Xuan Chi Diep: The Hanoi Horseman

 

A Sunday, Nov. 2 visit to Magnolia Cemetery produced a nice variety of bird photographs, including the effervescent Roseate Spoonbill. See my "Bustling with Birds" post here. 

And a striking Little Blue Heron. 

But what was most striking to me was this sign leaning against a tall magnolia tree. “In Memory of Xuan Chi Diep” it reads. There’s no date, no context, just what you see. 

If I ever noticed the sign before, I do not remember. That’s one of the things I like about Magnolia Cemetery and its 150 acres: seeing something new, though I’ve been here a few hundred times over the years. 

The memorial sign, dislodged from the base that once held it straight, and the Magnolia tree that now supports it are located next to a unique white zinc monument that I wrote about and photographed in my 2014 book, “In the Arms of Angels: Magnolia Cemetery- Charleston’s Treasure of History, Mystery and Artistry.” More on that book here. 

Xuan Chi Diep? So what’s the story here? There must be one. I decided to use the holiday season break from my teaching job to find out. 

And find out I did! 

Marking a Blog Milestone: 500,000 Page Views!

Fast and Furious! On Nov. 11 I noticed my blog’s “Total Pageviews” counter read, as you see, 497,978. That’s getting close to half a million! 

One week later, on Nov. 18, the number eclipsed 500,000. Before leaving SC State for the day, I noticed the number was around 499,640. By the time I settled in at home that evening, the number had climbed to 500,061. 🍾 I didn’t pop the champagne, not literally anyway. But wow! I’m excited to reach such a milestone. In May 2010 I launched my BirdsEyeViews blog with this short post titled "Time to Blog!" I wrote a post in May of this year to recognize 15 years of relentless blogging. Actually relaxing is the better word because I’ve always found this hobby a good one, time well spent. Satisfying is another appropriate word. 

Back in early June when I did the 15th anniversary post, the counter was in the 390,000s. I’m struck by how in the five and a half months since that post I’ve had more than 100,000 page views. That’s about 20,000 views a month. My blog is definitely getting more looks these days. Why? Not sure. I've always made good use of embedded links, label words and descriptive headlines. That helps, I'm thinking.

Magnolia Cemetery- Bustling with Birds!

Charleston's beautiful and historic Magnolia Cemetery continues, for me, to be a great place to visit, especially when it’s one of those “It’s so pretty out, let’s do something” Sunday afternoons. And especially when beach season is over. 

Such was the case on Sunday, Nov. 2. Upon entering the cemetery, the front lagoon quickly came into view and so did lots of birds in the trees by the pond. 

Not just any birds either. This is the colorful paddle-billed Roseate Spoonbill. Such a unique bird! 

A second Roseate Spoonbill was on site, joined on a live oak tree by a trio of White Ibis. 

Fall Chicago Visit: Skyscrapers, Churches, Theaters, Zoos- and Protests?

 

***Favorite Photo***

Next to Charleston, my favorite city in America also begins with Ch: Chicago! 

In the late 1980s-early 1990s we lived in "Chicagoland" then over the years, Alesia's work would bring her to the Windy City, and a few times I was able to join her. In more recent years, we have been back several times to visit our son Justin who lives and works in the city. 

So on Oct. 16 our latest trip began dark and early with a 6 a.m. flight. With the time change, we landed at Chicago O’Hare Airport a little after 7:30 a.m. 

This is a favorite picture I took from the airplane that shows two of the city’s most famous and tallest buildings: Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower) and closer to Lake Michigan is the Hancock Building. 

***Favorite Photo***

We always like to stay downtown near the Chicago River. The Marriott Renaissance Chicago Downtown at 1 W. Wacker was our home for three nights. Though staying on the 13th floor we had good luck being able to check in before 9 a.m., and we made it for the complimentary breakfast just before the concierge room closed at 9. Whew! I needed a hearty breakfast after being up since 3:15 a.m. EST. 

From our hotel room, we had this view of the iconic Chicago Theatre. On Sunday, the theatre had a 50th anniversary screening of the cult classic “Rocky Horror Picture Show.” With the cheapest tickets at $60-plus, we did a hard pass. 

***Favorite Photo***

Unexpected Bird Encounter!

A trip to the Wescott shopping center turned into a bird outing yesterday afternoon! The water reservoir near Marshalls had dozens of wading birds. I saw Wood Storks, White Ibis, Great Egrets and Snowy Egrets. I didn’t have my Canon DSLR so I used my iPhone 12, and it did fine. I later tweaked the images with the Snapseed photo app.

This may have been the most Wood Storks I have ever seen together in one place. 

Wood Storks have several collective names: muster, clatter, swoop, phalanx and…what…filth? A filth of Wood Storks. Doesn’t sound right or good! 

A Bridge Not Too Far for Charlie Kirk

 

My previous post on Sept. 10 was about the great views from under the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge that connects Charleston and Mount Pleasant. (By the way, this is my 450th post, dating back to 2010 when I launched this site). 

Sunday, Sept. 14 found us on the Ravenel Bridge for a somber yet uplifting event. 

This was a vigil for the late Conservative political activist Charlie Kirk who was killed by an assassin on Sept. 10 while hosting an outdoor forum at Utah Valley University. 

Kirk, 31, was an influential advocate for Christ, families and “old fashioned” American values. A gunman has been arrested and may eventually be executed for his crime in a state that has the death penalty. 

After a Sunday dinner at Cracker Barrel (happy that the controversial logo change didn’t happen!), we trekked up the bridge, joining hundreds of flag-bearing patriots. 

See my short video below...

The weather could not have been more accommodating. Not too hot, very pleasant conditions. 

Jesus joined us too in spirit and in this picture brought by, I think, a College of Charleston member of Turning Point USA, the organization Charlie Kirk founded when he was 18 years old. 

The gentleman on the left is Cameron Limes, a news reporter at WCIV Channel 4 TV. 

Vessel Viewing from Under the Ravenel Bridge

 

My exploration of places to see the big ships of Charleston took me recently to Mount Pleasant Memorial Waterfront Park. 

I was hoping to see at least one huge container ship steam by on the Cooper River heading into port or going the other direction out to sea. 

It was a pretty day for photography, right? My plan was to first visit a store in Mount Pleasant and then go to the park. But as I drove on the bridge I could see a container ship heading my way. So I called an audible and hurried to park at the park. 

My hustle paid off as I arrived in time to see a Maersk shipping line vessel approaching the bridge. 

I’m interested in capturing images that show the massive scale of these ocean-faring ships that transport thousands of containers each voyage around the world. 

The Birds of Bermuda

 

I didn’t have to go far to score a lifer bird right away in Bermuda. The Airbnb where we stayed in July had gorgeous Atlantic Ocean views. 

Called Longtails by the locals is a seabird known for its elegant, predominantly white plumage and long white-tail streamers, according to one online description. 

(See my previous posts about our Bermuda trip: "Five Things to Love About Bermuda" and "Bermuda Snorkeling: Swimming with the Fishes.")

All day long these (formal name) White-tailed Tropicbirds flew back and forth near the shoreline. It was a challenge to get quality in-flight images with my Canon SX70 “superzoom” DSLR. 

Occasionally a Longtail would pivot from shore patrol to fly to the limestone cliffs to visit their nests in the many cracks and crevices. Or maybe they are scouting future nest sites. 

These birds rarely stop flying, except to nest and rest, something I never witnessed. For food they will plunge dive into the sea to catch small fish, squids (yuck!) and crustaceans.

Bermuda Snorkeling- Swimming with the Fishes

 

My previous post, “Five Things to Love about Bermuda,” gives a detailed account of our amazing 40th wedding anniversary trip to the island paradise. In this piece, I want to focus on our snorkeling activities. In preparation, we dug our masks and snorkels out of storage (tested them at our neighborhood pool), bought fins and a duffle bag to carry the gear and other things. We ended up only trying the fins once, finding them very awkward on the beach and not really beneficial since we didn't go out too far in the ocean. 

Tobacco Bay in St. George’s, shown in these two photos, was one of several beaches we visited during our July 12-19 vacation. 

Alesia points out fish she saw at Tobacco Bay. I followed her cue and shot the video shown next.

My GoPro Hero Black 8 took many high-quality video and still shots. The attachable yellow handle that floats works great while I swam and looked for fish. I kept the strap around my wrist to avoid the camera getting away from me. I’m not the strongest swimmer, so I felt safer wearing an inflatable vest, especially as we noticed how quickly the water could get very deep. 

Five Things to Love about Bermuda

 

On July 13 Alesia and I celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary in style on the beautiful island of Bermuda. We were there for a week, Saturday to Saturday, July 12-19. I came away impressed with at least five things about Bermuda: its beaches, history, landscape and architecture, restaurants and its people.

Earlier this year Bermudair airline began a weekly direct flight from Charleston to Bermuda’s capital Hamilton. The flight takes only two hours covering the nearly 900 mile distance over the Atlantic Ocean east of the Carolinas. 

Bermuda, a British Overseas Territory, is known for beautiful beaches, turquoise water, pink powdery sand and natural limestone cliffs. I took this photograph at Horseshoe Bay. Keep reading to see more pink sand we found at Warwick Long Bay. 

Snorkeling at the many beaches and bays is also popular. We were definitely down for snorkeling having done some during our several Caribbean Island vacations years ago. Our last Caribbean trip was the British Virgin Islands in 2015. See my photos from BVI! 

I had barely used my GoPro Black 8 underwater camera since then and needed to review how to use it. I did experience some malfunctions the first time or two in Bermuda but kept at it and have many nice captures, video and stills like the image above. 

Alesia is a great swimmer and was very comfortable out there. I felt better wearing an inflatable “floaty” for my safety.