Author: danrouth

Greensboro, NC based commercial and editorial photographer.

Scottish Drum Major

Greensboro, Portraits, Scotland

(photograph copyright 2009 by Dan Routh)

Large sections of North Carolina were settled by Scots in the 18th and 19th centuries. Both my wife and I claim descent from Scottish families. I have been told that there are more people in North Carolina of Scottish descent than there are in Scotland. Whether that is true or not, I do not know, but in recent years there has been a surge in the Scot culture in this state, and elsewhere. Many highland games are held each year throughout the country featuring highland garb and food, bagpipe bands, heavy highland athletics and dancing, with the largest being the annual highland games at Grandfather Mountain in Linville, North Carolina. Both of my sons have participated in these games over the years, my son Tristan as a piper and my son Devin as a flourishing tenor drummer. There are a couple of pipe bands active in the Greensboro area, The Jamestown Pipes and Drums and the Deep River Pipes and Drums. The photograph above is of a drum major from the Triad Highland Games, held annually in Greensboro.

Industrial Interior

Railroad


(photograph copyright 2009 by Dan Routh)

Interior view of an old locomotive repair facility in Spencer, North Carolina. Part of the North Carolina Transportation Museum, it is a massive building where steam train engines where totally rebuilt for the then Southern Railway. Interestingly, the floor was originally paved with wooden blocks to act as a cushion for cast iron parts, in case they were dropped.

Poetry by a Young Man

Family, Poetry


My younger son Devin is finishing his studies at UNC this spring and among his academic leanings is poetry. He is also of that age where his writing tends towards romance and love. He handles words the way I wish I could handle photographs. Here is one of his latest works.

Painted dreams grow painted flowers,
Endless plains need countless hours,
Distant worlds feel stardust showers,
And all I want is you.

Stroke by stroke the mind’s brush colours
Every petaled leaf of summer,
All alive but all are duller
Than days I spend with you.

Sun soaked fields that reach forever
Into brazened sky that never
Can be reached unless I feather
And learn to fly with you.

Spinning spheres in constant gloaming
Feel the cosmos ever growing
Catch the sunny solar snowing
Of stars that glow like you.

Every thought I’ve ever wondered,
Every dream I’ve reached in slumber,
Bows before the rippling thunder
That claps when I touch you.


Besides the romantic thoughts of a young man, Devin understands my feelings as well. Last night on Facebook, a friend of mine commented on a photograph of my late father. After a comment by me about how I miss my Dad, Devin wrote the following for me.


Close your eyes, and look inside
to see your heroes from the past.
Soon you’ll know those heroes go
on pearl white ships with silken masts
to seas of joy that are so vast
they hold a place for you and me,
and everyone we’d love to see,
to dance on waves eternally.

Pretty cool I thought. For more eclectic verse, visit Devin’s blog at http://dranian.blogspot.com/

(photographs copyright 2009 by Dan Routh, poetry copyright by Devin Routh)

Brower Meadow Feed Store

Mill, Randolph County


My older son Tristan and I were out Saturday morning looking to buy some chickens. We stopped by a neighbors place on Brower Meadow Road south of Greensboro. Besides raising chickens, my neighbors used to run a feed operation with a mill and a feed and fertilizer store on their farm. The old buildings still stand, empty but still interesting. It was a little early in the year to pick up chickens, but we put our order in for a half dozen production red hens.


(photographs copyright 2009 by Dan Routh)

Battle of Guilford Courthouse

Greensboro, History

(photograph copyright 2009 by Dan Routh)

This past weekend was the anniversary of the Battle of Guilford Courthouse. On March 15, 1781 American forces under Nathaniel Greene met a British army under Lord Cornwallis and after fierce fighting forced the British to move their forces to Yorktown, Virginia and final defeat in the American Revolution. The battlefield is on the north side of Greensboro. Annually, reenactment groups from around the country come together to reenact the battle. This year, unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate and the event was rained out. This photograph is from a past year’s event.

Early Planting

Agriculture, Portraits


I stopped by my neighbors, Goat Lady Dairy, south of Greensboro yesterday to chat and pick up some goat cheese, and photographed Steve and Lee Tate as they were planting early vegetables before the rain set in. The Tates use their garden to produce fresh organic vegetables for the farm brunches and dinners they put on at their dairy. In addition to the cheese I picked up, Steve let me try some of their fresh goat milk yogurt and it is definitely a winner. Steve an Lee are both wonderful people and are advocates of locally grown food, and they possess a world of knowledge on sustainable agriculture. They are leaders in the local slow food movement. You can find out more by visiting http://www.goatladydairy.com/


(photographs copyright 2009 by Dan Routh)