Taylor Reynolds | Photo Of The Month
On the surface this photo is just a picture of a beer, but to me it captures so much more. It was taken on a sunset paddle tour of Stallings Island on the Savannah River. To me this photo encompasses the sense of community built around the love of the outdoors. It was sunset. People were paddling around, jumping off the large rocks that sit on this part of the Savannah River, and gushing over the adorable donkeys that reside on the island. It was my favorite day of summer and for that reason it is my favorite photo that I’ve ever taken.
It’s Springtime!
This little avian family Chose to live at the best address In the best small town in all the South! Now, how smart can that be? The welcome sign was clearly in view And Mrs. Wren knew exactly what to do. A welcoming door, a basket of dogwood A habitat so natural, it looked so good No matter the flowers were artificial The location was perfect, so beneficial. A place protected from wind, sun, and rain Maternal instinct her place to claim The nest, a masterpiece of architecture A perfect place her brood to nurture. Eggs — three, perfect and sky blue When they would hatch only mother knew A […]
Aiken Center for the Arts Exhibition: Grounded
In honor of the 50th anniversary of Friends of Hopelands and Rye Patch, the Aiken Center for the Arts (ACA) presents a collective exhibition of works to celebrate the splendor of historic Rye Patch and Hopelands Gardens as shared spaces of community, connection, and inspiration. Hopelands Gardens and Rye Patch have provided a quiet and peaceful haven for citizens and visitors as well as inspiration to write, paint, sculpt, and photograph. Since 1971 the nonprofit Friends of Hopelands and Rye Patch has worked to raise funds for the preservation, improvement, and use of these historic properties as treasures of the Aiken community. Now in their 50th year of service, Friends […]
The Boston Molasses Disaster
Charleston, South Carolina had its own Tea Party incident on December 3, 1773, 13 days before the one in Boston. You learned about the Boston Tea Party in school, did you not? It was no picnic — It was a protest against taxes imposed on the colonies by the British government. No one was hurt, and no property was damaged. Except, that is, for the 342 crates of tea, about 45 tons, that were dumped into the Boston Harbor on December 16, 1773. I wonder whether all that tea turned the water in the harbor brown… We think of food in small portions — a glass of wine, a slice […]
The Empty Tomb
The morning was quiet, the sun beginning to rise and touch the hills surrounding Jerusalem and the buildings within its walls with soft golden light. Ananias left the inner courts of the Temple, the words of the Shema fading away behind him as he stepped into the Court of the Gentiles. “Shema Yisrael, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai Ehad.” Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One. The smell of animals still filled the courtyard from all the beasts that had inhabited it in the days preceding the Passover, and the Pharisee could still hear the tumultuous noise in his memory. But right now the Temple grounds were quiet […]
Court Tennis Comes to Aiken | Cabinet of Curiosities
Aiken, a town of scarcely 30,000 people, is home to one of only ten court tennis buildings active in the United States. How did this game of royalty and tradition, played by Henry VIII himself, come to these quiet backwoods? It is a story of sportsmen building “a rustic, sporting retreat.” Court tennis, called “real tennis” outside the United States, predates our modern game of tennis (“lawn tennis”). It likely evolved from a game played in medieval courtyards that involved hitting a ball back and forth with a bare hand, later with a glove. By Renaissance times, there were hundreds of enclosed courts in Europe, and the glove had been […]
Grocery Stores in Aiken
Most people take for granted the convenience and “luxury” of shopping in the modern mega grocery stores of today like Kroger, Publix, Fresh Market, and Walmart. Things were not always this way. A Brief History Prior to 1946 most grocery stores in Aiken — the exception would be Hahn and Co. on Laurens Street where Aiken Drugs used to be — were small mom-and-pop operations that just sold basic staples. That all changed in 1946 with the opening of the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Co., better known as the A&P, on Park Avenue in what is now the Chesser Building. Augusta University Health and Aiken Dermatology reside in that […]
Ancestral DNA Endures
Our DNA story has been developing since the beginning of time. While environmental conditions played a part in who we are today, the human race is one race, and we are all connected to one another. Sometimes we discover new truths about our origins, different from what we expected through no fault of our own. On March 3, 2019, my life changed forever. My mother adopted me from birth, which makes this recent event in my life even more dynamic. Before her annual Christmas trip to Oregon, prior to COVID, she handed me a small attractive foiled box. Inside was an envelope and instructions for submitting an Ancestry DNA® test. […]
