November 3, 1964

 

Who among us can say, with any degree of certainty, exactly what they were doing on this date 56 years ago?

Well, maybe some can . . . and maybe there are some that weren't even born 56 years ago.

Anyway, as it so happens (as it was meant to happen) Mike has documentary evidence of what he was doing on November 3, 1964. Yes, as part of his PsyOps training, he was kneeling on the grass outside some barracks in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, getting a first-hand look at the capabilities of a psychological warfare unit. Wow!

So that was the big event of that day. Of somewhat lesser interest was the presidential election also taking place on November 3rd, won by LJB over Barry Goldwater. 

Below, the reverse of the "1st Psy War Bn" leaflet.

50 Years Ago Today #1

3 November 1964 - North Carolina  1964

Who among us can say, with any degree of certainty, exactly what they were doing on this date 50 years ago?

Well, maybe some can . . . and maybe there are some that weren't even born 50 years ago.

Anyway, as it so happens (as it was meant to happen) Mike has documentary evidence of what he was doing on November 3, 1964. Yes, he was kneeling on the grass outside some barracks in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, getting a first-hand look at the capabilities of a psychological warfare unit. Wow!

And not unlike Marcel Proust's childhood memories of madeleines, Mike's Fort Bragg memories are confined to tastes: Fanta soda and hoagies.

(The next stop on Mike's Army tour was Fort Carson, Colorado. Then, Okinawa.)

Gardner's

Gardner's, North Carolina  1999

As mentioned earlier, Mike was in search of not only colorful foliage, but barbeque as well.

He ate two meals at Gardner's, supposedly the best place in Rocky Mount. It was OK, but one interesting thing was that you couldn't order any beer to go with your pulled pork. So the next meal was take-out, accompanied by beer purchased at a nearby convenience store.

Virginia, 1999

Autumn Leaves, Virginia  1999

Virginia Creeper, Virginia  1999

Mike explored a section of the famous Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia, hiking a short section of the equally famous Appalachian Trail. Just prior to turning off the highway and heading for Rocky Mount he stopped at a pull-off that featured grey rocks (granite?) and the bright red leaves of the Virginia creeper.

Fallen leaves scattered near one of those ubiquitous Civil War historical sites and leaves of the Virginia creeper turning color.

Railroad Tracks

RR Track, Virginia  1999

Wandering through the luminous Virginia woods Mike comes upon the abandoned tracks of an old narrow gauge railway. A nearby waterfall echoes through the forest. The tracks round a curve and vanish.

Road & Cloud

Road & Cloud, North Carolina  1999

Mike drove back and forth through the North Carolina countryside, through the small towns and cotton fields, searching for the correct combination of road and cloud.

Head Waters

Head Waters, Virginia  1999

Early fall morning, steam rising off the buildings.

Per Wikipedia, "The South Fork South Branch Potomac River rises north of Head Waters, hence the community's name."

A non-Mike photo looking in the same direction found here.

West Virginia

Tree, West Virginia  1999

I think this is West Virginia, anyway. After the training in Maryland was finished, I headed south looking for autumn foliage and barbeque, travelling for a short spell through West Virginia.

Reflections

Floating Leaves, Tennessee  2010

Leaves floating on Abrams Creek, sunlit trees being reflected.

Abandoned Building

Abandoned Building, Tennessee  2010

Dan and I had to stop once we saw this crumbling structure in Chattanooga.

High Museum

High Museum, Atlanta  2010

Stieglitz "Dying Poplars"  Atlanta  2010

In Atlanta last year.

Nice architecture, and some interesting photos on exhibit.

"Dying Poplars." Now there's a cheery subject.

Great Smoky Mountains (Last Year)

Road, A.M. - Tennesee  2010

Whew! After recent exciting blog posts I thought I'd post some older autumn pix. (Some maybe have been posted earlier. Oh well.)

This photo was taken during last year's excursion and hike in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Water Tower

In Atlanta, waiting to take off, I stared out the airplane window: the water tower in the distance kept disappearing behind torrential downpours, then reappearing as the sky kept getting progressively darker. Takeoff was delayed multiple times; when we finally took off the evening was upon us—we arrived in San Francisco just before midnight.

Staring out at the darkness beyond the window during the flight I was struck by how ubiquitous the lights of civilization were—the only place where I couldn't see any electric lights was on the Utah-Nevada border area.

Photo: Water Tower (From Plane)—Atlanta, 2010

Laundromat, Rain

I was underneath an adjacent gas station overhang trying to keep dry. I used the rotating LCD on the Canon G12 to compose the shot.

Photo: Laundromat, Rain—Atlanta, 2010

North Carolina Route

Our route took us going north from Georgia through a corner of North Carolina. Needless to say, we stopped frequently to view the autumn foliage. This photo was taken from one side of the road looking across to the other side.

Photo: Trees, Sunlight—North Carolina, 2010

Knoxville Sunrise

. . . taken during an early-morning walk in search of Starbucks.

Click to enlarge, study and ponder.

Photo: Sunrise—Knoxville, 2010

Self-Portraits, Georgia & Tennessee

. . . taken in Georgia and Tennessee (Decatur and Knoxville) last year.

Photos: Table & Self-Portrait—Georgia, 2010; Children, Self-Portrait—Tennessee, 2010

Abrams Creek #2

OK, so the upper photo was arranged. The waterfall at the end of the hike was nice enough, but unfortunately divided into sun and shade. There's a nice photo here.

Photos: Red Leaves—Tennessee, 2010; Roots, Leaves, Creek—Tennessee, 2010

Abrams Creek #1

Taken on a day hike that followed Abrams Creek to Abrams Waterfall. There was a little too much sunlight for Mike's taste; sunlight coming through the forest created high-contrast areas.

Photo: Leaves & Creek−Tennessee, 2010

Pigeon Forge

Very surreal, although I'm not sure that "surreal" is the correct term.

Block after block of cheesy interesting attractions. Block after block after block.

The traffic coming into town was staggering. Probably in order to truly appreciate Pigeon Forge you need to spend some quality time there. Trouble is, I'm booked up for the foreseeable future.

Photos: Dollywood—Tennessee, 2010; Bears—Tennessee, 2010; Traffic—Tennessee, 2010