Merle Fest continued to amazing on Friday. Performance from The Duhks, The Waybacks, The Greencards, Cadillac Sky, Dierks Bentley and Little Feat kept up the energy left over from Zac Brown Band Thursday night. With an amazing line up of performances, Saturday looks to be very promising.
Times change and seasons come and go. I am coming up on the final few weeks of my college career and while it is a sweet feeling, it also brings a little bit of bitter. I have met numerous people of the past two years who have greatly impacted my life with their words, works and friendships. A few of those friends got together this evening to have a graduation photo shoot and it was a lot of fun. It has been months since I have shot in the studio so it was a nice felling to get back to the cyc wall.
I am uber excited for the upcoming months (mainly marrying the love of my life) but I will miss the friends I have made over the past couple of years as we part ways and begin our careers in a difficult market. I am truly honored and blessed to have known you all, including Kara, Nikki, Rebekah, Heather and Sarah. I wish you all the best of luck and may you stay strong in the future and pursue your dreams.
Thanks guys for all the memories.
- “Steve”
A beautiful couple, Chad & Julie, tied the knot on the 26th of December in Boone, North Carolina. The wedding was very intimate and included only family and close, close friends. It was a lovely wedding and it was very obvious that Chad & Julie are 100% crazy for each other. Below is a sneak peek of some images to come from their wedding.
Her laugh is contagious
So, for those of you not living in the South, we were hit with the biggest snow storm in nearly a decade. Most people lost power and couldn’t get out because of all the snow. I, however, was fortunate enough to be able to get out. Twenty-eight inches of snow is no match for a ‘04 Subaru Forester.
Once the sun went down, and the snow froze over, some friends and I went out to build some igloos and that we did. Not only did we make 2 igloos big enough for a bear, we also built 20 feet of tunneling to connect the two ice homes. It was most impressive.
If you played in the snow, tell us about it. What snow activities did you participate in this past couple of weeks?
Several people may have known this but I am engaged to a wonderful young gal that I have been with for nearly 7 years. My schedue has been super hectic lately and I have been meaning to post images from our engagement session with Carolyn Dyer for a long time now but just haven’t gotten to it yet. Today is that day.
Thanks for waiting. Here is the remainder of the series “Recollection”
We played basketball here.
This actually means I watched people play basketball. I retrieved the ball when someone overshot the goal and the ball would go into the woods. Now, when I say “woods”, I mean the huge briar thicket that was directly behind the goal.
I was the retriever every time.
This rocker-swing-chair-thing always gave me the creeps.
The paint was always peeling off of it in a few places so therefore I was always afraid that if I sat on it, my skin would begin to peel off.
I don’t know where I would have ever gotten that idea from…
This shed by the woods always smelled like moth balls.
I asked my brother once why the shed always smelled weird and he then replied with the obvious answer, “A giant man eating moth lives in there. Don’t go in because he gets really mad, really easily.”
Forget that. There was no way I was about to go into a confined space with a flesh eating, killer mutant moth. I haven’t been in that building for years. I’m sure it’s safe now.
I had my first snake experience next to the trees beside Nanny’s house. That snake peered into my soul with it’s demon eyes and told me that he would make sure that his family would terrorize me for the rest of my years.
Now, I don’t have documentation to prove it but believe me, it happened.
I hate snakes.
When you spend so much of your time in one place, you have to be able to mold, to adapt. This home became my fortress, teepee, castle and bunker. I owe my life to this place and for my grandmother. She helped mold me into the person I am today and I am forever grateful. This home indirectly helped me decide what I want to do with my life.
Over the past month or so, I have been going to my grandmothers home and taking images of things and places that I remember very vividly from when I was young. I was the youngest of 5 grandchildren so of course I was the one that everyone tormented. What is funny is that the places that I have the most memories of are the places where I almost died numerous times. I don’t really recall what led up to these events happening and I don’t really recall what happened afterward but I do remember the moment where I felt the most pain. All I can say is that I’m lucky to have lived these 22 years. The images below won’t really mean much unless I kinda narrate the story. I hope you enjoy.
Below is well-house that is beside of “Nanny’s” home. The lock for the door is of course on the outside which makes for a great prison. My older brother and cousins would invite me to come in and then sprint outside and close the door behind them, locking me in. For hours. At least they brought me chicken nuggets.
On the backside of the well-house was this random pile of wood. I was told to jump in… from the top of the building.
I did it. Numerous times.
Have you ever read Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Pit and Pendulum?” I cringed when I read that poem in High School because it reminded me of the day that my family erected this wonderful tire swing. To assure everyone that the rope would hold, my brother made me lay down underneath the swing. It was of course a fail proof plan.
My grandmothers home was heated by oil. When you would hit the oil drum with a stick, it would make a neat “gong” sound. My brother tried to tell me that the drum would sound like a lion if you rode your bike into it.
I heard no lion.
I don’t post these comments and images to make people feel sorry for me or anything. I post them because I love them. Looking back on everything, I had an amazing childhood that created great relationships with my family members. I would gladly lay under that tire swing any day for them.
Recollection: Part 2 coming soon.