Year In Review April

YEAR IN REVIEW (2013) APRIL – Regional Character in a Road. April started with a jaunt back to Charleston for me. The Azalea bloom and the rounding out of the landscape didn’t quite peak in March during my trip, so I returned to Clemson for a week, tried my best to pay attention and put my best foot forward at the job, and then, at the first chance possible, I drove back down to Charleston to grab a few more photographs while the spring display was in full swing! Leaving a touch after midnight on a Friday evening, I hit the highways and made it to Botany Bay on Edisto Island in time to catch a short nap and still be ready when the gates swung upon to allow entry about a half-hour before first light. The beach was crowded that morning—it was a high tide moon combination that had many photographers wading the surf and excitedly snapping shutters to capture the transition from blue hour to morning. Unfortunately, the skies were not nearly as exciting as the ocean on this particular morning—I stuck around for a bit but eventually cleaned myself up and returned to the entrance road.

The entrance drive to Botany Bay Heritage Plantation has regional character in spades. Often people say dirt road when really they’re on a gravel mixture that has been laid to prevent erosion etc. Botany Bay is a true dirt road—a mixture of sand and dirt that quietly and gently (with the exception of the washboard action) slides beneath the tires. Each side of the road is lined with mature live oak trees, dripping with Spanish moss and covered, at this time of year, with flashy new greens. Unlike a manicured plantation, the remnants of this drive are wild and without pattern. The trees are interspersed with chaotic blends of vegetation, each shouldering and vying for a share of the sun. The result is something that is uniquely regional and diverse; strong in character and exciting to the eyes. In a world of homogenized landscapes of little to no variety or character, this particular drive illustrates the potential of a world of variety, depth and character. I sincerely hope that those who build and design the built environments of our country will encourage and push forward development that embraces this sort of heritage and root placeness in lieu of the status quo eradication of all vegetation to be replaced with sod and street signs that pay homage to what once existed and will likely, never again, at least for the short-term future.

I finished up the day-trip with a short stop at Magnolia Plantation to view the full glory of the Azalea bloom, hit the highway, retraced my tracks and ended up back in Clemson before sun down to get back to work. A big thanks to photographer and friend, Dave Allen and his wife Jennifer, who scouted out and introduced me to this location a number of years back.