Head in a Cairn

Head in a Cairn
Head in a Cairn, North Carolina Botanical Garden, Chapel Hill, N.C. | Panasonic G1 and 14-45mm f/3.5-5.6 lens; exposed 1/400 sec. @ f/5.6, ISO 200.

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.

Flying over Memphis

Flying over Memphis
Flying over Memphis | Panasonic G1 and Olympus 9-18mm f/4-5.6 ED lens; exposed 1/640 sec. @ f/8, ISO 100.

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.

2nd Thirty Days – Day Thirty

 2nd Thirty Days - Day Thirty - Elizabeth looks out onto her yard
Elizabeth looks out onto her yard (completed drainage on the right), Durham, N.C. | Panasonic Lumix G1 and Olympus 17mm f/2.8 lens; exposed 1/160 sec. @ f/3.2, ISO 100.
Elizabeth
Elizabeth | Panasonic Lumix G1 and Olympus 17mm f/2.8 lens; exposed 1/50 sec. @ f/4, ISO 100.

Completed French drain
Completed French drain, with drain-pipe re-covered with landscape fabric and clay soil. Fescue grass seed will be laid this fall to fill in the (expansive) work area that destroyed the previous grass.

2nd Thirty Days – Day Twenty-nine

 2nd Thirty Days - Day Twenty-nine - Gravel!
Gravel in the drainage ditch, Durham, N.C. | Panasonic Lumix G1 and Olympus 17mm f/2.8 lens; exposed 1/4000 sec. @ f/2.8, ISO 100.

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.

Another view of the French drain
Another view of the French drain (near completion)

2nd Thirty Days – Day Twenty-eight

 2nd Thirty Days - Day Twenty-eight - Gloves and Boots
Gloves and Boots, Durham, N.C. | Panasonic Lumix G1 and Olympus 17mm f/2.8 lens; exposed 1/400 sec. @ f/8, ISO 100.

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.

Retaining wall
Completed retaining wall...a year late.