Blog Report: Saturday, April 17, 2009

It’s Saturday, and here at the Spark this can mean just on thing: It’s time to check out the haps on some local blogs. It’s our friendly shout-out to the Spartanburg blogosphere, and the hope is that we can get many of you wonderful readers to follow and support all kinds of local bloggers.

Let’s start with some insight and art from increasingly awesome nature/art/personal reflection blog Middlewood Journal, as blogger Helen breaks out her Whorled Coreposis knowledge for us.

The “old road” that runs the length of our property used to be the drive to the Camp Croft Officers’ Retreat. The building, burned years ago, is now just a brick chimney (with a great view) covered in kudzu vines. The old road is home to several interesting wildflowers. The Whorled Coreposis plant, lovely on its own (above), blooms in the summer with bright yellow “daisy” like flowers. It must like dry, rocky shade as it grows along the upper side of the old road, deep in the woods.

Speaking of images, Craig over at 4P Photoblog has been catching up on his posting after recovering from a burned-out motherboard on his computer. Here, he talks a little about an encounter with a heliophilic lizard.

We found this little guy/gal warming up on the steps of an observation tower in the Sandhills Natural Wildlife Refuge. It didn’t move much while we were there, even though we were pointing cameras at it. It would twist it’s head a bit when we moved to make sure we weren’t a threat to it though. The neat thing about the little guy is that it has bright blue spots on it’s abdomen, which might be kind of hard to see in this shot.

Daniel over at The Plastic Breech has had enough of my government-loving socialist clap-trap, particularly in a recent post about the recent “TEA Party” events during tax day. So he’s taking me to task on his blog. Don’t start none, Plastic Breech, won’t be none.

Change is scary when the very foundation of your country begins to mirror the visions of Karl Marx “To those according to their need, from those according to their ability.” I don’t work to help anyone but myself, the company that I work for so as they may stay in busines, maybe my family, maybe my friends and when I feel like it, the less fortunate. It’s what I call, voluntary humanitarianism and it’s the only way to go.

Speaking of people who are fed up with the system, Jamie A. Steele over at Spartanburg Libertarian isn’t going to take it. No, he ain’t gonna take it. Oh, he’s not going to take it anymore.

The main reason i am back today is because of the Tea Party’s happening across this country. Tea Party’s, that from a Libertarian perspective, have been needed for a long time. But never have people been so polarized on the political front. And it is GREAT!

My title to this post is a play on many different things. But the play is on a old song. From an old 80′s hair band, which i must admit that i listened to back in the day Twisted Sister.

Moving on from politics, if you’re looking for religious insights from everyday experience, you might want to check out this revealing post from Amber Nicole Hill’s self-titled blog. It compares gardening to helping to sew the seeds of her faith, but it’s the lack of a bombastic fire-and-brimstone tone that’s most appealing.

A friend received an amaryllis bulb as a gift. It came with a soil disk and a pot. She planted the amaryllis and we watched as the bulb took root and the first green shoots sprung up out of the soil. Daily she watched over that little plant, making sure that it had enough water, the right amount of light, and that everything was done to ensure its growth. After a week of watching the plant, it’s growth slowed and she became discouraged and doubted that the plant would ever produce flowers.

Sometimes witnessing is like that amaryllis. I try to share God’s love with others and through all of my efforts I try to make them know and love God. Just like my friend did everything possible to ensure that the plant would grow and produce flowers, I do everything I can to ensure that those around me will grow in Christ and produce more Christians.

And finally, Spark contributor and Spartanburg community-builder Lydia Anthony over at Long Purple Bike posted about the importance of contributing to local businesses, even in rough economic times.

I have $8 and eight days till payday. But today I had a miniature revelation that caused me to see my money in a new light.

The Cafe on Morgan Square is closed. I’m sad for Spartanburg more than for me, since I didn’t go there a whole lot, but it was somewhat of a piece of local history.

Walking back to my car from a fruitless money-collecting trip to the Beehive, I was debating with myself whether to dig something up for lunch at home, or get something on the way. The sensible thing was to save my money, but as I was walking past Monsoon Noodle House, I suddenly had this flash of horror at the thought of it closing down too. For all I know, Monsoon is doing just fine, and I hear that the Cafe closed for health just as much as monetary reasons. But still, the thought shook me enough to change my course and walk through those big glass doors.

Encouraged by what you’ve read? This is just the merest tip of the iceberg when it comes to local blogs. To find more, visit SparkleCityBlogs.com, the Spark‘s local-blog promoting sister project.