I love it when I just happen to be photographing a back road in the country and a vintage or antique car drives into view as I am taking the picture.   This one was just too perfect in its timing and serendipity.

An abandoned house, not that long since vacated, caught my attention immediately as I was driving through a small town in the middle of South Carolina earlier this Spring.   I was amazed at how quickly the vines and undergrowth were taking over.    Pretty soon it will be like a lost ruin in the jungle, lost also to time as it disappears slowly.   It is an attractive little house.  I hope someone buys it and saves it.   
When I see abandoned houses, I try to imagine all the events and daily occurrences that made up the lives of the many inhabitants of this dwelling over its long history.  Hard to tell when it was built.  I am guessing early 1900s.

The beautiful little waterfall above is located right off a busy highway.  When you pull off and walk down to the falls, you enter another world of peace and mindfulness of the special sanctuaries Nature provides, as those pictured know full well, and with deep gratitute, I feel sure.   Often the settings of the waterfalls are what complete the pictures.  Below, this waterfall is on private land whose owners allow visitors to see the falls.  What splendid gifts both are.

High Falls in Dupont State Forest in North Carolina is one of the most awesome waterfalls I have ever encountered.  I gazed on it beauty and majesty for a long time on a recent cool and sunny Saturday afternoon in the mountains during a brief vacation trip.   As always, mere words utterly fail to describe the wonder of places like this.

That most magnificent of flowers, the iris, was in bloom all over Magnolia Gardens last week.  Yellow, white, shades of purple -- resplendent in the sunlight and beautiful beyond words to describe.   No other flower affects me quite this way. 

An abandoned house on the corner of a country road and a busy highway in coastal South Carolina.   What stories this empty house must have of long-ago times, cherished memories and secrets never to be told.    An azaelea in full bloom in the front yard and the newspaper and mailboxes out front make it appear the place is still inhabited.   I wonder how long it's been empty.