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.”
Archive for the ‘General’ Category
A Stroll in the Woods
Posted in General, Grandchildren, Hike, Nature, Outdoors, tagged Grandchildren, Hike, Nature, Outdoors on July 30, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Story Bookends
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.”
Undertows and Overtones
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.”
Revisiting Old Haunts
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.”
Laurel Run
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.
Critters
Posted in Ecology, Gardening, General, Nature, Outdoors, Photo, tagged Gardening, Outdoors, Trapping, Wildlife on June 21, 2023| Leave a Comment »
We have a problem. I like wildlife. I like observing it and photographing it. I want to garden and raise fruit on trees and bushes and ground. Wildlife like my gardening and fruit production, too. My neighbors would not like for me to shoot the deer they are feeding and have enjoyed for years before we moved here. I don’t really have a need or desire to shoot them either, though I do like and wouldn’t mind venison. I considered shooting groundhogs, especially after my neighbor saw one crawling up into my truck. Now that I was watching, I saw it climb up about where the spare tire is. I was actually relieved since that meant it wasn’t crawling up into the engine compartment where wires and hoses may be chewed, yet. I had to put netting over my strawberries to exclude the birds who were beginning to peck my ripening berries. I put 50-lb test monofilament fishing line at three levels around my fruit trees to dissuade the deer from continuing to crop the branches. I abhor chemical repellants, herb/pesticides and my wife’s health can’t tolerate them.
The netting and monofilament line seems to be working. Concerning the groundhogs, my neighbor came to the rescue. Several days after telling me about the “truck-hog”, he left a live trap out next to my truck, later explaining the internet claims that groundhogs like apple. Thus far I have caught 2 groundhogs, 2 possum, and 1 raccoon with the trap. It has been a challenge to find a place to offload them. I will not loose them near a house and the country roads around here are narrow without pullouts other than driveways. I finally found a place with a large, wooded hill, but I am not telling where. Check out my pictures of my catch and release and yard wanderers at “Wildlife Blues.”
Dual Inheritance
Posted in Assurance, Blessing, Faith, General, Glory, God's Word, Gospel, Salvation, Work of Jesus, tagged Glory, Inheritance, Salvation, Security, Work of Jesus on June 18, 2023| Leave a Comment »
While discussing verses in Ephesians chapter one in Bible study I began to think on God’s goodness toward us. Many of the thoughts that I am going to share are insights that my brothers in Christ shared during our study.
In Ephesians 1:11-14 inheritance appears twice: “In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promised, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.” The word inheritance appears again in v.18: “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe.” Commentators (1) have a disagreement as to who is receiving an inheritance in these verses, God or saints. John Piper (2) thinks that the answer is both. The leader of our group ferreted out these details in his own study of the use of inheritance. We discussed it and saw more examples of this dual inheritance.
In grappling with what this means for us, I concluded that our inheritance is that we are God’s inheritance. As I continued meditating on it, I further realized that God’s inheritance in us is quite different than most inheritances. When you receive an inheritance, you may get a very desirable one or one that is not so much. You do not decide what the inheritance will be. But in God’s case, He chose His inheritance. Therefore, He must and does cherish it. He further lavishes all riches upon it. Examples of this include Ephesians 1:3: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.” Also, consider 2 Peter 1:3: “… seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.” Or think of this: “It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Thessalonians 2:14)
I, indeed, we, brothers and sisters in Christ, are cherished, cared for, and secured by God in Christ for a glorious future, living in His presence. He is our inheritance; we are His.
We are getting the better end of the deal it seems. The leader I spoke of earlier said that he feels humbled by why God would want us. His glory and our good are furthered.
I know that my blog is read by people on several continents, though not followed by many. Some of those people cannot at present be encouraged by the contents of this entry. They are not cherished by God and have no great inheritance for eternity (3). Dear friend, that can change. You may know this great and kind God by turning away from your sin and trusting Jesus as you Savior and Lord. Except for His one and only Son, Jesus, all God’s other sons and daughters are adopted. Seek Him. Ask Him to save you. Trust Him. Listed below are some verses in the Bible that may help you to begin that journey. (4)
- https://biblehub.com/commentaries/ephesians/1-11.htm
- I highly recommend this 14-minute podcast, as it is very encouraging. https://www.desiringgod.org/labs/are-we-gods-inheritance-or-is-he-ours
- Actually an eternity of pain and despair
- John 1:12; Romans 3:23, 6:23, 5:8, 10:9-10,13; Acts 4:12; John 14:6; Ephesians 2:1-10
Deadly Intolerances
Posted in General on June 13, 2023| Leave a Comment »
I could talk about all sorts of societal ills under that title, but I have a simpler intention.
Trees may be shade tolerant or shade intolerant, acid loving or acid averse, drought resistant or waterlog intolerant, disease resistant or disease prone.
White Ash trees are rather disease prone, particularly of late with ash borers, though I have observed pink arcs in the grain of dying trees that I have cut down. Ash trees are also mildly shade intolerant so that they attempt to grow above other trees that would shade them out. This may result in them being tall and thin with very few limbs down low. I was asked to cut down just such a sickly, spindly tree today. It was about 26 inches in diameter at the base and very tall with few branches, save at the top. It is hard to wield a chainsaw and phone camera together, so I only have two pictures of the trunk on the ground. Check them out at “Taking out a dying Ash tree.”
A Bit of Randomness
Posted in General on June 10, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Moments in daily life can seem random, but that is not the same as purposeless or undirected. And some days seem more random than others. I have had a few of those days lately. It reminds me how thankful I am that God holds the purpose and direction of my life, my days, and my moment. Catch a bit of my randomness at “Incidental Randomness.”
At Long Last
Posted in Climbing, General, Nature, Outdoors, tagged Climbing, First time climbing, Rock Climbing, Sport Climbing, The Dump on June 2, 2023| 1 Comment »
Since I moved from Western North Carolina to East Tennessee (1), I have only been rope climbing once until last Saturday. I have no intention of complaining. Afterall, I have been in the middle of a major life transition with multiple mitigating factors. But I do still desire to climb, and it was so good to get out this past weekend. I have taught or assisted in teaching more than 20 people how to climb. In the case of the daughter of some friends, she had already been bouldering and rope climbing indoors and wanted to get outdoors. We had an enjoyable time at what the climbers call The Dump (2). The weather was very accommodating for climbing, and I was amazed at how dry the rock and plants were. I took but few pictures, which you may check out at “First Time Out.”
- It is interesting that NC and TN are divided geographically, culturally, historically, and politically. There is East, Middle, and West TN, though you could argue that apart from geography, it is really East and the rest of the state. NC is divided geographically into West, Piedmont, and East (or Coastal) regions, but is also really West and East for all other purposes.
- So called because it was frequented by locals dumping their appliances. It has since been cleaned up.
The Upside
Posted in Family, General, Grandchildren, Hike, Nature, Outdoors, Photo, tagged Family, Grandchild, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Hike, Mt. LeConte, Outdoors on May 28, 2023| 1 Comment »
Continuing the story about a Mt. LeConte hike this past week (see “Approach Day“), we arose just after 5 AM and got away at 6:15 for a one-hour drive to the trailhead. I had wanted to hike Trillium Gap and Rainbow Falls Trails. My daughter asked me about how they are different. I said Rainbow Falls Trail is shorter, steeper, and rockier. She said that she would prefer to go up on a steeper trail since coming down that way would be more painful on her knees.
So, carrying one pack with food and clothing and water, about 25 pounds, and carrying a second pack with her son and water, about 35 pounds, we started off. I record our progress with commentary and pictures at “Rainbow Falls Ascent“.
Approach Day
Posted in Family, General, Grandchildren, Hike, Memories, Nature, Outdoors, tagged Family, Outdoors on May 27, 2023| 1 Comment »
I was chosen to take the place of my daughter’s hiking partner who had other responsibilities crop up. We were slated to take a 16-mile hike to Mt. LeConte in the Smoky Mountains National Park. Over the next several blog entries I am going to lay out the gist of the trip. The first day was travel and rest. Pictures of our lodging place are included at “Cabin up the Crick” along with a little flashback surprise.
A New Little Corner to Explore
Posted in Ecology, Exercise, General, Hike, Nature, Outdoors, tagged Mountain Bike Park, Mountain Biking, Nature, Outdoors, Tree varieties on May 10, 2023| Leave a Comment »
For various reasons I am not able to explore big and faraway places, so I content myself with exploring little nearby places. When you find one within a mile from your workplace convenient for a lunchbreak jaunt, that is even better. Right in the middle of the industrial part of town arises a 200-foot hill that is about 3/4-mile long. Half of it has two steep streets with a few scattered houses clinging to the slopes and a large water tank in the middle. The far end is narrow and very steep sided, very impractical for housing. Someone had the insight to make it into a Mountain Bike Park. Hiking is also allowed on a few of the trails.
One lunchbreak recently I walked two of the trails to see how difficult they are. I was pleasantly surprised by the good variety of trees and wildflowers, the visual seclusion of the site with occasional machinery interrupting sounds, and the utter steepness of the slopes. I invited my son to come ride a few of the trails with me. Both were pleasant days. Check out my walk and biking pictures at Tannery Knobs Mountain Bike Park.
Bushwhacking Pond
Posted in General, Hike, Nature, Outdoors, Photo, Wildflowers, tagged Bushwhacking, Nature, Outdoors, Ridge walk, Wildflowers, Woods on April 24, 2023| 1 Comment »
The day before “A Few Quick Miles“, I went on a hiking trip with a young friend from church with whom I had hiked “Through A Gorge” previously. I had actually wanted to do this hike for over thirty-five years. It is in an area now designated as Pond Mountain Wilderness Area. The draw for me was there were very few trails in the middle of this 6900-acre area. Going off trail can be challenging. I have numerous experiences with bushwhacking, some rewarding and some exhausting and very long. I have learned to avoid off trail in deep draws with creeks unless I have plenty of time, a specific goal, and a good exit strategy.* If you would like to see a few pictures of the trip, click on Pond Mountain.
*I should write a business plan based on bushwhacking.
A Few Quick Miles
Posted in Exercise, Family, General, Grandchildren, Nature, Outdoors, Photo, tagged Covered Bridge, Exercise, Family Time, Mountain Biking, Tweetsie Trail on April 19, 2023| 2 Comments »
A little too quick and more than one or two miles. My middle son and I went mountain biking this morning. Because there are several public trails nearby and one under the main road 1/2mile from his house, it is easy to get on multiple and various surfaces. This is the second time I have ridden with him. I have been trying to get into shape by riding a steep hill behind my house. It has increased my power, but riding with my son involves endurance. I am always lagging behind. So, I guess we keep it up and I will build endurance, too. If you can endure my pictures and commentary, check it out at Multiple Surfaces.
Infinitely Superlative
Posted in General, God Thoughts, God's Word, Person of Jesus, Piety, Praise, Reflection, Thanksgiving, Worship, tagged attributes of god, Characteristics of God, Scripture, What is God like? on April 15, 2023| Leave a Comment »
While listening to a radio preacher on the way to work a few weeks ago, he challenged his listeners to take a blank piece of paper and write on it as many single words as they could that come to mind when thinking about God. That evening I sat down in my rocking chair to do just that. Many words came to me. I soon realized that all of the words should be understood to be superlatives. For example, God is not merely knowing but all knowing. The next thought came that any word that was superlative should describe God. Immediately a caution flag arose in my conceptual vision. I should only use words that are either in Scripture or clearly describe ideas in Scripture. It took me about 40 minutes to make the majority of the list below. More words came in subsequent days as I read the Scriptures in my devotions or heard a sermon at church, on the radio, and online. You cannot tell which words were on the first 40-minute list because I decided to alphabetize them for the sake of making a study out of them. I further decided to separate out descriptive words from names of God. I hope that this list is useful to you in your thinking about and meditating on God. There was one difficulty in the exercise. I tried to limit myself to attributes of God’s character and not works He has done. Much of what we know about God through Scripture and the witness of Creation revolves around what God has done. Many of the attributes listed below concern what He does flowing from who He is. It is a fine distinction that I tried to adhere to.
As a suggestion, you might meditate on one word per day, looking up the verses listed. You could also look up cross references in the column of your Bible to find more related verses. As you consider the ideas, praise and thank God for being an excellent being in this area. Consider three things additionally: 1) How does this attribute of God modify or fortify my concept of who God is? 2) How does this concept increase my security in God and confidence for living for Him? 3) How does this idea about God increase my piety, both positively in godly living and negatively in mortifying the flesh and overcoming temptation?
| Able | Luke 3:8; Rom 4:21 | Perfect | Deut 32:4; Mt 5:48 | |
| Awesome | Deut 10:17 | Powerful | Psa 29:4 | |
| Beautiful | Isaiah 4:2 | Pure | 2Sam 22:27; Psa 19:8; 1Jn3:3 | |
| Caring | I Peter 5:7 | Real | Deut 4:35; Isa 44:8, 45:5 | |
| Communicative | Gen 35:13; Ps 50:1 | Relational | 1 Cor 1:9; 2 Cor 13:14; 1 Jn 1:3 | |
| Compassionate | Exo 34:6; Deut 4:31 | Reposed | Gen 2:1-3; Is 28:12 | |
| Condescending | Gen 16:13, 21:15-19; Isa 57:15 | Righteous | Deut 32:4; Psa 116:5; Acts 22:14 | |
| Discerning | Ps 138:6; 139:2 | Self-sufficient | Psa 50:10-12 | |
| Eternal | Dt 33:27; Isa 9:6; Jn8:58 | Shining | Ezek 8:2; 1 Jn 2:8; Rev 1:16 | |
| Exalted | Job 36:26; Psa 97:9; Acts 5:31 | Source | Deut 8:3-9; Heb 5:9; James 1:17 | |
| Faithful | Deut 7:9 ; Isa49:7; I Cor 10:13 | Sovereign | Psa 103:19;Dan 4:25,34-35, 5:21 | |
| Famous | Isaiah 66:19 | Strong | Job 9:19; 2 Sam 22:33 | |
| Forgiving | Num14:18 | Transcendent | I Kings 8:27;Job 37:23;Isa 57:15 | |
| Giving | Jam 1:17; Dt 8:18; Matt 5:45 | True | Jer 10:10; Jn 3:33, 17:3; 1 Th 1:9 | |
| Glorious | Exo 15:11, Psa 29:2,9 | Trustworthy | Psa 22:4-5 | |
| Good | I Chr 16:34; Ez 3:1;Mark 10:18 | Unsearchable | Job 5:9; Rom 11:33 | |
| Gracious | Neh 9:17; Psa 103:8 | Wise | Rom 11:33, 16:27;1Cor 1:26 | |
| Great | Exo 18:11; Deut 5:24,10:17 | Wonderful | Isa 9:6 | |
| Heavy | Psalm 32:4, see glory | Worthy | Psa 18:3; Rev 4:11, 5:12 | |
| Holy | Isa 6:3; Rev 4:8,154 | Wrathful | Lev 26:28; Nah 1:2 | |
| Honorable | Lev10:3; Dt28:58; Jn5:23 | Zealous | Joel 2:18; Zech 1:14-15 | |
| Infinite | Ps147:5; Eph3:18-19 | |||
| Intense (Fierce) | Num25:4; Jer30:24; Rev19:15 | Almighty | Gen 17:1; Job 40:2; Rev 1:8 | |
| Invisible | Col1:15; J n1:18 | Alpha | Rev 1:8, 21:6, 22:13 | |
| Jealous | Ex20:5; Nah1:2 | Creator | Eccl 12:1; Isa 40:28 | |
| Just | Dt32:4; Rom3:26 | Christ | Acts 10:38; 18:28 | |
| Kind | Ps145:17; Eph1:5 | Father | Psa 68:5; Jn 8:54; 1 Cor 8:6 | |
| Life | Gen2:7; Jn1:414:6; Rev20:4 | Jesus | Matt 1:,16,21; Phil 2:10 | |
| Longsuffering | Ex34:6; 2 Pt3:15 | Judge | Gen 15:14,18:25; Psa 7:11, 75:7 | |
| Lovely | Ps 84:1, 135:3 | Justifier | Isa 53:11; Rom 3:26,30 | |
| Lovingkindness | Ps 69:16; Jon4:2 | King | Psa 47:2,95:3; Mal 1:14;Rev15:3 | |
| Majestic | Ex15:11; Is33:21 | Lord | Gen 2:4,15:7; Ex 20:2;Acts 22:8 | |
| Merciful | Ps 86:15; Jam 5:11 | Omega | Rev 1:8, 21:6, 22:13 | |
| Mighty | Ps50:1; Is9:6 | Priest | Zech 6:13;Heb 3:1, 4:14, 5:6, 7:3 | |
| Moral | Lk23:41; 2Cor5:21; Jam1:13 | Prophet | Deut 18:15,18;Acts 3:13-23,7:37 | |
| Omnipotent | Job42:2; Eph1:18-22 | Protector | Psa 14:6, 46:1, 146:9 | |
| Omnipresent | Psa 139:7-12 | Provider | Psa 147:8, Eph 3:20 | |
| Omniscient | Job34:4,21; Psa 33:13; 1Jn3:20 | Redeemer | Job 19:25 | |
| Patient | 2 Pt3:9,15; 1 Tim1:16 | Savior | Isa 43:3,11, 47:4 Jer 50:34 | |
| Spirit | Gen1:2;Jn14:16,16:13;Rom8:11 |
Posterity and Sibling Visit
Posted in Birthday, Family, General, Grandchildren, tagged Birthday Outing, Family, Grandchildren, Siblings on April 2, 2023| Leave a Comment »
My grandchildren are adorable. Well, I am a bit biased, but I am probably supposed to be. My wife and I got to spend half of our Saturday with seven grandchildren and their parents. Then we went out to eat for her sister’s birthday. It was quite the full day and good day. Check it out at Grins and Giggles.
Coolest Cave
Posted in Family, General, Grandchildren, Hike, Nature, Outdoors, Photo, Travel, tagged Cave, Cave Tour, Geology, Nature, Travel, Underground on March 16, 2023| Leave a Comment »
It was in the low 20’s with a stiff little breeze. I was looking forward to going into a warm cave (usually 59 degrees at our latitude). From the moment I stepped inside I thought that it felt colder than outside. It turns out that among the many entrances are two large ones, one a collapsed chamber at the top of the hill and the other one where the creek exits, plenty large enough to walk in upright. This arrangement makes for a nice chimney with a good draw of very cold air on this particular morning. At one point the guide was saying that a narrowing in the passage has been measured to have lower barometric pressure and “they” don’t know why. It was too simple. I explained Bernoulli’s Principle and how the narrow section of passage acts as a venturi in a carburetor. The faster the wind, the lower the pressure. It is also interesting that the seven species of bats (five of which are endangered) in this cave are not being decimated by the White Nose Fungal outbreak among bats. The regular exchange of fresh air is probably the reason. The cave also sits at a transition zone where sedimentary and igneous rock are interlayered. Of the several dozen caves that I have been in, it seems to be the most geologically diverse. I enjoyed the tour with my daughter and two grandchildren. It was supposed to be a 45 minute tour, but between Mr. G’s* enthusiasm and knowledge of the cave and our curiosity and general knowledge, the tour was more like 1:45. We as well as he professed to having learned a lot. Check out my pictures at AC Underground and then check out the Appalachian Caverns Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/appalachian.caverns)
*If you want to ask for a tour guide whose name begins with G, then I would recommend him. I don’t name people on my blog.
Historical Semantics
Posted in General, Random thoughts, Reflection, tagged Language curiosity, Semantics on February 21, 2023| Leave a Comment »
I didn’t say etymology because this is not about how a word came to be or changed in form or meaning over time. Instead, this is an anecdote about word usage where the word and its meaning has not changed but the situation referred to has changed. That sounds rather confusing until you hear the story.
Have you ever wondered why the container for beans or corn or soup or tomato paste is called a tin can. The obvious answer is that it is made of tin, or used to be anyway. Preserving food and other substances in cans began in 1810 with the invention of the tin can. By 1813 the first tin can factory was canning food for the military in England (1,2).
Why was tin used? It has a high corrosion resistance and a low toxicity (3). Already by 1818, cans were beginning to be merely tin-plated rather than entirely tin. Today, cans are plastic lined to seal them and prevent corrosion. There was a period of time when BPA’s and other plastics were used that are problematic for health, but that has gone away.
So, steel cans are still called tin cans even though almost no cans were even tin lined after the 1950’s. Though I have wondered about the persistence of this term, tin can, for many years, I regained heightened interest in the subject when I went to recycle metals the other day. Check it out at, “Where do I put steel and other metals?”
What word usages can you think of that are leftovers from long gone situations?
CreatorWorship 