Where Did the Time Go ?

When you start scanning old snapshots and slides there's no way to avoid the question. Depending on how your pictures are sorted - if they're sorted - you can often follow a thread that echoes the intersections of your life with the lives of some of your favorite people. Today is Ellen's birthday, so let's highlight her and see what we've got. . .


This picture of Ellen and me was taken at Tony and Donna's house in Arden in 1980. I was between semesters at Texas, Sally and David were in Australia, so (of course) I headed for the North Carolina mountains. It was scanned from a Polaroid print and I suspect Tony took the picture.


I was back in North Carolina in '82, with Sally and David this time. Our two families went on a picnic in the Pisgah National Forest. Sally had taken David, Ellen, and Jonathan exploring in the stream paralleling the road from Brevard to Mount Pisgah (US 276) a mile or two north of Sliding Rock. This picture shows Jon escorting Ellen in the wild.


This one of Ellen was taken in December 2000 up at East Tennessee State in Johnson City. The occasion was Jonathan's graduation from college - and the reception that followed. A fine day, to be sure. Unfortunately, I was shooting pictures with my Sony Mavica.The results were okay for the time, but the low resolution pales by comparison to that of my Canons today.


This picture of Ellen with Oscar was taken one weekend in 2003 when I had driven down to Charleston from Atlanta. It was always a pleasure, visiting with Tony and Donna, and I always considered it a special weekend whenever Ellen arrived and injected her energy and humor into the visit.


Also in 2003, Tony and I were stretched out in easy chairs, watching television, when Ellen blew in and informed us that we needed to get off our butts and take her skiing. She didn't have to twist any arms and we were soon out in the boat surveying the shorelines of the Wando river. In the picture above, as we passed a local golf course, the Cap'n described to Ellen some links magic he had performed the previous weekend.

When we were suitably impressed, the conversation turned to fishing and a sand shark either seen, or hooked, or caught, in the river the last time they were out. In the context of the discussion, the recurring term "shark hole" certainly elicited some trepidation in Ellen, contemplating a couple hours of waterskiing. In retrospect, I suppose that was pretty insensitive of us, but Tony inspires confidence and Ellen has never been a wuss. The waterskiing commenced. . .


A few weeks later, on Ellen's birthday, I sent Tony and Donna a picture of the "cover" of this notional sports/leisure magazine highlighting life on Charleston's rivers and harbor. Of course, I had better pictures of Ellen skiing, but this one allowed me to weave a story around our afternoon's discussion of "shark holes", and I hoped Ellen would keep it as a memento of a fine Saturday afternoon.

Oh! By the way,

Happy Birthday, Ellen !