Belton, South Carolina – Morning Fog

This photo was taken by L. Woodrow Ross near Belton, which is in Anderson County.

Carolina, The Place That I Call Home

By: L. Woodrow Ross

South Carolina calls to me with her moss-draped trees showing gray in the silvery moonlight.
She charms me with the rolling Appalachian foothills that stretch forth in layers of ever-lighter shades of purple and blue.
She is a siren that calls me with the voices of the whip-poor-will and barred owl on the magnolia-scented night air.
Like a lover with silken hands she caresses me with her gentle sea breezes.
In her anger, she lashes me with the fury of the hurricane and drops her tears of flood waters to swell her rivers that stretch like arteries carrying her fertile soil swiftly to the sea.
The whitetail and turkeys have provided food for generations of men that have since returned to her soil.
The trout swims with silvery grace in her swift mountain streams.
Native sons have bled and died to protect her and even now defend her shores.
She is familiar, yet mysterious and when we think we know her well, she surprises us with a new wrinkle in the furrowed brow of her landscape.
She is small, but has great vigor and has played a major role in our nation's history.
Her terrain is varied from mountain bold and gentle plain to dashing sea.
Her pure spring waters seem to run in my veins and my love for her is un-ending.
Of all the places that I can be, I am most joyous on her fertile bosom, the place of my birth and the place that I call home.
May she always be blessed and her green hills, pure waters and sandy shores remain free for all eternity.
The genteel charm and fertility of Carolina shall be a legacy for all her generations.

For more great outdoor photos, visit L. Woodrow Ross' website.