A larger than life bronze representation of Mercury, the Roman patron god of financial gain, commerce, and eloquence, races towards my lens. The setting is quite appropriate – the classical columns of a Charleston mansion echo the vertical thrust of Mercury’s winged staff, known as a caduceus – a symbol of commerce. A wealthy rice plantation owner probably may have built this mansion and placed the god of commerce before it more than 200 years ago. I complete the image by including a row of spiked fence posts across the bottom of the frame. The columns, along with the arm and staff of Mercury, repeat the vertical pattern created by the fence posts and the trees that fill the background.