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11-25-2021 No visit today to the cemetery, but my deceased family members are in my thoughts. Death is the permanent, irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Brain death is sometimes used as a legal definition of death. The remains of a previously living organism normally begin to decompose shortly after death.

Here’s a look at the tome stones located at Holly Cross cemetery. I photographed the sculptures at the cemetery that I visited yesterday.
The purpose was to pay respects to my ancestries on Thanksgiving day, but what I found was a great opportunity for some fine art photography in a peaceful lonely setting.

The trees and landscape are beautiful and happy and I felt it.
It was like this beautiful day had come to me, to enjoy and connect with the spirits. I’m sure winter will be here soon.

Please feel free to leave comments as they are much appreciated.

https://www.louisdallaraphotography.com/

The Pineapple Fountain is a focal point of the Charleston Waterfront Park, which people have been enjoying since it opened in 1990 – the spring after Hurricane Hugo. Pineapple motifs are common in Charleston and represent hospitality.

Did you know that the pineapple is a symbol of hospitality here in Charleston? The pineapple isn’t native to Charleston though, so… how did that happen?

The pineapple came to Charleston from South America by way of the Caribbean because of Charleston’s prominence as a port city. Fruits + other sweets weren’t very common in the colonial days, so the pineapple was a hit. It was an exotic, never-before-seen fruit and quickly became a symbol of hospitality.

And while the history of exactly how + why the pineapple came to mean so much to Charleston is fuzzy, a common belief is that we have sailors to thank for making pineapples synonymous with our southern hospitality. When sailors would come home after a long trip at sea, they would often spear a pineapple onto their fence post to let everyone know they made it home safely.

The speared pineapple was an invitation to come in for a drink or a meal + exchange stories of travel. Pineapples also came to represent luxury because they were so difficult to come by, took years to grow, and often went bad before arriving on the SC coast.

Because they were so hard to come by, if your hostess offered you pineapple it meant they considered you to be someone to impress, while also showcasing their wealth + ability to care for guests.

We don’t spear pineapples to our fences anymore, but these days the pineapple can still be found on local menus, jewelry, gate embellishments, and of course – the pineapple fountain at Waterfront Park — which welcomes visitors near + far.

South Carolina’s own Cypress trees

Nestled within a black water cypress swamp and home of the movie set The Patriot with Mel Gibson set in the , South Carolina.

“Autumn would come to this place of welcome,
this place I would know to be home.
Autumn would come and the air would grow cool,
dry and magic, as it does that time of the year.”
— Henry Rollins

I'm a tree hugger and I found this very old Cedar Tree in the Atsion Lake area in New Jersey Pine Barrens. Please visit and I would love to hear some comments.
Thank You Lou

The trip to Rancocass turned out to be a bummer. I was over run with mosquitoes and didn’t have the right gear for the jungle. I sadly aborted the trip after 3 tries with hopes of returning someday.
My forest bathing includes breath work mediation and some photography.
I start the breath work mediation and conclude after I have made a connection to mother natures world. Afterward I would start the walk and when mother nature called me, I stop and I capture a photo or two. I spend some time to analyze the communication and feelings.

After a long spell and a flight disaster I recovered and I'm happy to say I'm back in the air again. As technology changes we have to learn new tricks on how to process images.
This image is form one of my favorite places in the New Jersey Pine Barrens.

https://www.louisdallaraphotography.com/2021/09/11/bartrams-gardens/

A nation that is premised on an idea—not on an alleged shared bloodline or eons of history on common acreage—is prone to periodically question exactly who and what it is. The matter that binds Americans, as much as any doctrine or document, is the pursuit of a definition of who Americans are. There are facile adjectives applied to us—optimistic, volatile, swaggering—but they more often seem to apply to pretensions that we wear before the world. Who we are in our unguarded moments, and even what portion of people are included in the word we, is another matter entirely.

I use to work at Lockheed Martin Corp in King of Prussia PA and spent all my free time in the Valley Forge National Historical Park.
Valley Forge National Historical Park is the site of a Revolutionary War encampment, northwest of Philadelphia, in Pennsylvania. Washington’s Headquarters, a stone house on the Schuylkill River, was occupied by George Washington from 1777 to 1778. Trails connect the key monuments and historic structures, including the early-20th-century National Memorial Arch