Song of Promise

This image was not intended to be a Christmas image, but I feel it is the perfect way to end my Christmas postings. I looked again at it this morning and thought of the Christmas story. In particular the part of the angel coming to the shepherds and telling them..fear not, for I bring you tidings of great joy... To me this symbolizes everything about the St. Joseph's family. A haven to help those who we would consider cast outs. A place for children to have hope and rest. A place where opportunity can be found. Not only to help themselves, but to also learn the joy and reward of being able to help others in need. Despite all our problems, there are always others who have things more difficult and need someone to lend them a helping hand. So with this I end my Christmas postings and wish you all a blessed holiday season; and remember, fear not, for God brings us tidings of great joy.

http://www.heirloomcrafters.com/gallery/songofpromise.html

Silent Night

As the carol goes; " All is calm, all is bright..." was the inspiration for this shot. It was taken in our home from our own Christmas tree. I was sitting in our den when I happened to glance over and notice the soft glow given off by the ornament and the lights surrounding it. Isolating the ornament and the other two lights gave the impression of time standing still and just enjoying the moment. I hope everyone has an opportunity to enjoy such stillness and rest over this Christmas holiday. Merry Christmas.

http://www.heirloomcrafters.com/gallery/silentnight.html

Hidden Treasures

I used this image as Christmas card one year and it received rave reviews. I named it Hidden Treasures, not because of the berries hiding under the leave, but because this photograph was not taken during the winter. I took this in the fall, and when I stripped the color, it gave it this wintery appearance. It is amazing what can be accomplished through digital technology and creativity.

http://www.heirloomcrafters.com/gallery/hiddentreasures.html

Winter Wonderland

I am willing to bet a number of people suffer from the same dilemma I do. A cold or flu either during Thanksgiving or Christmas. It seems every year I end up with a bug on one of the two holidays. I dodged the bullet last year and are hoping for a two for two. During one of those bouts I was home and it started snowing. As we live in NC, snow is pleasantly absent most of the winter. So while I was buried under a blanket drinking warm tea I sat looking at this little snowman. His cheeks were rosy and he had such a fun loving smile I had to snap his picture. I have since learned there is quite a large group of individuals who love to collect snowmen, myself being a recent convert. So wherever you are this holiday season, may you enjoy a winter wonderland if you love snow, and for those of us where snow at Christmas equals a snow balls chance in hell, may we get some to look pretty and then quickly melt away.

http://www.heirloomcrafters.com/gallery/winterwonderland.html

Season's Greetings

This is one of my first images for Christmas. It lent itself well to become a contrast image. I enjoyed the smile on the little snowman's face and how his hat matched the poinsetta. Now, some 4 or 5 years later, I look at the image and the title and think about how non denominational we have become. Season's Greetings has become a part of our lexicon to avoid insulting any one person's religion. I think it is sad we have gone so far to this extreme, and instead of celebrating everyone's diverse religious beliefs, we worry about offending them. God came to everyone, not just a few. Each religion has a God and a mediator and different ways of expressing their faith. We should be celebrating during this season the graciousness of an inclusive God and not a divisive one. Perhaps one day we will all learn to appreciate the diversity and practices of each other, without the need to feel any one group has the correct answer. Maybe then we can truly say, "Season's Greetings" and have it mean a season of love, togetherness and peace on Earth.

http://www.heirloomcrafters.com/gallery/seasonsgreetings.html

Old Father Christmas

Christmas time is here, happiness and cheer. Those are the first couple of lines of a favorite Christmas song from a holiday cartoon classic. In our house we have a number of Santa Clauses. It is one of the few things collected. They vary from old fashioned, current, art deco, etc. Each one has it's own story surrounding what was going on. The two here have especially good faces and make a perfect companion to my other Christmas images. Over the next couple of weeks, I will post my Christmas image collection which are available on our site, www.heirloomcrafters.com. So enjoy this holiday season and don't let the bad economy dampen your spirit. We have a time honored tradition with our friends. We get gifts for the children, but for each other we provide a donation to a favorite charity. This relieves the stress of holiday shopping and gives a gift that gives back. Merry Christmas.

http://www.heirloomcrafters.com/gallery/oldfatherchristmas.html

Hark

Well it is that time of year again, Christmas is coming fast. Each year it seems we rush more and more to purchase anything and everything we possibly can in recognition of the greatest gift man has been given. Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas, but just not the pushing and shoving at Walmart or other retailers. The image to your right is called Hark. It is Haitian metal art, and is hanging at Wings of Hope in Fermathe, Haiti. I titled the image Hark as it is an interesting word, an Old English word meaning to listen. I hope we all can take a moment and listen to the real meaning behind Christmas, and who knows, we may even enjoy ourselves.

http://www.heirloomcrafters.com/gallery/hark.html

Focus

All things happen for a reason, and so was our stay in Haiti. When we arrived, we were only supposed to be at Wings of Hope for a day and a night; however, our stay lasted longer. The 2008 spring food riots were in full swing. Cars burning, rocks pushed off the roads above to block the streets below and buildings having their windows smashed out. No one was moving anywhere, so we got an opportunity to spend more time with the Wings children, one on one. Renee had a quarterly mailing to do for the children's sponsors, so we decided to help with the mailing. We all divided up into groups and took children and traced their hands and feet. It was a lot of fun, we all had a great time doing it. Once I completed our groups, I grabbed my camera and started walking around. As I got to the second floor, I saw Josephine was getting her tracing done. Now understand, Josephine had me wrapped right around her little finger, so as I sat down to watch, I couldn't pass up this shot. Focus seemed to be the correct title as both Maya and Josephine seemed very intent on what was occurring. Once we were all completed we sat and folded them up to go to their sponsors. It was fun and fulfilling and allowed me a chance to focus on something positive, while chaos was happening all around us.

http://www.heirloomcrafters.com/gallery/focus.html

Decisions

One afternoon we were walking along the trail of Chinqua Penn where the stream trickles to the lake. We were stopped by a really colorful dragon fly just flitting around landing here and there along the stream. I was glad for the distraction, because when I looked down I saw this little orange frog. I had not seen one in years and was excited to see one again. I only had my telephoto lens with me, but I was able to play around with it for a bit, and capture this neat perspective. The lens kept the frog and directly in front of him in focus, but the rest out of focus. It creates an illusion of looking through an eye at frog. I called the image Decisions, because the lens gives the illusion of him either staying in place or hopping forward, so the decision is his to make. It reminds me of the decisions we all have each day, do we go forward or stand still.

http://www.heirloomcrafters.com/gallery/decisions.html

Indian Summer

Fall is a favorite time of year for a lot of us. Growing up in NH I got to see some dramatic fall foliage every year. A couple years ago I was driving around Reidsville and saw this maple tree in the lot of the drivers license office. The sun was shinning through the yellow leaves and made the tree just glow. So I grabbed my camera and walked around under the tree. It was Indian Summer and the day was warm, but with a nice breeze. I have a favorite fleece blanket that is similar in color, so I felt as if I was snuggled up in my blanket while under this tree. Then while I was just mulling around, the sun hit the tree and gave me a chance to get this amazing shot. It is during one of those moments where you give a big thank you to for the beauty around us each day.

http://www.heirloomcrafters.com/gallery/indiansummer.html

Halloween

Ghosts and goblins, spooky spirits, snips and snails and puppy dog tails, that's what Halloween is made of. One of our many trips to the Outer Banks of NC brought us to this cemetery. We frequent Oriental and the numerous sites around. I think I took this in Bath NC, home of the infamous Blackbeard. Inside it we found a grave with a cannon, live oaks with long branches almost embracing the tombstones, and many old grave stones. It was afternoon, so long shadows started to creep their way over the landscape. It was perfect for a Halloween image. I hope you enjoy and have a great time during the Halloween season. BOO!

http://www.heirloomcrafters.com/gallery/halloween.html

Gardenia

A couple of very dear friends gave us two gardenia plants they had started from cuttings. As a fun thank you, we named the two bushes after them. Fraysure and Dale went in a very prominent spot in our front garden. This way when they blossomed we, and our friends, could enjoy the fragrance entering or leaving the house. Well, as stories go with a lot of couples, Fraysure started out strong and Dale didn't seem to be too interested in competing. Then one season Dale took off. (We all agreed she was just a late bloomer.) Poor Fraysure, he was being out done by his wife, and we all had a good laugh. Well, this year Fraysure put his best foot forward and here is a shot of two of the beautiful blossoms produced. Way to go Fray!

http://www.heirloomcrafters.com/gallery/gardenia.html

Recycled

One of the things I marveled at while in Haiti was the use of everything. Nothing went to waste. What someone may discard got reused by someone else. The Haitians have recycling down pat, and we as a country could learn from their example. I saw this angel statue and while the work is beautiful, it is even more so when you see the different scraps of metal used in its design. A brilliant combination of discarded items to become something treasured. How many of us have heard the old expression "One man's junk is another man's treasure"?


http://www.heirloomcrafters.com/gallery/recycled.html

Dichotomy

To the left is another of the stark contrasts to be seen in Haiti. Here is a nation with most of it's populace struggling to earn enough to eat. And then with in viewing distance is a well maintained house with a swimming pool. Dichotomy seemed an appropriate name. I was amazed to see so many homes without windows, paint, doors, or even finished roofs and then see these three homes rise up out of the chaos. In this 2008 election season, we are hearing all about the fear of socialism and wealth redistribution, but at what point does it become necessary to question the logic of such extremes? I don't presume to know the answer, but I do feel compelled to ask the question. I feel if I have enough to help those in need, it is my responsibility to do so. But at the same time I cannot judge someone elses behavior no matter how opposed I am to it. So, not only does the image reflect a visual dichotomy, but an emotional dichotomy as well. I keep falling back to the old Bible verse of judge not, for by the same measure you judge others, so shall you be judged.

http://www.heirloomcrafters.com/gallery/dichotomy.html

Blanc

The image you see to the left is a portion of an amazing fountain in St. Joseph's. For me it symbolizes a number of different things. In Haitian Kreyole, Blanc means Non Haitian. In French blanc means white. I did not see this fountain until the end of our trip, but it represents what we experienced during our trip. While we were in Haiti, the food riots of this year were in full swing. We were unable to move about freely as car fires, road blocks and general unrest were running rampant. People were rioting against the high cost of rice, a major staple in their diet. We stayed in our guest house most of the time, but Peter ventured out on to the streets with a local guide. While he was walking to the Catholic Church in Fermathe, he was told to go away. Not because he was a Blanc, but because they were afraid for his safety. I also received a surprising response when I was on the roof of our guest house with Gesner, one of the residents of Wings. The women on the street gave me disgusted looks, again not because I was a Blanc, but because of who I was standing with. Haitians have religious roots in Voodoo. Voodoo believes a handicapped person should be put out as they are demon possessed. Gesner holding my hand in public represented a number of religious and cultural taboos in their minds. Once we left Wings and went to St. Joseph's I could not shake the image of the women from my mind. I was both angry and surprised to see women hold such animosity and to harbor more than the men I saw. Then I saw this fountain and thought, if only we could all look at each other without description. The blank and colorless face of this fountain made me pray for all humans. I prayed we all would view each other more like this fountain and not be influenced by color or disability. Naive, I hope not, because I honestly believe in heaven their are no such distinctions and we are all equal.

http://www.heirloomcrafters.com/gallery/blanc.html

Cave Treasure

In our meanderings through the various shops around Charleston, we discovered this little shop with an interesting display of crystals. Throughout the store they had several lit up as you see here.







http://www.heirloomcrafters.com/gallery/cavetreasure.html

Carriage Ride

While in Charleston we did the traditional tourist items including a carriage tour from Palmetto Carriage Company. http://www.carriagetour.com/splash.asp The barn interior was fun and included these interesting lights in the ceiling. If in Charleston, I would use these folks again. The were helpful, informative during the tour, and best of all, the guide was funny.




http://www.heirloomcrafters.com/gallery/carriageride.html

The Ghosts of Charleston

Anyone who has visited Charleston discovers a couple of things. There are lots of ghost tours, images of the bridge and the historic district. I had fun playing with the shutter speed on my camera while on a dinner cruise in Charleston. I love how this one came out. I thought it appropriate to name it The Ghosts of Charleston since it combined the location, along with the other interesting points of interest. The dinner cruise was great, and anyone wanting to take it should look up Fort Sumter Tours. There link is http://www.spiritlinecruises.com/

http://www.heirloomcrafters.com/gallery/ghostsofcharleston.html

Market Square

While on a recent excursion to Charleston, SC, I got to walk through the historic district into the Market Square area. Immediately the ceiling caught my eye with the combination of angles and lights, so I pointed the camera and clicked. We also found lots of interesting things to look at from the vendors and found one gentleman who was selling a acupressure device. Let me tell you, it works! It helps reduce pain and was brilliant. Needless to say, I not only walked away with a cool photography, but a great product as well. Make sure you pay the market a visit when you are in Charleston.

http://www.heirloomcrafters.com/gallery/marketsquare.html

Gaze Towards Heaven

One of the last things we got to experience in Haiti before we left was the evening prayer at St. Joseph's. Each morning and evening the boys get together for prayer and worship. Bill was leading the night we asked if we could sit in. We sat in the back observing and not fully understanding everything being said. Occasionally I would recognize a word or two, but it was a moving experience being only an observer. One of the things the boys did during the prayer was to recognize actions others had done throughout the day. I heard the name Chris mentioned and did not pay it much attention. I assumed they were speaking of one of the youth in the group. After my name was mentioned again, I noticed everyone looking at me. Then Bill told me the boys had recognized me for helping the children at Wings of Hope. I was shocked! Not only did I think anything I had done was significant, but I was amazed at how they knew we had helped with the children. Here were all these young boys and men praying in the midst of tremendous turmoil in their country, and recognizing the little I had done to help. I was not only amazed, but deeply moved. It reminded me of the Biblical allegory told to most children of how God keeps his eye on the sparrow, just as this cross watches over those who enter the prayer room. It also showed me how even the smallest of our actions can be noticed by others around us. It is both comforting and daunting to realize you are being watched for both the good and the bad we do.

http://www.heirloomcrafters.com/gallery/gazetowardsheaven.html

Peacfulness

On our return trip from Haiti, we stopped along the beach just on the other side of the Florida in Georgia. I can't remember the name of the town, but we had the best soft serve ice cream you can imagine. Better yet, you had the choice of 40 or more flavors for it, who knew! While we were eating our ice cream, I happened to cross the street and step out onto the beach. As you can see the sky was beautiful and the streaks left behind by the planes out of the airport just added to the effect. It was a nice relaxing moment where everything just seemed to click together .

http://www.heirloomcrafters.com/gallery/peacefulness.html

Nancy Hill

Anyone who remembers Nancy Hill will understand why I named this after her. For me, this is the complete embodiment of her. Sea Holly is pretty, unusual, blue (her favorite color) and prickly. All her best attributes. So when she passed away, I planted this in honor of her and as a fond remembrance of a dear friend.





http://www.heirloomcrafters.com/gallery/nancyhill.html

Artiste doue' (Gifted Artist)

I have thought long about this article, and all things keep coming back to the story of Job. When we first were preparing to go to Haiti, someone gave us a study guide of Job to bring for the youth. When we returned to the States, we learned one of the youth, Job, had passed away. So as I was sitting here pondering what to say about this image, Job again popped into my mind. I have just recently completed reading the book of Job for the second time. While I see the story so many see, which is the perseverance of faith by Job; there is another story that goes overlooked. The beginning of Job starts with a conversations between God and Satan. Satan goes before God and they discuss God's servant Job. This conversation occurs a couple of different times. Each time God says how there is no one else like Job. Satan then asks to prove God wrong by visiting Job with terrible trials. God agrees as long as Satan does not kill Job. This to me isn't the whole story of Job. I apologize if this sounds preachy, but as I continue to look around our world, I see a lack of understanding when it comes to cause and effect. When we were created we were given the freedom of choice, what we obtained in the Garden of Eden was the knowledge or good and evil. Each choice we make has a consequence. Several times in Proverbs Solomon talks about the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. Solomon doesn't say fear of God equals wisdom, but begins to teach us wisdom. For me, this symbolizes the making of choices to benefit others, not just myself. As children we are taught to fear the consequences of not doing what I parents say. Those words are designed to keep us from hurting ourselves. Later, as we grow older, that fear is replaced with love and respect for our parents and the lessons they taught us. We also replace fear with a desire to make our parents proud. So we begin with our fear of God and grow to our love and desire to make God proud. As I approach moving from fear to love and desire a miraculous thing happened. I began to want to do good and help others, not out a selfish desire to earn God's favor, but because it is the right thing to do. Now that I have taken the long way around to my point. The first part of Job shows me a lesson of God teaching Satan. Look at my servant Job, there is none like him. Job was one who matured in wisdom and God wanted to show Satan what that maturity looked like. Satan still being consumed by selfish needs for approval and power sought to destroy Job. So, how does this all come together? I have asked Walnes a question. If you could have one prayer answered, what would it be? Perhaps when he answers, the answer will be for wisdom as he and the others at St. Joseph's already have the strength of Job.

http://www.heirloomcrafters.com/gallery/artistedoue.html

Happiness Explosion

This is how I first met Juni at Wings, shy and yet curious. Later as we saw more of each other and we interacted, she became far less shy and a joy to see. Juni would greet me each time in the various parts of the house with the biggest smile and the loudest squeal of delight! Her smile was truly from ear to ear and she was bursting at the seams with happiness. It is that smile and happiness I remember any time I am feeling down or out of sorts, and once I remember it, I too get a smile on my face from ear to ear.

http://www.heirloomcrafters.com/gallery/happinessexplosion.html

Into the Wild Blue Yonder

The smile on our faces doesn't even begin to show the fun we had on this trip. Before we went to Haiti we had a couple days in Florida. We drove through all the keys and ended up in Key West. On the way back to Ft. Lauderdale, we stopped on Marathon Island as we went by the airport and saw a bi-plane ride. Anyone who knows us, knows we had to do it. So we contacted the pilot and away we went. What a ride, we pulled negative g's, figure 8's and other acrobatics. We got to fly over 7 Mile bridge and had an absolute blast. We would recommend Capt. Paul's ride to anyone in the area. His website is http://www.conch-air.com/ it is well worth the time and money.

Waiting in Silence

If I had to pick a picture to rank as number two from our trip, this would be the one. We were at St. Joseph's and Peter was trying to get me to take a picture of Woodtrod playing soccer. Before I got focused in on Woodtrod, I saw this man in my view finder and quickly snapped his picture. He is a graduate of the St. Joseph's Family, but is deaf. Despite this, you can see a hint of a smile on his face, and everyday he comes to the gate looking for food. As I look at him, I know I will follow his lead. I will wait in silence hoping people will learn and things will change, all the time waiting for the hint of a smile showing things are improving. There are times in each of our lives where we wished silence was observed, but those hopes are dashed as people cannot seem to cooperate and work in harmony. We all feel the need to try to make others see our point of view no matter the cost. I remember the old saying, don't talk about the spec in your brother's eye while you don't see the plank in your own eye. May we all pay more attention to our own plank before looking at another person's spec.

http://www.heirloomcrafters.com/gallery/waitinginsilence.html

St. Joseph's Song

We have been back stateside for over a week now, but I still feel disconnected and not settled back into the American lifestyle. It was much easier to adjust to Haitian time and way of life;(if you have been to Haiti you understand what I mean), it has it's own rhythm. Since electricity is not as reliable as in other parts of the developed world, Haiti runs on the sun. I remember getting up early when the roosters started crowing, and the people across the valley started singing and working the fields. I also went to bed earlier as we didn't know how long electricity was going to be on. So a watch was not necessary and I packed mine after the first day. Today I discovered what was missing and why I feel out of sorts. When we got to St. Joseph's I had an opportunity to be alone upstairs in the meditation area. I listened to the people all around, radios, children and intermixed with all of this was the chime you see in the image. It was like no other chime I have heard. John, a musician who was at St. Joseph's at the same time we were, and I agreed later it had a song of its own. Most chimes have a random sound and can be sometimes quite annoying, but this one had a lilting melody of its own which complimented the surrounding sounds of life in Port au Prince. Since I have been back to the States, I noticed Americans tend to live very isolated lives. We are in our cars, our houses, our jobs, etc and everything is quiet. Even when we go outside things tend to be quiet, even in the city. We are in the middle of our town, and yet we can go outside in the backyard and hear very little, save the occasional siren or the birds chirping . I miss the sounds of life happening and the energy it produces. I miss the sense of connection with the people and the city around me. I miss the St. Joseph's Song that made me feel at home and alive. Fortunately, when I return to the choir loft of First Presbyterian Church in Reidsville, I will get to fell a glimmer of that same connection. As I will look out and smile at the people we have gotten so close to, and have them smile back; it will generate the same warmth I felt while in Haiti.

http://www.heirloomcrafters.com/gallery/stjosephssong.html

An Angel Goes Home

Since our return I have been spending my evenings going through images and assigning titles. I had left this one until later, but received an email that put a name to the print. I had taken this at St. Joseph's, but the name comes from Wings of Hope. I received an email this afternoon from Renee concerning a young man we did not get to meet. Job was very ill and KC and the nurse had been spending countless hours working toward getting him well. While we were at Wings the food riots were reaching their peak. Tap-Taps were not running, gas stations were closed, and the area surrounding Port au Prince had pretty much shut down. KC lives at Wings and would come to dinner late every evening after doing what was needed for Job. She would let Peter, Renee and I know how he was and if she had been able to get him to eat. The nurse that works at Wings is a Haitian nurse and lived in Port au Prince. The day we were supposed to leave Wings was when even the driver did not feel safe enough to leave his home. We saw the nurse and heard of her dedication. She had gotten a ride on the back of a motorcycle as high up the mountain as she could. I believe I heard she paid $40 for the ride, then after she had ridden as far as she could, she walked the rest of the way. This walk is not your walk to the corner and back. This is a hike that was not only physically grueling, but mentally as well. She worked that day and the staff at Wings encouraged her to stay the night, to which she replied, "I have a mother at home I need to get back to..." There are so many amazing things in this story. One is how Haitian's view disabled children; part of their culture has ties to voodoo. In voodoo, we were told, disabled children are viewed as being possessed by the devil. A fact I personally encountered while being given a tour of Wings by David.(more on this later) So for a Haitian nurse to show such compassion for a disabled child not only speaks volumes about her, but also for the staff in the St. Joseph's family. I am sad to say we learned this evening that Job has lost his fight to recover, but he will not be forgotten. Our thoughts are with KC, the nurse, Renee and all the members of the St. Joseph's family as one of their angels goes home.

http://www.heirloomcrafters.com/gallery/anangelgoeshome.htmol

Haitian Hope

This last week I have been culling through the 1,000 plus images I took and trying to sort out everything we saw and experienced while in Haiti. As any photographer will tell you, there are some images that when you see them you say, "this is the one", this is that one for me. When I first saw it my immediate thought was, Haitian hope. Lulu is his name, and in our time in Haiti he spent a great deal of time with us, studying us, playing with us and teaching us. Don't get me wrong, he is still quite the character and those big brown eyes conceal a boy who is quite the instigator. But, you couldn't help to fall in love with him and the other children at Wings. Despite all the unrest, we were cocooned in this home for disabled children in the mountains. We were given the opportunity to learn about them and for our beginnings, work to find others to share in their hope. Haitians do not want a hand out, but a hand up. They want to be able to find their own way. In the meantime, it is children such as these who are outcasts in Haitian society that can benefit from our hand up. 300US per year sponsors one of these children, and I would dare to say 90% or more of the money goes to the care of these children. The staff we got to meet donate their time and fund raise their money from others so the money for Wings of Hope goes to the children. If you would like more information on Wings of Hope, email me at cmatthews@heirloomcrafters.com and I can get you in touch with Renee to see how you can help.

http://www.heirloomcrafters.com/gallery/haitianhope.html

Amazing things still happen

We are winding down the preparations for our trip to Haiti next week. The tickets and reservations are all made and now we just have to wait. During this waiting we have been asked to speak with a young man in Haiti, named Polo, about potential for him to be educated in the US. In our emails getting to know him, Peter asked him what we could bring to him or his family. He had the courage to ask for a laptop. We were both discouraged as I did not know of any of my clients who may have one they were retiring from service. Then the next day while I was going to Mt. Airy I got a call from one of my clients with an issue. Before I took the call I remembered they had replaced a laptop a few months ago and still had not sold it. After speaking with them we were able to come to an agreement and amazingly he now has a laptop for school, whether it be here in the US or anywhere. A big thank you to my friends at Fine Furniture Design and Marketing. Who says miracles don't happen! Here is a picture of Polo and his older brother provided to us by one of those involved in making a difference in this young man's life.

UPDATE:

Our journey to deliver this and the other generous gifts to Haiti was arduous. We packed everything and had one carry on each and then a total of 3 suitcases with basic need items for St. Joseph's Family. Our trip to the airport was uneventful, but the flight was not. Our bags were checked and we were in line to board the plane when SkyBus went bankrupt. I watched the cockpit go black while people were running around yelling at flight attendants and other airline workers about the delay. Since there was going to be no flight, we got our bags back and started to think of how we were going to make our reservations and connecting flights in Ft. Lauderdale. Fortunately, we had a couple of days to make the connecting flight. We went home and looked at alternate flights, trains, etc. All were way to expensive. Our final decision was to either drive or not go. We decided to plug on and drive to Florida bright and early the following morning.

Our journey in the morning itself was not without incident. We started south on I85 to make our way to FL. As we approached Charlotte, NC we saw 2 accidents. There is a sharp corner on 85/77 as you approach uptown. I told Peter to slow down as the roads were wet. As we rounded the corner we saw two cards partially out of the road which we narrowly missed. Then as went further down the highway, we just missed another accident. The car had it's front end caved in and no sign of the other driver. We made sure the person was ok and proceeded on.

We were glad to make it through all the accidents unscathed and continue on our journey. The weather was bad and we were running into patches of heavy thunderstorms and rain. We heard of hail and tornadoes as we were driving through SC. Peter said if we heard of anymore tornadoes we were turning around, but I persuaded him to continue. We got through the bad weather and into GA. Once in the sunshine again we talked to his mother. She told us it was amazing we made it through SC and didn't see any of the tornadoes reported in the area we were driving in.

We continued on and made it to they Keys and enjoyed ourselves and prepared for our flight with Spirit Air into Port au Prince. It was an adventure indeed, but one we stuck through and were glad we did.

Blog Entry dated 03/27/2008 7:00 AM

Welcome to the Heirloom Photography blog. Here you will see some new works before they enter the gallery, stories from our trips and other things that rattle around in my brain. I am also excited and hope to see images and stories from the St. Jospeh's Family houses. I have given them access to contribute to this blog so we all get to see and hear events as they occur.