Thematic Photographic 88: "What I Did On My Vacation" v.1.0 - On the Not-Hot Seat

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"Logging On"
Blowing Rock, NC - February, 2001 (Click to embiggen)

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The travel theme continues at Thematic Photographic this week with a reprise of Thematic Photographic 83, "What I Did on My Vacation". Sadly, it's not like I take so very many vacations -- in the usual sense at least -- but happily they turn into what my son calls "photographic jihads: Shoot everything in sight", so there's not a shortage of material usually. Yes, there will be much from the beach -- specifically Topsail Island. But leading off we'll pick up where I left off in last week's "On the Road" theme. That is, the Blue Ridge Mountains. This is a detail of the Cone Manor in Blowing Rock just after an unexpected snow. I'm not entirely sure, but I think this serves as a bench when it's not under a layer of frozen stuff.

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Thematic Photographic 87: "On The Road" v.7.0 - On the Road, But Off It.

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"You can get there form here, but it's gonna hurt."
Linville Gorge, NC - February, 2001 (Click to embiggen)

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Another place I'm not sure I could ever find again is this section of Linville Falls in the Blue Ridge Mountains. This is what happens when you leave the water running for 65 million years or so. My one regret about this trip is that I only got to see Linville Falls from the top. I would just guess that the lower falls are even more spectacular. Some day I should go back and find out.

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Watery Wednesday #65: Linville River

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"Riverlet"
Linville Gorge, NC - February 2001 (Click to embiggen)

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Thematic Photographic 86: "Water In Any Form" v.2.0 - Rime On The Mountain

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"Rock Candy It Ain't"
Blowing Rock, NC - February 2001 (Click to embiggen)

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When Carmi introduced this theme, a couple of the suggestions he made were ice and fog. Here we have both. Known variously as "hoar frost" or "rime icing" (and probably other things I've never heard) this phenomenon occurs when fog -- or a low flying cloud -- meets a supercooled air mass. The sudden drop in temperature squeezes the moisture out of the wet air, freezing it almost as fast as it precipitates. And it collects rock candy style on everything around. In this case it transformed a few strands of horsehair and a barbed wire fence into art. This is a fairly light deposit, but I've seen photos of rime icing several feet thick and sculpted by high winds into shapes that would rival anything in the Painted Desert. Whatever form it takes, it's an inspiring thing to see. Nature as artist.

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Thematic Photographic 79: "Elsewhere" v.2.0 - And If You Look To The West...

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"Carriage House"
Blowing Rock, NC - February 2001 (Click to embiggen)

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I'll get back to Topsail Island later this week, but today we'll change things up a bit. A little further from home, and in the opposite direction are the Blue Ridge Mountains. This specific piece of said mountains is the "carriage house" at the cone Estate between Boone and Blowing Rock. In my next life perhaps I can be a carriage. 'Cause I could live here.

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TTL #10: "Mountainesque"

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"Creek in the Foothills"
Blue Ridge Parkway, NC - February 2001 (Click to embiggen)

TTL Saturdays on Why? What Have You Heard?

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The World in Black & White: 11.22.2009

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"Going Over The Wall"
Near Boone, NC - February 2001 (Click to embiggen)
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The World in Black & White: 11.21.2009

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"The Man In The Mountain"
Near Boone, NC - February 2001 (Click to embiggen)
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Thematic Photographic 75: "Travel" v.7.0 - One-Tank Destinations II

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"Speed Checked By Radar, Enforced by Natural Selection"
Somewhere on the Blue Ridge Parkway in NC - February 2001 (Click to embiggen)

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If the unthinkable should ever occur and I get bored with the North Carolina beaches, a little further from me in the other direction are the North Carolina mountains. Which include a substantial portion of the Blue Ridge Parkway. The Parkway is a nearly 500-mile strip running along the spine of the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina and Virginia that will celebrate its 75th anniversary in 2010. I canot possibly tell you about all the points of interest in a blog post, or even a series of posts. (There are guidebooks for that which tell you what you can find at every mile marker along the way in much greater detail and with far more authority.) But I can show you what a substantial portion of your view will look like if you're there in Februrary. Even with the trees bare, the views are breathtaking. And you'll get a short course in the history of the region you can't learn from a book either. But be careful. There are stretches of this man-made wonder that still have no guard rails. And it would be easy to make a really bad mistake. One that might not be discovered for a long, long time. Because overdevelopment in this part of the state would be a tricky proposition. It's hard to build much on a cliff side.

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Shutterday #47: Theme 139 - "Rocks"

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"Linville River"
Near Boone, NC - February 2001 (Click to embiggen)
Next week's theme: "Point"

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The World in Black & White: 10.14.2009

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"Mystic Mountain Hop"
Blue Ridge Parkway, 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 #17: "Statues & Monuments" - 10.3.2009

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"Family Monuments"
Near Boone, NC - February 2001 (Click to embiggen)

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The World in Black & White: 9.1.2009

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"Honest Day's Plowing"
Valle Crucis, NC - February 2001 (Click to embiggen)
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Monochrome Monday #44: I Should Take The Babooshka Challenge

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"Price Lake"
Blue Ridge Parkway - February 2001 (Click to embiggen)

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Somebody threw down the gauntlet -- in a friendly and sporting way -- to our dear Babooshka of Ramsey Daily Photo to shoot a single subject 100 different ways. Babooshka chose the Ramsey Swing Bridge, and as of this writing she's posted 21 or so of the 100 views so far. And probably has several more waiting their turns. I probably could have taken up a similar challenge at Price Lake. Because no matter where you look there's a scene begging to be captured.

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Thematic Photographic 59: "Elemental" v.1.0 - "Earth"

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"Rock Of Ages"
Blue Ridge Mountains, NC - February 2001 (Click to embiggen)

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Would you believe I suggested the theme for this week's Thematic Photographic ("Elemental") and didn't even have a shot in mind for it? Yeah, I'm that organized. but not to fear, my initial idea for the theme was to work the four "Earth-Fire-Water-Air" elements, and those I had in the archives. Take for example this stone outcropping in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Quite literally as "old as the hills", this chunk of rock may very well have been here since the Earth cooled. Perhaps not in this very place, but I doubt it's moved very far. Earth signs are like that. Stable, steady, solid.

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The World in Black & White: 7.14.2009

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"If You Hear Banjos..."
Linville River, NC - February 2001 (Click to embiggen)
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Thematic Photographic 53: "Road" v.1.0

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"Speed Limit Checked by Radar, Enforced by Natural Selection."
Blue Ridge Mountains, NC - February, 2001 (Click to embiggen)

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This week Thematic Photogrpahic takes to the road, the highway, the street, the lane, the... you get the idea. As usual, you can interpret the theme any way you like. For my opener this week though, I opted for the very literal approach. The Blue Ridge Parkway has long stretches of road with no guardrails, which is more than a little unnerving -- especially if you're on the passenger side of the vehicle. The tradeoff is that the Parkway also features some of the most breathtaking views in the state. And apparently I thought this bend in the road fit the criteria since I obviously couldn't resist shooting it. Here the guardrail was naturally occurring, but just ahead?

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