Today, while walking around the North Carolina Botanical Garden in Chapel Hill, Elizabeth and I stumbled upon this sculpture. It reminds me a bit of the cairns that Andy Goldsworthy has made for his projects; however, before jumping to conclusions, I should note that no credit was to be found near the sculpture.
Tomorrow we’ll be heading to the Outer Banks to check out Bodie, Hatteras, and Roanoke Islands, and to return to Ocracoke Island for the fist time since 2005.
Oh, to have a wide-angle lens for the G1! Thanks to Olympus and to David Rees, the department chair of the photojournalism sequence at the University of Missouri School of Journalism, I have a 9-18mm f/4-5.6 ED lens for my Micro Four-Thirds format for testing.
This lens is the only alternative to Panasonic’s 7-14mm f/4 wide-angle zoom, which is, unfortunately, ridiculously expensive. Not that the Olympus zoom is inexpensive. I’ll have more thoughts as the summer progresses.
At long last, the French drain project that Elizabeth and I started last March is finally close to completion. Together, we hauled one ton of gravel from her driveway, up the hill to the back yard, and then scooped it into the trench. We’re both tired.
A year ago, Elizabeth and I set out to build a French drain in the back yard of her house to alleviate some drainage issues. The problem is that the weather a year ago was that, in the process of digging the trench for the retaining wall and drain, we encountered an enormous tree stump that had been buried. That, and wet weather, led us to abandon the project, leaving her with a swale in the mean-time. This summer, we contemplated working again, but the heat and humidity were not ideal conditions. The fall? Sure, but I needed to be in Columbia, Mo. for graduate school. Winter break? Um, no. So, that leaves now as the ideal time to work.
Tuesday was attempt number one at building the retaining wall. Yesterday was the successful attempt. Today? Gravel, drain pipe, and more gravel. Just one ton. Literally… to be updated tomorrow.