Thematic Photographic 69: "Transition" v.1.0 - Transitional Two-fer

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"Dawn Over the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway"
North Topsail Beach, NC - July 2009 (Click to embiggen)

 (Normally) Hosted by Written Inc.

Note: Please take a moment to stop by the Written, Inc. and visit this post. And pay your respects to TP's creator, Carmi, on the sudden loss of his father. Best thoughts for you and your family Carmi.

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Here we have two transitions for the price of one. Day is just dawning, marking the transition from night to day, and in this case, the sun is rising over the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway which marks the dividing line where the mainland gives way to the islands and then to the ocean herself. The Intracoastal was devised to provide a sheltered shipping lane for goods moving up the eastern seaboard by boat or ship. Much of this sheltered water is naturally occurring, but the channels were constructed and are maintained by dredges allowing large cargoes to be transported without exposure to the capricious currents of the Atlantic. The small islets, not easily visible in this shot are a product of the dredging operations and boast some incredibly rich (not to mention... "aromatic") soil.

I sort of suspect that the only ones who have found their way here are TP regulars, and you all know how it works. But on the chance that there's someone new in the crowd, and in the interest of keeping things as normal as possible I give you the "Preflight Safety Instructions":

• Every Wednesday evening, at precisely 7 o'clock Eastern, I post a new Thematic Photographic entry.
• Each entry has a unique theme. This week's is...transition!
• You post a similarly themed image over on your blog.
• You paste a link to your entry in a comment here.
• If you've already posted something that fits (on a blog, Facebook, MySpace, wherever) simply post the link to the existing entry. Old or new, all photos are welcome.
• You may post as many photos or links as you wish. For the next week, I'll be supporting this theme with a related picture/posting each day. I encourage you to do the same. This is all about sharing, so feel free to share to your heart's content!
• Please share this link with friends, too, and encourage them to join in. The more, the merrier.
• And please accept my thanks for your enthusiasm. Your participation has made TP a true highlight for me each and every week.

So please fasten your seatbelts, make sure that your seat backs and tray tables are in the full up and locked position and prepare for takeoff.

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Window Views #17: Christ Church Episcopal

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"Stoned Glass"
Raleigh, NC - May 2009 (Click to embiggen)

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Lensday #33: "Noisy"

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"1965 AC Cobra"
Raleigh, NC - May 2009 (Click to embiggen)

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Thursday Challenge #43: "Art"

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"National Museum of African Art"
Washington, DC - April 1999 (Click to embiggen)
Next Week's Challenge: "Golden"

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Sepia Scenes #50: "Woodshed Goes to a Party"

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"Party Shack"
Pittsboro, NC - July 2003 (Click to embiggen)

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The World in Black & White: 9.30.2009

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"Carriage Trail"
Cone Estate, Blowing Rock, NC - February 2001 (Click to embiggen)

To see more from the WBW Community of Bloggers, visit The World in Black & White

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Pic A Theme #16: "Rusty" - 9.30.2009

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"Rail Bridge Underbelly"
Raleigh, NC - February 2009 (Click to embiggen)

To see more from the Pic-A-Theme Community of Bloggers, visit Pic-A-Theme

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Two4Tuesday #23: "Triumph/Defeat"

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"The Triumphant One is 13 in Red"
Raleigh, NC - January 2007 (Click to embiggen)

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Thematic Photographic 68: "Temporary" v.7.0 - Temporary Guest Host

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"What'd you expect?"
Raleigh, NC - August 2008 (Click to embiggen)

 (Normally) Hosted by Written Inc.

Note: Please take a moment to stop by the Written, Inc. and visit this post. And pay your respects to TP's creator, Carmi, on the sudden loss of his father. Best thoughts for you and your family Carmi.

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If you've been around this part the blogosphere at all in the last week, you've heard the news. Thematic's creator Carmi lost his father suddenly and clearly has more important things on his mind than hosting a photo meme. But in the interest of maintaining (or reclaiming) some kind of normalcy, the show will go on with yours truly attempting to fill in as guest host -- temporarily.

This presented an interesting circumstance though. Just before the ceiling caved in on him, Carmi had announced that the theme for the week would be "Temporary". And some of you may have actually played the theme on schedule (like I did). A good many most likely didn't though, since there was no post to link it to. So what's a guy to do?

The best answer I could come up with was to run a new theme for Thematic 69 for those who played Thematic 68 last week, and simply let folks post submissions for both themes.

So what theme would be appropriate for such a time? I considered several, and ultimately decided that a natural segue from last week would be:

Transition

Carmi and his family are in the middle of one of the biggest transitions we as a species go through: the loss of someone dear to us. And in the coming weeks -- probably months, possibly even years -- they'll begin to do certain things differently. Things that granddad used to do at family gatherings will now be taken over by others. In many cases the changes will be subtle, and someone may gravitate naturally to fill the gap left by that absence. Other changes will be completely jarring, because nobody will be able to conceive of anyone but granddad performing this ritual. Some they'll see coming. Others will catch them completely flat footed. All of them will spark memories, and probably tears as they figure out how to adjust and bridge the gap between what was and what is.

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Watery Wednesday #47: "Intracoastal Boat Launch"

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"They Might Be Giants"
North Topsail Beach, NC - July 2009 (Click to embiggen)

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Wordless Wednesday #129: Big Yellow Turtle

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"You Were Expecting Maybe Joni Mitchell?"
Pine Knoll Shores, NC - October 2008 (Click to embiggen)

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Thematic Photographic 68: "Temporary" v.6.0 - Temporary Reprieve

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"In and Out for 15%"
Raleigh, NC - December 2008 (Click to embiggen)

 Hosted by Written Inc.

Note: Please take a moment to stop by the Written, Inc. and visit this post. And pay your respects to TP's creator, Carmi, on the sudden loss of his father. Best thoughts for you and your family Carmi.

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Try coming up with "temporary" measures without being predictable sometime. It's not as easy as it looks.

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Pic A Theme #16: "Rusty" - 9.29.2009

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"Surf Fishing Veteran"
Jacksonville, NC - December 2008 (Click to embiggen)

To see more from the Pic-A-Theme Community of Bloggers, visit Pic-A-Theme

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The World in Black & White: 9.29.2009

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"Basket of Twigs"
Raleigh, NC - March 2000 (Click to embiggen)

To see more from the WBW Community of Bloggers, visit The World in Black & White

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Wordless Wednesday #128 (Tuesday Edition): Got Nuts?

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"Hopeful Looking Beggar, Isn't He?"
Raleigh, NC - February 2009 (Click to embiggen)

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Thematic Photographic 68: "Temporary" v.5.0 - Jaded

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"Twice Upon a Time"
Raleigh, NC - September 2009 (Click to embiggen)

 Hosted by Written Inc.

Note: Please take a moment to stop by the Written, Inc. and visit this post. And pay your respects to TP's creator, Carmi, on the sudden loss of his father. Best thoughts for you and your family Carmi.

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Jaded, yes. But not bitter. Truly. Just one of the 50%. Twice. Because I could never do anything halfway, ya know? (Gallows humor people. Don't get upset.) It's been 10 years since the last time, I'm over it. But tell me it's not a temporary arrangement. Even if it's until death. After all, life itself is a temporary condition, n'cest pas?

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My World Tuesday #50: "It's That Time Again"

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"Center Rod Brind'Amour (C)"
Raleigh, NC - September 2007 (Click to embiggen)

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In only a few short days my favorite season will kick off for another round. "Fall?", you ask. No, hockey season. Training camp is winding down, the rosters are being finalized, pared down to the limit that the NLH says a team can carry on active status. And around here, that means watching to see if top prospects like Brandon Sutter (yes, of the Sutters) will stay with the Big Club for opening night or be sent to the AHL to keep in shape and gain experience. Sutter may very well find himself in that position, not because he hasn' tacquitted himself well in camp -- he has -- but because the Hurricanes are stacked at the center ice position. Down the middle Carolina features a former All-Star MVP in Eric Staal (yes, of the Staals), a two-time Selke Award winner in their captain Rod Brind'Amour (above), and the most likley suspects for the other two spots on the roster would be Matt Cullen and Stephane Yelle. All four of these guys have their names on the Stanley Cup, three of them with Carolina's 2006 team and the fourth (Yelle) twice with the Colorado Avalanche.

Another off-season priority for GM Jim Rutherford was shoring up a slightly suspect defense corps. Not that the Canes were weak along the blue line, but with Glen Wesley retiring, there was no "veteran leader" stepping up to fill that vaccuum. This, proabbly more than anything, prompted Rutherford to re-acquire former Hurricane Aaron Ward from Boston. Ward was an integral part of Carolina's two trips to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2002 and 2006 and is the owner of three Stanley Cup rings, one with the 2006 Hurricanes and two with the 1997-98 and 1998-99 Detroit Red Wings. That kind of experience is irreplacable and Ward -- who kept his home in the Raleigh area even after leaving for the Big Apple via free agency in 2007 -- should fill the void left in the locker room by Wesley's retirement admirably.

In goal, expect Cam Ward to get the kind of workout his boyhood hero Martin Brodeur makes routine. In his last tour of duty with the Hurricanes Coach Paul Maurice rode Arturs Irbe to seasons of 74 and 77 starts in consecutive years. I wouldn't expect Ward to see that kind of work, but if his late season play last year from mid-February on is any indication, he may well be up to the task. Which leaves the question of how ready Michael Leighton will be if called upon to play for an extended period due to an injury. Ward's career has been fairly injury free with only a few relatively minor cuts and strains keeping him out of the lineup for more than a game or two. But I'd feel better about life if Leighton got some work.

Speaking of coaches, after Rutherford shocked the world by bringing Paul Maurice back behind the Carolina bench mid season last year, "Mo" devised a coaching program thta's almost modeled on the NFL. With first-ballot Hall of Famer Ron Francis working the offensive side of the house and another Hall of Famer, Tom Barrasso working the goaltenders, Maurice - always a defense-first style of coach - is free to oversee the "big picture". The system worked well enough last season as the Hurricanes turned the ship around and stormed into the Eastern Conference Final only a few weeks removed form being below the cut line for the playoffs. How well it works over the course of a full season remains to be seen, but the outlook is promising.

And then there's the X-Factor. Or more accurately the "O-Factor". "O" as in "Olympics". In the last two Olympic years (the real Olympics mind you, not those nantsy Summer ones) Carolina has claimed two Eastern Conference titles and a Stanley Cup. Coincidence? Probably. Or maybe the extended break in the schedule for the Olympics does something for these guys that it doesn't do for other teams. Whatever. I'll take it. And a Stanley Cup to go.

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