016 - Luna & Jupiter In Predawn Sky

I woke up fairly early in the morning after Thanksgiving Day to get a great photo through the trees of the pairing of the waning crescent moon and the king planet Jupiter in the predawn sky. The photo was taken about an hour before sunrise at 6:23 AM EST. 

Two days before I stopped over at the South Carolina I-77 Visitors Center in Fort Mill, South Carolina after a trip to Pineville, North Carolina to do some pre-Thanksgiving shopping -- a bad idea given the huge amount of holiday traffic! There I took this photo of the daytime quarter moon. The plane in the shot was coming down for a landing at the nearby Charlotte Douglass International Airport about five miles to the north. The moon was perfectly situated over the flight landing path. 

I hope everyone enjoyed these photos and the US Thanksgiving holiday weekend.