Journal

Journal

Belews Lake Triathlon 2012 … selected images

Belews Lake International Triathlon Swim: Belews Lake is a very popular lake in the Winston-Salem / Greensboro area. It is a great lake to swim in - clear water with a sandy bottom. This is an in-water start with participants lining up at the boat launch. Waves and chop are light and water quality is excellent. The swim course is a triangular-shaped course. Participants exit the water at the end of the boat launch and…

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April 15, 2012
Environmental Portraits / Journal

At Big Mama’s, you get more than great food … but also big heart!

Cynthia Bradger d.b.a. Big Mama’s Southern Cooking with Soul learned to stretch a dollar and a meal as an 11 year-old when she cooked for her family in Ft. Worth, Texas.  “It is just the way we had to do things back then in order to get by.” In high school, she was a flute player; but because there was not a uniform big enough to fit her, she was awarded the position of “band…

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March 31, 2012
Environmental Portraits / Journal

From behind the lens … a defining moment in musical performance

I would have probably never articulated this on my own except for an occasion of heightened awareness by photographing a recent performance by David Holt, Bryan Sutton, and T. Michael Coleman.  They have started a band called "Deep River Rising" to perpetuate the musical traditions of Doc Watson, so they are still in the "getting acquainted with each other" phase of discovery to determine if they have a future together. My wife and I have known David for years but never played…

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March 8, 2012
Journal

2000 years of medicine in 18 feet ….

Dr. John D. McConnell, CEO of the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, formally received the donation of the mural from North Carolina artist and humanitarian, Nicholas B. Bragg of Winston-Salem.  The original oil on panel, composed and painted by Mr. Bragg, was given to the Medical Center in honor of his wife, Nancy, on January 18, 2011. Its title is "Medicine on Our Planet." Mr. Bragg consulted over 30 references on medicine and its evolution…

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January 23, 2012
Journal

My daughter wanted only two things for Christmas … a banjo … and a bullfrog

"We're still working on that bullfrog ...! Traditional music has been learned "knee-to-knee" and passed down from one generation to the next in the oral tradition -  one person teaching the next.  These songs do not have any authentic or original version because regional and local influences over time have self-selected those variants that become preferred. A single artist may perform the songs similarly each time that it is played, but it is often the community…

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January 18, 2012
Journal

I don’t understand how anyone could grin all the time, but apparently she did …

I attended a memorial service yesterday for some one that I did not know.  It was perhaps the first time in my life that I had ever done so. My first touch of reality with this individual was an Avery County newspaper that I picked up on my way home for Christmas, at a gas convenience station at the foot of Grandfather Mountain.  In front of the cash register where I paid the clerk for…

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January 13, 2012
Journal

“Honk-a-lonk” if you love the Lord …

I have always enjoyed Canada Geese at a distance. Riding in the back seat of our car and seeing them fly over in formation as if they were on a secret military mission was a common childhood experience. Until ... Several years ago, my folks gave my wife and I annual passes to the Biltmore Estate in Asheville.  Oh boy!  This would never be anything that we would do for ourselves .... the perfect Christmas…

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January 9, 2012
Journal

Our favorite restaurant in western North Carolina …

[portfolio_slideshow] Our favorite place to eat is Houck's kitchen, and for our house guests in Winston-Salem that have had the experience ... they universally agree.  I love to cook; it satisfies my creative need ... plus, there is no greater compliment to pay anyone than to prepare a meal for them.  We are told often by our dinner guests who have told others... "if you ever get an invitation to eat at their place, you better take…

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December 28, 2011