Mississippi Delta #3

Sharkey County, Mississippi

Flat, open land inspires a minimalist esthetic. I like this kind of landscape, perhaps because it is so different from the rolling hills and mountains that surround me day-to-day. I like the lines and light, the shapes and textures of the Mississippi Delta. Often simple things have the most power to stir our memory.

I like this picture because I remember standing on the side of that dirt road on a late summer afternoon as the rain scented air rustled around me. I can almost smell it.

Mississippi Delta #2

Warren County, Mississippi 

This picture was taken a few miles north of Vicksburg, at the very southern edge of the Delta. The transition from the hills of Vicksburg to the flat country of the Delta is abrupt. The horizon begins to recede, the sky gets bigger, and suddenly you are in the Mississippi Delta.

Mississippi Delta #1

Sharkey County, Mississippi 

Winter Trees #4

Greene County, Virginia 

Washington's Birthday - 2013

Charlotte Hall School - St. Mary's County, Maryland 

The story of George Washington and the cherry tree may be a myth fabricated by one of the President's early biographers, but it was handed down to every schoolchild in America for generations. A portrait of George Washington looked down from the front the classroom to remind us of the founding virtues: honesty, duty, selflessness.

Oh, we joked about it when I was a boy. If we got caught doing something wrong, we were fond of saying "I cannot tell a lie, Father. George Washington did it." To a thirteen year old, this riposte was clever and hilarious, but the lesson was not forgotten: "I cannot tell a lie." Great men speak the truth.

Unfortunately we now have few public figures who exemplify these old fashioned virtues, so let us remember George Washington on this, his birthday. He was a great man, and inspired a young nation to greatness.

Winter Trees #3

 Greene County, Virginia

Winter Trees #2

Greene County, Virginia