Happy New Year!

Folly Beach, S.C.

What have I been up to in this year that has rushed by so fast?

My incredible team of healthcare volunteers served over 80,000 hours in 2009. Impressive!
My SCRUBS health career camps have been duplicated in at least three other hospitals this year.
My team raised $70,000 for the American Heart Association mostly with our Men in Red and fun pranks.
I took 700 people to the Lowcountry Heart Walk
Visited my daughter in Portland and went on a road trip down to the California Redwoods.
Won "Best Local Interest Blog" by the Charleston City Paper. Fun! Taught two blogging for seniors classes.
Started Charleston Daily Photo and had over 110,000 hits in the first year.
Presented at a National Conference in Phoenix, Arizona. Ain't I one of the big kids?!
A number of young people coming through me were hired into permanent positions at the hospital. Happy me.
Bought and paid off a sweet little car. Mine, mine, all mine!
Was featured in a hospital commercial checking out my tv husband's rash. Added "rash wife" to my resume.
Posed for a story on White Haired Warriors for Charlie. Why me? :)
Was invited to be a dinner guest for an article on Chef Sean Brock in Charleston Magazine. Unbelievable foodie fun!
Raised money for a water purification treatment system for a little mission hospital in Kenya and went to document it!
Sent boxes of books, sponsored purchase of a tv/dvd player for the Plateau Girls School in Kenya.
Helped raise $3,200 to renovate the maternity department in Plateau Mission Hospital.
Wrote winning nominations for recognition of my volunteers.
Made wonderful new friends. Behaved enough to keep my job. Kept walking almost every day!
Picture these ones in small print: Did not sell my house. Gained weight. Attended too many funerals. Whatcha gonna do?!

One big difference is the number of lovely emails and comments I've been getting. I can't thank you all enough. I am recognized everywhere I go now which blows a shy gal's mind.

No worries - I won't run out of Charleston and lowcountry pictures anytime soon. Let me know if there is something special you would like to see and holler at me as I go by. Happy New Year to you all and thank you for your friendship.

Guess What SC Town?

Where in the world, SC?

Today's game, and one I have enough pictures to do for a while, is to see if anyone can guess what small South Carolina town this scene is from. Anyone know?

I love this limbo week between Christmas and New Year's. No meetings, few phone calls. It's almost worth going to work just to enjoy it. My voice mail light wasn't on this morning. I dumped piles of paper in the shredder. I haven't exactly cleaned my desk but I do know this - it is brown under there.

It's almost New Year's Eve kids, whatcha got cookin'? I am going with a gaggle of women friends to early dinner at McCrady's where I know we will be spoiled. We might have one cancellation if anyone wants to join us. Some of the ladies are sneaking out with us and then arriving back home to bring in the New Year with their husbands.

Wednesday Funny

King St., Charleston, S.C.

This morning's smile is courtesy of Misscellania:

After discovering her young daughter playing doctor with the neighbor's boy, the angry mother grabbed the boy by the ear and dragged him to his house and confronted his mother.

"It's only natural for young boys and girls to explore their sexuality by playing doctor at their age," the neighbor said.

"Sexuality my ass!" The mother yelled. "He took out her appendix!"

First Wives Club

Hmmmm. My daughter took this picture of me on the west coast this year. Honestly now, check out my hair, am I starting to look like a Mormon first wife from the Big Love polygamy show? If I started teasing it just a bit.....

Heheh.

It's cold, it's dark. I need to go for a cold, dark walk.

I have lived, and I mattered

Francis Beidler Forest, S.C.

I've squeezed hands in too many hospital rooms and attended too many funerals this past week. Yesterday afternoon I watched my friend Donna be strong while she said goodbye to her husband Shane - just 44 years of age. It's been a sad Christmas for too many and I pray they find the strength they need.

I sat in Stuhr's Funeral Home among rows of friends from our hospital family and while we waited we planned our own funerals and promised to attend to each others outrageous demands - except for Gene Glave's. I don't even have a bridesmaids gown to wear to a funeral but if that is how she wants it, we will definitely need a photographer and that will be my role.

Amplesanity celebrated her birthday this week and I always enjoy her way with words. She posted this entry today:

An online article once asked, "What have you done with your life?" My response was, in part and as closely as I can recall: "I have given birth to people and ideas and dreams. I have written and spoken. I have made people think and pissed people off. I have loved and been loved. I have been good and bad and everything in between. I have failed and succeeded. I have cried and wailed and survived. I have traveled to the end of the universe and back again using the horse-cart called imagination. I have lived."

Then she wrote of speaking out loud the name of the person who passed away:

When someone dies, he or she deserves to have his or her name spoken aloud. To speak a name out loud allows the dead an opportunity to say, "I have lived, and I mattered." To speak a name out loud allows the living a moment to acknowledge and mourn all that is lost by a passing.

Shane Blew Father, Ironworker, beloved husband of my sweet friend Donna. He lived, and he mattered.

Testing, testing......

Joan's Charleston 2009 from Joan Perry on Vimeo.

Testing Proshow Gold. Let me know if it works. It's okay on my PC and unbearably jumpy on my laptop. Now I have to learn how to soft fade, pan across the photo and do all the romantic scenery stuff.

Name That Tune

Folly Beach, S.C.

Any clue what the rest of the saying is? I keep mulling it over in my head but can't figure it out. "An Honest Tune Has ....."

Church Photo in Lieu of Attendance - Folly Beach

Our Lady of Good Counsel, Folly Beach, S.C.

Nonsense joke unrelated to the beautiful church:

Joining the Lord's Army
Jack was in front of me coming out of church one day, and the preacher was standing at the door as he always is to shake hands. The preacher grabbed Jack by the hand and pulled him aside.

The Pastor said to him, 'You need to join the Army of the Lord!'

Jack replied, 'I'm already in the Army of the Lord, Pastor.'

Pastor questioned, 'How come I don't see you except at Christmas and Easter?'

He whispered back, 'I'm in the secret service.'

Our Lady of Folly

Folly Beach, S.C.

I can fill up my "Quirky, SC" album in one morning's walk on Folly Beach :). I love that place.

After feeling like Sunday for four days it finally is and I want more. I try to do one home improvement project on a long weekend but since I've paid $$$ for so much work to be done lately I was easy on myself. I bought a can of white enamel and painted my back door. It's a bit streaky so I'll need to do another coat this morning - as soon as I get my lazy butt off the couch, leap into action and go for my walk.

I treated myself to season 4 of Weeds. I turned the tree lights on, lit the gas log fireplace, brought in the paper and watched two episodes with my tea and toast this morning. Such luxury.

The sun has broken through the clouds and it looks like a glorious lowcountry day. What are you all up to on your last day off?

The Edge of America

Folly Beach, S.C.

I try to walk on the beach over Christmas weekend - just because I live in South Carolina and I can. It is so lovely I need to remember to go more often. I asked these Santa surfers to pose looking out at the ocean and grandma enjoyed a getting a shot for herself. I love people with a sense of humor.

I was given a little tv for my bedroom for Christmas. I am testing it this evening watching a dvd. Between the tv, my laptop and my electric blanket I may never get out of bed again. Could one of you bring me a cuppa tea?

The Great Grandmama of the Live Oaks

Angel Oak, Johns Island, S.C.

I am having a solitary day and paid a visit to the grandmother of all oak trees - the Angel Oak on Johns Island. I could have stayed all morning offering to take family pictures of fellow tree worshipers so they could all be in their pictures. It's a peaceful crowd who come to wander under limbs so heavy they curl around on the ground propped on blocks of wood. Visitors nod as if we recognize each other aware of why we've come.

She is a difficult tree to get a picture of and the results are always disappointing after the grandeur of the experience. I'll be back to try again.

According to SCIWay
The Angel Oak on Johns Island is believed to be between 500 and 1,500 years old, making it one of the oldest live oaks in the country. While its height of 65 feet may not be impressive, the shaded area covered by its foliage extends over 17,000 square feet!

Edit: Check out this same day entry: Laughing Soul

What a dandy car you make!

Adams Run, S.C.

Even Snopes seems to think this letter from Clyde, of Bonnie & Clyde fame is probably authentic. Ford was their get-away car of choice.

Transcript

Tulsa Okla
10th April
Mr. Henry Ford
Detroit Mich.

Dear Sir: -

While I still have got breath in my lungs I will tell you what a dandy car you make. I have drove Fords exclusivly when I could get away with one. For sustained speed and freedom from trouble the Ford has got ever other car skinned and even if my business hasen't been strickly legal it don't hurt enything to tell you what a fine car you got in the V8 -

Yours truly

Clyde Champion Barrow

This is just one of many fascinating letters featured on Letters of Note: Correspondence deserving of a wider audience.

He is Born!

Bon Secours St. Francis Hospital, Charleston, S.C.

I know it for a fact because I drove out to the hospital to watch the nurses lift him from the warming isolette and carry him out to the manger.

Visitors have been reporting the missing baby Jesus for weeks at the hospital but this is our tradition. He waits in the Newborn Nursery until midnight on Christmas Eve and this evening Jessie gently did the honors.

Merry Christmas!

Relatively Speaking

State St., Charleston, S.C.

Be glad your relatives can't edit your Wikipedia page. Here is what might happen if they could:

If Relatives Edited Wikipedia Pages

Speaking of relatives, isn't it too bad your kids couldn't be four years old again? Just for Christmas. That was such a sweet time.

Awesome Things

King St., Charleston, S.C.

Here is a little present for you:

The 1000 Awesome Things blog is a time-ticking countdown of 1000 awesome things. Reading back I kept finding things that I didn't realize everyone else liked as well. They are adding one a day and are on #606 today. Here are a few fun ones.

#629: When it feels like the lyrics to the song you're listening to were written just for you.

#631: Coming back to your own bed after a long trip.

#729: Passing under a bridge on the highway when it's pouring rain .

#886: High-fiving babies.

#666: Giving people what they want.

Ho, ho, ho!

King St. Charleston, S.C.

Isn't he the perfect Father Christmas? I caught him in front of the fancy children's clothes store on lower King St. Jackson & Madeleine. They offer a last chance for pictures with Santa tomorrow from 12 - 3 pm.

Carol Jenkins Hardman, 1952-2009

Carol Jenkins Hardman
1952 - 2009

This has been such a sad day for our hospital family. Carol, our Gift Shop manager went to bed with a headache on Saturday and never woke up. Carol ran the St. Francis Hospital Gift Shop like a beloved bar tender might run a bar, knowing everyone, listening to stories, consoling, giggling and advising. People confided in her, sharing their jokes and sorrows.

A native Johns Island gal, Carol worked on Friday as usual and we buried her today in her brown silk civil war reenactment ball gown. Her friends in old civil war uniforms sang Dixie under the ancient oaks as they lowered her casket in the historic church graveyard. It still hasn't sunk in. People asked if I had a picture to put on the Gift Shop door and this heart breaker is the one I found.

My deepest sympathy to Carol's family and all the people who had special relationships with her. We love you.

Sleep in Heavenly Peas

Anson St., Charleston, S.C.

A teacher in Atlanta asked her students to write the words to their favorite Christmas Carols. These, as shared by Misscellania are some of the more humorous lines she received:

Deck the Halls with Buddy Holly

We three kings of porridge and tar

On the first day of Christmas my tulip gave to me

Later on we'll perspire, as we dream by the fire.

He's makin a list, chicken and rice.

Noel. Noel, Barney's the king of Israel.

With the jelly toast proclaim

Olive, the other reindeer.

Frosty the Snowman is a ferret elf, I say

Sleep in heavenly peas

In the meadow we can build a snowman, Then pretend that he is sparse and brown

You'll go down in listerine

Oh, what fun it is to ride with one horse, soap and hay

O come, froggy faithful

You'll tell Carol, "Be a skunk, I require"

Great. Now these will be stuck in my head all day.

Exactly what I wanted....

Charleston, S.C.

I got myself an early Christmas present and it's exactly what I wanted.

Not the good looking gentleman - get your dirty minds out of the gutter. My shiny new white gutter.

I've been having trouble with the gutters on the side of my house since I got my new roof a few years ago. They were lined up to dump rain water directly on my head when I got in and out of my car in the drive. Splat. I was pretty much used to having a bucket of cold water land on me every time it rained but worried it might eventually damage the side of my house as well as my "do".

Owen James hadn't been able to put my roof on when I needed it because he was recovering from falling off a roof (oooops) at the time but he was happy to rescue me now.

Give Owen a holler at 843-478-7884 if you need roofing, painting, waterproofing etc. done and tell him I said to take good care of you. Big jobs or small.

He is cute though, isn't he? I try not to need him too often.

Blog Spotting

Palmer's Pinckney Inn, Pinkney St., Charleston, S.C.

I thought I'd share a few of the newer local flavor blogs I've come across lately. Enjoy!

The Lovely Adventures of Me
Charleston, SC

Fine Little Day
Inman, SC

A Dash of Sass
Mt. Pleasant, SC

Townsend Tales
Mt. Pleasant, SC

Gimme Some Sugah
Upstate, SC

Charleston Through an Artist's Eye
Charleston, SC

Darlin' I
Charleston, SC

Through the Wrought Iron Gate

Society St., Charleston, S.C.

I have a "Peeping Camera".

Look at these incredibly beautiful Christmas pictures from Julia, a lowcountry native living in Prague: kolo kolo mlynsky::

I tried to go to Prague once but the Czech police stopped me cold. Hmmmph. Some minor detail about me still being Canadian and visas and "why don't you go to Slovakia and get a visa like all the other gypsies?", blah, blah, blah.

I'll show them. When I came home (after going to Slovakia) I started collecting citizenships and passports. One of these days I will storm the Charles Bridge as I originally intended to. I will be back.

Joggling Board Sighting!

Charleston, S.C.

Joggling Board sighting! This one is for Waldo who has a fondness for joggling boards. I have a better and more seasonal view in mind but need to have my wide angle lens with me to capture it. It's always tricky sneaking my camera lens through people's gates.

Here is a bit about the history of the joggling board.

I am up and at work early for a fundraising sale. I have a vendor hosting a $6 sale -costume jewelry, purses etc. perfect for last minute stocking stuffers. I've already been my best costumer and bought four pairs of reading glasses. One for each purse and back pack. Seriously, they are great deals if anyone is West Ashley. They are in the room next to the hospital gift shop.

Church Photo in Lieu of Attendance - Hampton, SC

All Saint Church, Hampton, S.C.

A church this old and beautiful should have it's own web site but I can't find one. I imagine normal people actually attend a service rather than take pictures and google for information. It looks like a perfect country church.

In case you didn't get inside a church yourself this weekend here is an inspiring quote:

Let us more and more insist on raising funds of love,
of kindness, of understanding, of peace.
Money will come if we seek first the
Kingdom of God - the rest will be given.
Mother Teresa

I met Mother Teresa, have I told you that? She came up to North East India to work on a project with my father when I was too young to understand her impact on the world. I've gone through his old slides trying to find a picture of her with my family but haven't had any luck. I assume that such a picture would guarantee an instant raise for me, working in a Catholic hospital ;).

Sad to see the end of the weekend but it will be a happy and short week. I need to remember that I have to be at work before 7 a.m. in the morning for a fund raising sale. Yawn.

Charleston at Christmas

Christmas, Charleston, S.C.

Who asked for Christmas in Charleston pictures? I took these on my walking route yesterday. That one gentleman looked a little blue so I whistled a carol to cheer him up.

Play amongst yourselves, kids. I am making white chocolate and macadamia cookies.

Weekend Color

Palmetto Carriage Tours, Charleston, S.C.

I used to say that Key West was like a small scale Charleston with chickens in the streets. I can't say that anymore since we appear to have chickens running around as well. This is the Palmetto Carriage Tours red barn. If you've been to Charleston you have probably taken a carriage tour from them. The Carriage drivers were having a serious Biblical discussion and I felt like I had physically stumbled into a holiday postcard.

I have had such a lovely day. I walked for miles this morning to make up for all the time I've spent in my corner of the couch while it rained outside. Everything looked so festive I took my time and enjoyed it. This evening I joined up with my blog buddy from Tales from the Laboratory and we went to the Symphony Holiday Pops Concert and ended up at Basils with five minutes to order before the kitchen closed. We managed without any trouble! Yum. Yum. Pad Thai.

Sidewalk Curator's Christmas Card

Society St., Charleston, S.C.

Gotta love it! I hope everyone is having a good weekend.

Soggy Bottoms

Charleston, S.C.

Soggy everything! This is one of those days when I am simply happy to make it home. I check the tide chart and calculate my route carefully. Then, I can't resist wading out in the mucky soup with my little pocket camera. The tow trucks will be working overtime this evening.

This is mostly the Smith, Thomas, Duncan & Pitt St. area - nothing new. The usual flooded intersections. Funny, I had a gentleman working on my gutters yesterday. He had hoped for a few dry hours this morning to finish up. The bad news is that these were taken at low tide. I hate to think of the mess we will have this evening if the rain keeps up.

Time to see what I have in the house to eat. I think I'll be staying in this evening! Y'all be safe.

SC Tops in Yale Book of Quotations for 2009

Read Brother's Window, King St., Charleston, S.C.

Don't worry about South Carolina. We made the The Yale Book of Quotations for 2009 three times. Woo hoo!

Most Notable Quotations of 2009

1. "Keep your government hands off my Medicare." Speaker at health care reform town hall meeting in Simpsonville, S.C., commenting on the government-created Medicare program, quoted by The Washington Post on July 28.

2. "We're going to be in the Hudson." Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, responding to air traffic controllers asking on which runway he preferred to land US Airways Flight 1549 on Jan. 15 before he landed in the Hudson River.

3. "There's an app for that." Apple's advertising slogan for the iPhone.

4. "You lie!" Wilson's shouted retort to Obama's address before a joint session of Congress on Sept. 9.

5. "The Cambridge police acted stupidly." Obama, commenting on a white police officer's arrest of black scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. at his home in Cambridge, Mass., at a news conference July 22.

6. "I'm going to let you finish, but Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time! One of the best videos of all time!" Kanye West, interrupting Taylor Swift's acceptance speech at the MTV Video Music Awards on Sept. 13.

7. "Um, you guys said that we, um, did this for the show." Falcon Heene, during an interview on CNN about his parents' balloon hoax on Oct. 15.

8. "The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama's 'death panel.'" Palin, posting on her Facebook page on Aug. 7.

9. "The governor is hiking the Appalachian Trail." Spokesman for South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford regarding Sanford's disappearance on June 22.

10. "You give me a water board, Dick Cheney and one hour, and I'll have him confess to the Sharon Tate murders." Jesse Ventura, during a CNN interview May 11.

Toilet Humor

Ridgeville, S.C.

A man decides to take the opportunity while his wife is away to paint the toilet seat. The wife comes home sooner than expected, sits, and gets the seat stuck to her rear. She is understandably distraught about this and asks her husband to drive her to the doctor.

She puts on a large overcoat so as to cover the stuck seat, and they go. When they get to the doctor's, the man lifts his wife's coat to show their predicament. The man asks, "Doctor, have you ever seen anything like this before?"

"Well, yes," the doctor replies, "but never framed."

Big Sexy Hair

Charleston, S.C.

Exactly what I need for Christmas and at a bargain price. Big Sexy Hair! $10 and under. I'm getting Big Sexy Hair Gift Certificates for everyone!

FUNNY, but NO.

Embassy Suites, Marion Square, Charleston, S.C.

The Embassy Suites hotel is the renovated old Citadel Military College of South Carolina. It dresses up nicely for holidays.

The Shoebox Greeting Cards site explains that only about 20% of what gets turned in gets accepted and becomes a Shoebox card.

Here, are some of the other 80% - holiday edition:

The holidays make me all emotional.

Greed is an emotion, isn’t it?
—————————————————————-
On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me…

yet another present that was really for “us.” Stupid jerk.
—————————————————————-
All I want this year is to get the whole family together in one place…

One room, specifically. With a door that locks from the outside.

That’d be ideal.
—————————————————————-
Snowmen are like real men.

It would take some kind of magic hat to get either of them off their asses.
—————————————————————-
Four more meatball subs and I’ll have your Christmas gift!

Hoagie Holidays!
—————————————————————-
Grandma got run over by a reindeer…

So maybe wearing the salt lick jewelry wasn’t such a great idea.

Monday Hodgepodge

Charleston, S.C.

Matt Larson from Toy Camera Play made a weekend trip to Charleston and covered some familiar territory.

Uhoh. End of the year is in sight and I haven't accomplished all of my 2009 resolutions. I'm going to have to do some cramming.

To do list for 2009 included:

• Con unsuspecting third world university into awarding me an honorary degree.
• Learn to play one song well on the harmonica.

Santacon looks like so much fun! I do have a Santa costume in my closet at work...along with an Indian headdress, fifteen blond wigs, handcuffs and chain mail. Do I have your attention?

Amplesanity has the best daily quotes. I just discovered she has them all listed. They should be doled out like little treats. Here is one for this evening:

"Sex is one of the nine reasons for reincarnation. The other eight are unimportant." Henry Miller

Hey, hey! I'm not the only one who likes sidewalk graffiti. Check out this article.

Canadians are just as wacky about butter tarts as southerners are about BBQ sauce and I made a batch this evening with maple syrup instead of corn syrup. I haven't tried them yet but it feels wrong, wrong, wrong. I'll need check in with the Canadian Embassy. I could stand to lose my dual citizenship. Maple syrup is Canadian but I may be considered a traitor for messing with butter tarts.

G'night kids. I am off to taste test a maple butter tart. Don't stay up too late.

Customers who bought this item also bought.....

King St., Charleston, S.C.

I'm cheating. I've been getting home long after dark and pulling out a holiday picture from last year.

Sick and tired of Jon & Kate? Click here to see what people also bought after they bought the season dvd. Heh.

Church Photo in Lieu of Attendance

Old Church Pies, Yemassee, S.C.

This could start a whole new wave of church attendance! I was taking the picture of this sweet chapel in Yemassee, S.C. when I spotted the sign below. Old Church Pies! Taste the Blessings, indeed.

Seems like it should have been open on a Sunday. Hmmmmph. Does anyone know anything about the place? Curious taste buds want to know....

Your Boiled Peanuts are Getting Wet

Joe Riley Stadium, Charleston, S.C.

I actually heard someone say, "Your boiled peanuts are getting wet!"

Does Plane Jane play every single day of the year, rain or shine? Looking at Charleston's event calendar it looks like they do and they were scheduled to play yesterday at the hospital's holiday party.

They sounded wonderful as usual but could only tempt the solitary dancer below out onto the water soaked dance floor at the Joe Riley ball park. Drip, drip.

Still raining today. I've been waiting all morning to go out for a walk and finally gave up.