Lowrys Christmas Parade 2017

Hello Y'all!

Well, it's that time of the year again! The 2017 Christmas Parade in the small town of Lowrys, South Carolina. Once again this blogger was in attendance to photograph all of the highlights of this rural community's amazing parade, particularly the float made by friends of mine from the Brig. Gen. Micah Jenkins Camp #1569 Sons of Confederate Veterans. 

To read more about this parade that takes place annually in my own Chester County, please check out the past blog posts on this parade HERE, HERE, and HERE.  

This year marked the 36th year anniversary of the parade and drew close to a whopping 20,000 people attending -- not counting the parade participants themselves, or the hundreds of animals in the parade.

The following are the photos I took from the event, which took place on Saturday, December 16th.

Members of the Brig. Gen. Micah Jenkins Camp #1569
Sons of Confederate Veterans, the Ann White Chapter #123
United Daughters of the Confederacy &
the 6th Regiment SC Reenactors.

The parade begins a few minutes after 1 PM and lasted just over 90 minutes. Several hundred buggies, tractors, carts, floats, and animals took part in the parade.

My cousin Roger Dickey as Jesus.

These loveable goofballs are my Aunt Betty Roden Dickey,
Uncle Jerry Dickey, and cousin, Shannon.

Camp Commander Bucky Sutton passing out some of the 1200
small Confederate stick flags the camp brought.
I am happy to report that every one of them was taken before
the end of the parade.

Well folks, once again I hope that y'all enjoyed taking this journey with me. The annual Town of Lowrys Christmas Parade is always a joy to attend each December. Already looking forward to the next one!

Until then, y'all have a wonderful day and a very Merry Christmas 2017!

Late Afternoon Hike And Sunset At Kings Pinnacle

The peak of King's Pinnacle as seen from the parking lot of
Crowders Mountain State Park near Kings Mountain, NC.

On Friday, December 1st my travels once again took me across the border into North Carolina to Crowders Mountain State Park. 

In a previous blog post last year, I made a fall visit to Crowders Mountain to take pictures of the surrounding countryside from atop the mountain. Those pictures can be seen HERE. 

I arrived late in the afternoon intending to take some great sunset photos from the top of King's Pinnacle, the larger of the two mountains that make up Crowders Mountain State Park. 

At 1,705 feet in elevation King's Pinnacle is named for the unique formation at the summit resembling a king's crown. It towars more than 800 feet above the surrounding landscape.

As I mentioned in my previous blog post, King's Pinnacle and Crowders Mountain are the remains of a much larger mountain range that once existed millions of years ago, and both peaks once marked the boundary between the lands of the Cherokee and Catawba Indians centuries ago. 

In 1917 during World War I, there was an artillery training range near King's Pinnacle called Camp Chronicle, named for Revolutionary War hero Major William Chronicle who died in the battle at nearby Kings Mountain in 1780. The mountain was used as a backdrop for artillery practice. 

I arrived just after three-thirty in the afternoon and checked in at the visitor's center -- which has gone through a few renovations since my last visit.

Artillery shells and relics from the former site of
Camp Chronicle 1917.

Then I began my 2.2 mile hike to the top of the mountain, opting for the less strenuous Turnback Trail. It would be getting dark on the way back down and I wasn't about to try crawling over rocks on the more strenuous trail in low visibility. Even so, the trail to the top is pretty challenging in places. I was covered in swear by the time I reached the top -- it was in the mid-60s but getting cooler as the sun began to set. 

At the top I got some really good shots of the mountain, the surrounding countryside, the sun beginning to set, and a close-up of Charlotte, North Carolina in the distance.

A little bit of a climb at the top.

1,700 feet (900 feet above sea level) at the top of King's
Pinnacle. What a view!

Charlotte, North Carolina through the fog and smog
in the distance.

Got this beautiful shot of the sun beginning to set.

On my way back down the mountain to my car, I got a clear view of the risen Luna in the east. The moon was a couple of days away from becoming the largest Supermoon of the year. I managed to get two really good shots of Luna in the dusk. They came out pretty good I think.

Well folks, I hope y'all enjoyed my travel photos. Sorry about the delay in posting them, I have been dealing with recent losses in my life and those have affected my mood. I plan to catch up on several posts over the next few days. 

Until next time, Have a Wonderful Dixie Day, ya hear?  

This blogger is a proud contributor to the Friends of Crowders Mountain. For more information about Crowders Mountain State Park and how you can help contribute to maintaining the natural beauty of this Appalachian heritage site, please visit the Friends of Crowders Mountain website in the link provided on this blog page.

Night Sky Photography -- 12-04-2017 -- Full Cold Supermoon

Greetings fellow stargazers!

On Monday, December 4th, I took these great shots of the last full moon of 2017. The December full moon is called the Cold Moon, Moon Before Yule, or Long Night Moon in the Northern Hemisphere. It is also the year's one and only full supermoon.
 

The astrologer Richard Nolle is credited with coining the term supermoon and defines it as: "...a new or full moon which occurs with the moon at or near its closest approach to Earth in a given orbit." According to that definition, a supermoon is any new moon or full moon coming closer than 224,936 miles of Earth.

This year's supermoon appears close to the Earth at about 222,443 miles. 

Next month the new year will have two full supermoons on January 2nd and 31st. The first full moon will actually take place during Earth's closest approach to the sun. The latter being a Blue Moon because it is the second of two full moons in one calendar month. Also of note, that supermoon will also stage a total eclipse of the moon in the early morning hours of January 31st in North America. 

This blogger will do his best to get some more outstanding photos of both supermoons in January. Until then, keep looking to the night skies, y'all!

Night Sky Photography -- 11-23-2017 -- Mercury & Saturn At Dusk

Happy Thanksgiving y'all!  

This evening while many folks were just finishing their turkey supper with family and friends, I was outside having recently finished my own Thanksgiving Day celebrations, and looked west after sunset waiting to see the two smallest of the Wanderers toward the western horizon. 

The giant planet Saturn only appears dim in the night sky because of it's great distance from the Earth -- a whopping 792 million miles at the planets closest orbital approach! Despite being the second largest planet in the solar system, from Earth it is the farthest planet that can be seen with the human eye without the aid of a telescope, and appears to be small and dim.

By contrast little Mercury often appears as a small white star low on the horizon just before sunrise and after sunset. Much of the time, this world is lost in the sun’s glare. Right now is good time to catch Mercury, though, because this planet is swinging to its greatest evening elongation, or its greatest angular distance from the setting sun.

Also managed to get a great shot of the waxing crescent moon just before the two planets became visible. A few good sized craters can be seen along the line of the Earth's shadow on Luna's surface. 

Well folks, I hope y'all enjoyed these Thanksgiving Day planetary photographs. Have a wonderful Dixie Day and keep looking to the night skies, y'all! 

Night Sky Photography -- 11-03-2017 -- Late Full Hunter's Moon

Good evening fellow travelers and sky watchers! 

Earlier yesterday evening I caught the November full moon rising over the trees behind my house. 

In the Northern Hemisphere, people call this full moon the Hunter's Full Moon, the name given to the first full moon that follows the Harvest Moon, which if y'all will recall from a previous blog post is the full moon closest to the autumn equinox. This year the Northern Hemisphere's Harvest Moon fell on October 5th, almost 13 days following the September 22 fall equinox, making this a late Hunter's Moon. Incidentally, November 4th is about the latest possible date for a full Hunter's Moon. 

In the Northern Hemisphere, y'all will be able to see the full Hunter's Moon till at least Saturday, November 4th. This year's late Hunter's Moon is the 2nd largest full moon of 2017. The brightness of the full moon however might interfere with those anticipating the South Taurid Meteor Shower -- but don't worry, the official peak of the meteor shower in North America is in late evening on Friday, November 10th this year.

If you are waiting to see the Full Hunter's Moon tonight, be sure to remember that full moons rise in the east at or near the time of sunset. After that the moon rises about 50 minutes later each following day. For those of us in North America, be sure to remember that late evening of Nov 4-5th at 2 AM is the end of Daylight Savings Time, and take that into account. 

Once again I hope y'all enjoyed my photo of the late Full Hunter's Moon of 2017. I will be back soon with more photos of our wandering stars. Till then, keep your eyes to the night skies, y'all.