We're planning cool things to do this summer.

In Jul, August and September we'll share one event each month with Frog Hollow Outdoors, we we're planning a first ever Walk-on-the-Water for July 18th. 

Check out the TPA website "events" section

Over the past two weeks we moved to a new web and email host.

• The upside is the site runs faster and more regularly than recently.
• In the coming weeks we'll develop new, useful content.
• The downside is we have to learn new software to make the newsletter.

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If you know what we're doing, shout about it.  If you don't, ask about it.  The TPA mission grows more important every day as government staffs and budgeteers whittle away line items important to the people.  Stewardship of our common past is important.  Don't silently allow wanton destruction of vestiges of our shared past.

Your membership will help us promote change in the way government stewards take care of our assets.  Your time as a volunteer can accelerate that process.

• On the Upper Eno we'll see a near legendary swimming hole at "Coon Rock", a mill seat, and an associated ford.
• On the lower Flat Rive, with the right conditions, we'll see a quite remarkable fish dam, a horse ford, and two sets of 18th and 19th century bridge seats.
• On Falls Lake we'll visit an abandoned and flooded town site, some old roads, and artifacts from one North Carolina's first railroads.

Imagine a shady stretch of cool water.  You and the kids, togged out with sneakers or water sandals sloshing along.  Maybe there's a hydroscope along so you can look for critters and artifacts on the bottom.  A great way to spend a summer day?

Most upcountry southern streams are too shallow for even canoeing, so let's make that fact an asset.

Let's walk on the rivers.  In the summer, it is absolutely the best way to see the cultural artifacts associated with stream uses.  Fords, dams, bridges, factories, fisheries, all leave distinct traces on stream bottoms and in stream banks.  This summer we'll start showing some of these artifacts to the public. 

Our first such walk will be on the Eno River at Hillsborough, NC where we mapped river bottom artifacts in an attempt to convince the Town of Hillsborough that it has unrecognized tourism assets.  We'll look at these artifacts and some of the quite remarkable natural features of this venerable stream.

 We'll meet at the foot of Cameron Street in Hillsborough, NC at 2 PM, July 18th.  Here's a map to guide you there.

 Come, join us in and on the water. 

We have been remiss about blogging our projects and thoughts.  As part of the current move we have, though, removed some of the barriers that made the blogging less than fun.  Last week we posted two new blogs, one on paddling the Eno between Hillsborough and Eno River State Park in eastern Orange County, and the other discussing a common misconception pertaining to blank head and footstones in old graveyards.

Feel free to comment on, add too, critique, or even disparage what you find in these blogs.