Posted in Blessing, General, God's Law, God's Word, Piety, Sanctification, tagged Blessing, Psalm 1, Righteousness, Wickedness on January 1, 2024| Leave a Comment »
Day 1 Evening reflection: Preliminary Contrasts:
tree vs. chaff; firmly planted vs. blown away; blessed vs. not so;
nor stand in the path of sinners vs. nor sinner [stand] in the assembly of the righteous
LORD knows the vs. way will perish; yields fruit vs. [worthless] chaff
prosper vs. perish
Posted in Blessing, General, God's Law, God's Word, Piety, Sanctification, tagged Blessing, Psalm 1, Righteousness, Wickedness on January 1, 2024| Leave a Comment »
The radio preacher challenged his listeners to read Psalm 1 twice each day for 21 days and journal impressions, adding, “It will change your life.” As best I could, I took him up on that. I began reading the psalm on December 1st and completed my 21 days in the 25th. As, you will see, I also failed to record impressions or read twice each day on four occasions. I was curious to see if non- repeating insight would come 42 separate times (38 in reality since I missed 4 times). I hand wrote my journal which I intend to copy to here with only minor corrections and clarifications. I will be labeling the entries along the following scheme: D1M means Day 1 Morning, etc., and here it is:
v.1-3: does not, does, is
v.4-5: not so the wicked
v.6: both their ways
Posted in General on December 25, 2023| Leave a Comment »
My daughter, son-in-law, and I went for hike on Saturday before last to bag her thirteenth Sixer. My wife and I drove down to Candler, NC, to spend the night with them in an Airbnb so we could start reasonably early the next morning. My wife, Mamaw, was only too happy to spend the day at the Airbnb with two of our grandchildren. We were headed for Shining Rock up the Old Butt Trail. It is quite steep. The began only overcast, but we experienced hours of drizzle before the day was done. See what else we got into at “Not So Shining“.
Posted in General, Hike, Nature, Outdoors, Photo, Waterfall, tagged Bushwhacking, Hike, Nature, Outdoors, Waterfalls on December 23, 2023| Leave a Comment »
I must confess that I have been to so many waterfalls in East Tennessee and Western North Carolina that relating names to scenes is a lost cause with me. So, when my hiking partner said that he would like to take his brother to Margarette Falls, I responded that I had probably been there but couldn’t remember. His brother was in for the week on business and to visit from Vancouver, WA. I knew miles before we got to the parking lot that I had been there not so long ago. In fact, it is a bit embarrassing to recall that it had been as recently as September, 2022 (check it out at “Birthday Hike“). This hike was different for many reasons. Compare this Tuesday hike of about ten days ago with the one 15 months ago at “M and B Falls.”
Posted in General, Glory, God Thoughts, God's Word, Judgment, Praise, tagged Holy, Praise, Psalm 96, Worship on December 9, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Many of the Psalms are calls to praise. I reflected recently on how Psalm 96 calls us to praise God when I was asked to read it as the call to worship at the beginning of the worship service.
Though a short psalm, it is big in scope and extent of worship that should be offered unto God. I observed first of all that the psalm may be divided into three types of praise: 1) Sing and say (v. 1-6), 2) Ascribe (v. 7-10), and 3) Nature resound (v.11-13).
After reading it several times to myself I mused on the question, what do we praise God for? First and foremost, we praise Him for His person as described in His attributes. Who He is, is totally sufficient for our praise to Him. Secondly, we praise Him for His works. There are many categories of His works that help us to focus our praise: His works in creation, the peoples of the earth, His own, in heaven eternally as well as preparing us a place, His sovereignty in the universe, and on it could go. Thirdly, we should praise Him for His name which represents in concept and use His glory and power. Fourthly, we should praise Him for His holiness. You may react that this is just separating out one of His attributes for focus. But holiness, that separateness from His creation, His otherness, speaks of the perfections of His attributes. By this I mean that I think that holiness is an attribute of His attributes. Is He good? Infinitely so, utterly holy in His goodness. Is He strong? Beyond imagination, a holy power in His person. Each of these reasons to praise Him could be expanded in sermons and books, and of course have been. Psalm 96 praises God directly in all of these ways (1).
At my first several readings of Psalm 96, three terms jumped out at me. The first one was “ascribe” (2) in verses 7 and 8. A few other English translations use “give”, but ascribe seems the better and stronger word, because it denotes the acknowledgement of the Source of all glory and strength in the world spoken of in the verses.
The term in verse 9 is “holy attire”, a much more problematic translation. It seems that the Hebrew is vague on the antecedent of the holy attire (3). Does the Hebrew word, hadarah which means “adornment, glory” (4) refer to God’s covering or the worshippers or even the site of worship, the temple? Many translations choose God and translate it “splendor of holiness” (NIV, ESV, HCSB) or “beauty of holiness” (KJV). Two older versions chose “glorious sancturary” (1599 Geneva) or “holy hall” (Wycliffe). Other than the NASB, its older precursor translates it “holy array” (American Standard Version). I would be remiss not to mention a certain conservative bias (5) in the following discussion due to a nearly life-long use of the NASB. I think that the immediate context of “holy attire” supports the strong possibility that it is the intention of the writer. The worshipper is commanded to ascribe glory and strength to God and glory to His name (v.7-8). As a part of this worship the worshipper is urged to “bring an offering and come into His courts.” (v.8b) It follows then that the worshipper should have an attitude of reverence in all respects for this God of glory and power including how he dresses. And furthermore, the actual presenter of the offering was required to wear “the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments of his sons, to minister as priests.” (Exodus 39:41) They did not wear these garments apart from ministering, as Ezekiel 42:14 says, “When the priests enter, then they shall not go out into the outer court from the sanctuary without laying there their garments in which they minister, for they are holy. They shall put on other garments; then they shall approach that which is for the people.”
The third term that arrested my attention was “equity” in verse 10. It is a word very near fairness in our modern thinking. Other translations render it “righteously” (KJV) or “fairly” (HCSB). The word means “evenness, uprightness, equity” (6). Any accusation that God is not fair in His judgments of men’s sins is wholly false. He always has done and will do rightly. It is a parallel idea in the moral realm to “He reigns” and the “world is firmly established” in the verse.
The overflow of praise in this psalm ends with Creation praising Him in the future when He comes again to judge the earth. Why would the Creation praise Him for this act done to people? I think that we can glean the answer from Romans 8:19-22 where it says, “For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.” Creation will rejoice at His coming, so should we. Our great God will return for His own and set all things right in “righteousness” and “faithfulness”. (v.13)
Let us not be silent in our praise for our great and good God.
Posted in Doctrine, General, Obedience, Piety, Sanctification, theology, tagged God's Word, Repentance, Restoration, Revival, theology on November 11, 2023| Leave a Comment »
The elder preached from Nehemiah 8 last Sunday. Ezra read the book of the Law to all Israel. They and we need it regularly read and preached to us because we dismiss or diminish its authority and efficaciousness (1) in our lives. He further pointed out that this passage is very frequently used to promote and instruct on expositional preaching. To read, explain, and exhort with the Word is the pattern for expository preaching. The passage also speaks of God’s people’s 1) need of the Word, 2) requiring the leadership to read the Word, 3) requirement to obey the Word, 4) need to speak with a unified voice from preachers, teachers, to all church members and parents on the truth of the Word, 5) need to understand the Word, and 6) response to the Word.
It was on the sixth point that my mind started musing as he unpacked it. In good preacher language, he proceeded to alliterate the process of God returning His people to Himself in “r’s”. The “r’s” caught my attention for two reasons. Firstly, I have been ruminating on the very idea for quite some time. Secondly, he said one minor thing that I disagreed with based on that rumination, namely that rejoicing is the endpoint. To be fair, when I asked him about it afterwards, he agreed with me, saying that it was effectively an intermediate endpoint since he could not preach the whole of Nehemiah in one sermon. So, his sermon helped me to complete the following diagram which had a few holes beforehand.
A continuing reverence for God and His Word will not prevent the need for repentance but it will reduce the depth of repentance needed as you keep short accounts and avoid presumptuous, chronic, and devastating sins. Also, as regular disclaimer for my diagrams, this is not the only way God may draw you back to Himself. It may be in a different order with additional or less steps. These are merely major signposts of restoration (2). Without spoiling the diagram by over-explanation, I offer this one clarification. One, saved or unsaved, may recognize (3) the message of revelation to their heart but not repent. He/she may never or just delay repentance as he/she resists the work of the Holy Spirit. So with all of the steps, the time across the arrows may vary greatly. May God bless us as we seek to draw nearer to the burning center (4) of His presence.
Posted in General, Wisdom, tagged Experience, Knowledge, Observation, Prudence, Teachability, Understanding, Wisdom on November 10, 2023| Leave a Comment »
There is a certain cyclic nature to my thinking, that is, I think on a thing for a time, lay it aside for reasons of being busy, getting stuck in progress, or overwhelmed with how to proceed (1). Then at a later date, I return to the subject out of need or random reminder, pushing it forward with further insight procured from the Source through various secondary agents (2).
October 31st, 2023 was the 506th Reformation Day Celebration. I wrote as follows in my journal:
Reformation Day”! We are always in need of reformation though the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. I am musing on how wisdom is acquired. Certainly a right worldview is precursory (Proverbs 1:7) and the Scripture is the source text (John 17:17), but Proverbs and Christ and others point to perspective and procedures for acquiring wisdom. I have some preliminary thoughts, which I hope to later support with references to Scripture.
One must be teachable which requires humility. You can learn from anyone. Jesus references the sons of this age and their prudence. He does not condone their evil, but He does point out that their ways regarding certain issues are instructive. One should be observant, a practiced skill which should be challenged regularly as to how it is done in order to increase perceptiveness. Hone the skill. Gain knowledge, and with it understanding which is knowing what the knowledge means. This gain will involve much time in Scripture, prayer, fellowship, and listening to deep preaching for the purpose of developing discernment. Discernment is beyond understanding in that it enables the discerning to perceive what motives and origins undergird attitudes and actions and what the ramifications of choices may be. From these one may take experiences and wisdom which is the awareness of what right actions and reactions are applicable to circumstances of life and then act accordingly with prudence.
In my preliminary look at the subject these nine perspectives and procedures are the tools of wisdom. Have I left anything out? Might several of them be combined into one?
Posted in Beauty, General, Hike, Nature, Outdoors, Photo, tagged Hike, Nature, Outdoors, The Channels on November 5, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Yesterday, I went along with four young people to hike to and explore The Channels just north of Abingdon, VA. It was a beautiful day in every sense. Check it out at “The Channels“.
Posted in Family, General, Grandchildren, Nature, Outdoors, Photo, tagged Cave, Family, Grandchildren, Outdoors on October 29, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Last weekend our fourth-born, his wife and daughter came to visit. We enjoyed playing, talking, eating well, singing hymns, caving, church, enjoying a sunny day in the park, and a fire in the fire pit. Check out a very few of the things we did at “A Lovely Weekend“.
Posted in Beauty, General, Hike, Nature, Outdoors, Photo, tagged Beauty, Beauty Spot, Hike, Nature, Outdoors, Red Fork Falls, Unaka Mountain, Waterfalls on October 14, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Unaka Mountain Road is a 12-mile gravel traverse of the flanks of Unaka Mountain between TN 107 and TN 395 above Erwin. From the TN 107 end, it is a short distance up to an unmarked wide place in the road to park for the short downhill scramble to Red Fork Falls. You cross the creek twice and arrive at the top of the falls. The way down to the base is quite steep but reasonable if you stay off of the enticing cascades. There are actually several smaller falls below the main one and a fascinating rock sluice in between them.
At just over halfway along the gravel (~7 miles), you come to the Emerald Forest Trailhead. A pleasant 1-mile stroll up the Appalachian Trail brings you to the top of the mountain, which is densely covered in Red Spruce trees. There is no view and nothing unusual, but the higher elevation environment with birches and beeches transitioning into Red Spruce and the occasional Balsam Fir (1) all carpeted with mosses, ferns, and wildflowers is pleasant and sparsely traveled. The pure stand of spruce at the peak nearly prevents undergrowth with trunks and dead needles the same color, giving the scene an eerie silence. From afar the peak appears foreboding with the dark cap of spruce needles.
After this leg stretcher, we drove on to Beauty Spot. I told my young friend that I had visited these places (2) last some 35 plus years earlier before he was born. The site has changed somewhat. Either they let the trees grow up around the parking lot or they have moved it, as it seemed to me, because it felt different. You used to be able to get a 360-degree view from the parking lot, but now you have to walk out into the field. And on the south slopes there are small trees grown up that prevent seeing the NC mountains as well. The Spot is aptly named and as is to be expected, this spot was crowded on this Sunday evening.
We didn’t go on any long or difficult hike, but we did get to do a little exploring, see miles of beauty in the macro-, meso-, and micro-environments along the way, and discuss things of interest and substance. Whether you look near or far, there is much beauty and reflected glory of the Creator. That is a good day out. Check out the pictures and commentary at “Red Fork Falls and Beauty Spot.”
Posted in General on October 11, 2023| Leave a Comment »
My pastor communicated the Gospel so well from the 2nd chapter of Jonah last Sunday. God was in pursuit of the prophet and caught him in a corner, the belly of a Fish. We were convicted of our tendency to run from God and exhorted to pursue Him in prayer as Jonah did. I took more notes on the sermon than I usually do; it was that substantial.
Before the sermon, we sang three hymns, as we regularly do. Pastor spoke afterward of how edifying the singing was and struggled a bit to find the word he desired for describing the value of music. He settled on an explanatory phrase, “It stands alone.” He communicated his idea quite clearly, but the struggling actually arrested my attention more so that I considered his thoughts more thoroughly. I thought that the term he sought was singularity. To rephrase his thoughts, I would say that there is a singularity to music based in its beauty and ability to emotionally compel and aid the memory that when coupled with the truth of God’s Word is of much value to the saints for encouragement and training in righteousness.
Music is a wonderful gift from God to spur the emotions and the mind. We must be careful to utilize lyrics that faithfully communicate the meaning and depth of God’s person and work along with our total need of Him. Right worship and careful living demand it.
Posted in Faith, Freedom, General, Government, Liberty, tagged Christian freedom, Freedom, Humanism, Liberty on October 1, 2023| 2 Comments »
I have a half Russian friend with a Russian name. I jokingly refer to my friend with the moniker “Comrade _______.” The other day as the thought of meeting this friend came to mind, I suddenly thought of changing the moniker to “Citizen”, thinking of Les Misérables. Then I wondered why I thought that as a replacement. This discussion in my mind precipitated a whole line of thought.
You see, freedom from a Humanist perspective, whether “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity” or “Peace, Land, and Bread”, in the end always ends in slavery or oppression to one degree or another. In the post-modern mind, the slogan might well be “Tolerance, License, Happiness.” Just as the one led to the Reign of Terror, another to tortures and gulags, the latter is leading to division, accusation, marginalization, and destabilization. So, what is the solution?
Freedom from a Christian perspective is freedom from the penalty of sin, the power of death, and one day the presence of sin and death to the enabling to what is right and good. Our motto might well be, “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 1:7 et al) Freedom is not the throwing off of all restraints but the joyous submission to God’s life-giving, easy yoke (Matthew 11:28-30). Should we seek the physical and mental betterment of men and women on this Earth now? Yes, definitely we should, but it is not our priority goal and will not be our universal and continuous experience. Peace with God is our highest goal and peace with our fellowman is our second.
May you know God’s freedom in your life through faith alone in Christ alone by the grace of God alone according to the Scripture alone to the glory of God alone.
Posted in Camping, Ecology, Family, General, Hike, Nature, Outdoors, tagged Bushwhacking, Camping, Cascades, Ecology, Escarpment, Gorges, Hike, Waterfalls on September 18, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Yeah, I didn’t spell that wrongly. It is a play on words. I went on a two-night camping trip with my older brothers and their wives at Gorges State Park in Transylvania County, NC. As the name implies, it has some very rough real estate. In fact, it sits on the SC border where the escarpment drops out of the mountains into the Piedmont. The gorges are not what I usually think of as a gorge (1), however, since there are no cliffs in the park that I saw. Instead, they are steep-sided and steep-graded draws where creeks have worn down to bedrock, leaving cascades and the occasional freefall waterfall. Because of how fast the mountains drop away, Transylvania County has 250 waterfalls. That gets me to wondering how a waterfall is defined (see “Cascades, Not Falls“). What is the minimum height limit? What is the minimum slope of cascades? Does water have to leave contact with the surface in a cascade to be counted? There is little doubt that the various creeks have multiple waterfalls, but how are they counted? One thing that I observed in the Visitor’s Center while comparing labeled pictures of waterfalls and trails marked with waterfalls in the park was that most of the falls in the park don’t have trails to them. That sounds like to me an excellent excuse to go back and bushwhack more. The combination of geology, topography, aspect, and prevailing winds results in significant rainfall and runoff. The average annual rainfall in Upper East Tennessee where I live is about 44 inches. In Morganton, NC, where I used to live, it is 51 inches. In Gorges State Park, the average annual rainfall is 91 inches, making it nearly a temperate rainforest. That is all good for the waterfalls, but the particularly shallow topsoil still causes the tree cover to be predominated by drier slope varieties like pines and certain oaks. However, seeps here and there are lush with a profusion of hornworts, ferns, orchids, and many other wildflowers. Check out all of the gorges lushness at “Gorges State Park.”
Posted in Family, General, Grandchildren, Nature, Outdoors, tagged Brithday, Canoeing, Caving, Family, Grandchildren, Kayaking, Outdoors on August 16, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Billed as a one night stay over on the way to elsewhere, the plans got changed by circumstances to be the main event. Instead of just Thursday night, the visit extended to late Saturday afternoon. It was a welcome surprise, but what do you do on the spur of the moment on days expected to have rain.
So, Thursday evening I went out to a little Chinese restaurant with my daughter after the children were put down for bedtime. Friday morning I went to work while my wife, daughter and her husband and two children went to the Hands-On Museum/Gray Fossil Site (which you may see a sampling of from a former visit at “Hand On and Gray Fossils“). Saturday my son-in-law, granddaughter, one of my sons, and I went to Appalachian Caverns before lunch and in the clearing skies to Steele Creek Lake to canoe and kayak after lunch. At the same time, my wife, daughter, and grandson went to a used bookstore and out to eat. It was fast paced but fun. You have to pack in the memories whether the sun shines or not. Check out some images at “Under and Over.”
Posted in General, Grandchildren, Hike, Nature, Outdoors, tagged Grandchildren, Hike, Nature, Outdoors on July 30, 2023| Leave a Comment »
I use the phrase, “a stroll in the woods”, to describe many of my outings. Truth be told, they are usually anything but that, being more related to major challenges in the form of strenuous, extreme, view or waterfall goaled pursuits, or bushwhacking. This hike was little more than a stroll in the woods, easy walking, quite pleasant, not recently logged, low underbrush woods. I was amazed several times at how far we had come in such a little time. Only at the end did we break out of the pleasant wood onto a large field. And there we came across an unexpected surprise. Check it out at “Ridgewalk.”
Posted in Ecology, Exploring, General, Hydroelectric Dam, Implications, Infrastructure, Outdoors, Photo, tagged Ecology, Exploring, Hydroelectric Dam, Infrastructure, Outdoors on July 23, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Soon after we bought a “new-used” car, I saw a Facebook sale of old books. The seller was offering one book, an antique children’s Bible story book, for $5. So, I decided to go check it out in my new car. Along the way, TN Hwy 394, was a sign that indicated that South Holston Dam was along a road turning off of the highway. On the way back from buying the books (He threw in 3 more for $5 additional), I turned off the highway toward the dam. Many years ago, I feel confident, I had visited this dam before, because my father liked to take Saturday or Sunday afternoon drives to engineering feats around the area. But I don’t rightly remember it. So, I made a few minutes of memories of my own. I will make an effort to go back again, perhaps for a picnic or a hike or a canoe ride. Until then, here are my pictures and impressions at “South Holston Works.”
Posted in General on July 22, 2023| Leave a Comment »
For His children, God, in His good providence is always providing and guiding our way through this life. Sometimes we see it, recognize it, and feel it, and sometimes we don’t. Here is a little story from yesterday about recognizing it. I was traveling down the 4-lane, TN 11-E, to work in the morning at a normal, controlled speed. You dare not do otherwise with the county and state police hovering every couple of miles. I was listening to the local Christian radio station, WHCB. Periodically throughout the day they inject an encouraging Scripture or Scripture-based thought between programs. There was more to this spot than I am going to paraphrase, but here is the gist of it. ‘When you became a Christian you may have thought that life was going to be smooth sailing, but it has been far from that. It has been more like a roller coaster with the ups and downs, loops, and hairpin turns [rollercoaster and riders screams in the background]. God is there to guide you and help you. Trust Him. When life throws you a curve, He’s got it under control.’
Less than 30 seconds later my car gave a small jerk and I realized that the engine had died. I pushed in the clutch as I coasted and tried to restart the car several times to no avail. My decreasing speed meant that the other cars drove off and left me so that I could look around for a good place to bring the car to a stop and leave it while I figured out what to do. I pulled into an urgent care office (irony, right?) in Piney Flats with an extra wide driveway where I could pull over to the side out of the way, perhaps 50 feet off of the highway. I went in to inform the receptionist as to why a car sat in the driveway rather than the parking lot. She asked me what happened. When I rehearsed what I just told you about the car dying, she volunteered that it might be the alternator. It made sense. The battery did seem weak.
I called my wife who was just finishing breakfast. She quickly got dressed and drove our recently purchased “new-used” car to pick me up. Given that the car which quit had 277,000 miles on it, we had recently purchased the second car as a replacement when the older one quit. I drove her back home and drove to work, arriving about 1 minute before my first client. Having no clients in the afternoon, I came home, changed clothes and drove down to see what I might be able to figure out had happened. While on site, I called my youngest son who has experience as a mechanic. Given the lack of diagnostic tools and a second person to help me, I did only a few checks at his direction and could not figure out the problem. A little discouraged, I went home and looked up auto mechanic shops and towing services. I went up the street to find one of the shops permanently closed. The one just down the street was overwhelmed because of the closure of the first one. I called a towing service who came very quickly, and I met the tow truck at the car. He hauled it home and offloaded it in the yard. Now what? I guess I will have to try to fix it sufficiently to sell it.
God worked out every detail as if choreographed in a dance routine. I felt carried along. But it doesn’t always seem that way, does it? That does not mean that it is not so. God is in control, “caus[ing] all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28) The tow bill was not cheap and the inconvenience was not fun, but the peace He gave me through the radio message was sure. His Word is always sure. It should “not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it…” (Joshua 1:8) Life is good because God is good. I want to live for Him to find peace and joy and give testimony to His goodness. That takes focus on truth and God rather than surroundings and circumstances. Focus on God’s Word helps immensely. Check out a few pictures of the event at “Stop and Go.”
Posted in General, Hike, Nature, Outdoors, Photo, tagged Friends on a hike, Gorge, Hike, Outdoors, Waterfall on July 19, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Was it just five weeks ago that I took a young friend to a couple of waterfalls? (see “Refalls“) Other friends heard his description of these places and wanted to see them. So, last Saturday we carpooled to a few of my old haunts, places I could give a tour of because of the number of times I have been there previously. Check out the pictures and commentary of this outing at “Linville Falls and Gorge.”
Posted in Connotations, General, Hike, Nature, Outdoors, tagged Hike, Nature, Outdoors, Waterfalls, Word Meaning on July 10, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Not being an expert in my language and far less so in any other language, I am fascinated by multiple definitions of many words. Many times the different definitions share a focus, but other times you have to wonder what mental gymnastics occurred in order to bring about such a definition.
Topographic features have a multitude of names, sometimes with technical differences and other times with only regional usage differences. For example, terms for flowing water in English are many: river, stream, creek, branch, brook, tributary, estuary, course, rivulet, run, rill, and flow to name several. Many of these terms have specific definitions that differentiate them from the others. For instance, an estuary, which you might confuse for a bay, is actually a flooded riverbed. It gives evidence from the erosional pattern on its bed that the ocean was once shallower and the river flowed across the land there.
Other terms for flowing water are vaguer. Consider, what is the difference in a brook and a stream? A less used term, at least in my neck of the woods, is a run. It seems to be more commonly used for upscale subdivision names than actual watercourses. In my mind (opinion?) a run is a small stream that has more or less continuous flow.*
There is a run, Laurel Run, near where I live. I wonder who named it, or more specifically, where they were from that they used the word run rather than crick, a more popular slang in our parts.
The really amazing part of this musing is that the subject of this blog, a hike with a friend, was an excuse to go off on a language tangent about flowing water. Well, at least my mind is not stagnant. If you want to get to the pictures of our hike, click on “Laurel Run and Pretty Ridge.”
*That reminds me. Is a wash a dry watercourse or a stream that is frequently dry? One is a landform whereas the other is the flow across that landform.
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A Sevier Day
Posted in America, Cultural commentary, Education, Family, General, Grandchildren, History, Liberty, tagged Colonial History, Family, Grandchildren, History, John Sevier, John Sevier's Birthday, Marble Springs, Re-enactors, Tennessee History on September 24, 2023| Leave a Comment »
My puns become more severely bad by the day. Yesterday was the 278th birthday of John Sevier, tavern and mercantile owner, frontiersman, farmer, military leader, governor of the State of Franklin, and first governor of Tennessee. He was incredibly energetic in every aspect of his life having won all 35 battles he led/participated in, raising 18 children by two wives to adulthood, carving out 4 separate farms in SW Virginia and E Tennessee, serving as a magistrate or representative or governor almost non-stop up until his death in 1815.
The event, called Sevier Day, was a re-enactment at his favorite farm, Marble Springs, in South Knoxville. One gentleman acted the part of John Sevier and gave an informative, interesting auto-biographical monologue in the rebuilt cabin. There were Revolutionary Re-enactors, a blacksmith, colonials cooking, a restored loom and the restorer demonstrating weaving, dancing demonstrations, and long rifle and musket drills. Making it more worthwhile for my wife and me, our oldest son, wife, and seven grandchildren were there. With all of that excitement, I direct you to my pictures and commentary at “Sevier Day.”
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