Day 2 - South Carolina - Winter Daphnes are in Bloom

Philippians 2:1-5

If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ,

if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit,

if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete

by being like-minded, having the same love,

being one in spirit and purpose.

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit,

but in humility consider others better than yourselves.

Each of you should look not only to your own interests

but also to the interests of others.

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.

I've searched HARD for happy photos on this trip but nothing is blooming and I haven't seen but THREE cats all day -- one was afraid of me, one was on a pool cover napping and one was climbing down from the roof and entering the house through a rotten area on the eaves. Now, THAT was a photo I wanted, but I was driving down the road. The few dogs I've seen are all barking at me and don't really want their photos taken. So, hopefully there will be SOMETHING exciting to report from South Carolina before the trip is over. It's cold and everything is in hiding -- either in their homes if they are people or animals or in the ground if they are flowers.

The exception was the sweet lady who went over to one of her blooming bushes and plucked a piece off and said, "Here, you need some of this winter Daphne. It smells so good." What a sweet gesture. I took it and it is in my car. I had never heard of it before and IMAGINE my surprise when I looked it up and this is what the information said:

Winter Daphne is native to China and has been described in that culture's literature and pharmacopoeia for a thousand years. It was also depicted on a Japanese scroll in 1309. the plant was named by Thunberg who first saw it in 18th century Japan and described it in his work, Flora Japonica. The genus contains about 50 species.

China, eh? A little God humor.

Then, a few houses down the road, I came to a really nice home, a 70s style home that had been remodeled. Apparently, the owner had a serious interest in all things Asian as the decks, yard, gardens -- everything -- had an Asian decorated flair. There were concrete pagodas, Buddha statutes, bamboo gardens, the sign below, Asian garden flags and a fish pond. I checked his name thinking I'd find something Asian -- nope, last name Barnes - my mother's maiden name. Hhhh??

I really like what Columbia has done with it's downtown area (near the University of South Carolina's campus). It seems like many of the older warehouses have been converted -- recycled, gone "green", refurbished, whatever the correct political term is these days -- to new "modern" facilities. I was amazed at this Publix. (Yes, I took the photo from the car -- I WAS at a stop light).

Wikipedia indicates this: Publix grocery store in the historic Congaree Vista district downtown, housed in the former Confederate Printing Plant.

It is a full-service grocery store, one of a handful of full service grocery stores in a downtown area.

Then they converted this warehouse into their state museum.

Wikipedia says it is the largest museum in the southeast and I believe it. This photo does NOT do it justice. It is just huge! This is from Wikipedia as well:

Positioned on an old shipping canal on the Congaree River that dates back to pre-Civil War times, the museum is widely recognized as a resource for South Carolina history and lifestyle. The museum is housed in what was once a booming textile mill. On certain levels of the museum, the original flooring has been kept intact, distinguishable by hundreds of textile brads and rings (that carried the threads during the spinning process) that became embedded in the floor while it was still being used as a mill. The museum is notable for its recreation of a great white shark suspended mid-air on the second floor just around a corner, which has scared countless groups of young children.

Much like my trip to Great Falls today I saw several former "mills". South Carolina has a history rich in the textile world. There is a warehouse fire going on in a neighboring town that I've been following on the local news -- it reminds me of the stories I heard while in Great Falls about the fire in one of their warehouses.

Here is a photo of Olympia Mills

The first few years of the 20th century saw Columbia emerge as a regional textile manufacturing center. In 1907, Columbia had six mills in operation: Richland, Granby, Olympia Mills, Capital City, Columbia, and Palmetto. Combined, they employed over 3,400 workers with an annual payroll of $819,000, giving the Midlands an economic boost of over $4.8 million.

One of W.B. Smith Whaley’s four Columbia textile mills, the Olympia Mill, opened in 1899 and with over 100,000 spindles and 2,250 looms, it was the largest cotton mill under one roof in the world. The mill is a monumental four-story rectangular brick building standing to the north of the Olympia mill village. The building stands one hundred fifty-one feet, two inches wide and five hundred fifty-three feet, two inches long. This site has a fascinating paper on the Olympia Mill and Village.

So, does anyone UNDERSTAND this photo? I took it from an angle that would provide you with the necessary information to see my dilemma. When I arrive at a house, the first thing I do is knock on the door to let the homeowner know why I am there (assuming they are home). At this house, I knocked, got no answer and moved on around to the back. On my way back around, I saw this. Hmmm..... why do you think anyone would design a house like this??? Who would want a house like this. I guess it does discourage the door-to-door salesmen. What you have is a "false" door that if you knock on it -- so what? The "real" door is behind it and you can't access it without going through the "fake" door. Odd.

So I completed 97 jobs today -- two day total 187. I've returned some that didn't map and think that I have 646 more to go. There are two days that I know I can only do around 40 each day -- the work is spread out those days. I'm going to do one of those on Saturday. This means on the remainder of days I'll need to complete 95 a day -- or just return a few more. I told a friend today that I think I just get too hard on myself on these trips. It's like I feel like if I don't do 125 a day, I'm slacking -- but I'm not and I need to realize that. I decided today I would get up, start working at 8 and work until 4:30-5:00 in the field and do what I can and not stress about it. It was a much better day.

Two down, nine to go. I'm ready to go home.