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 General, Grandchildren, Hike, Nature, Outdoors | Tagged Grandchildren, Hike, Nature, Outdoors | 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 Ecology, Exploring, General, Hydroelectric Dam, Implications, Infrastructure, Outdoors, Photo | Tagged Ecology, Exploring, Hydroelectric Dam, Infrastructure, Outdoors | 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.”
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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 General, Hike, Nature, Outdoors, Photo | Tagged Friends on a hike, Gorge, Hike, Outdoors, Waterfall | 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.
Posted in Connotations, General, Hike, Nature, Outdoors | Tagged Hike, Nature, Outdoors, Waterfalls, Word Meaning | Leave a Comment »
I do like to explore new parts of the woods, mountains, and streams, but I also like to show others some frequented beauties. Check out my pictures of just that at “Refalls“.
Posted in Beauty, Hike, Nature, Outdoors, Photo | Tagged Hike, Nature, Outdoors, Waterfalls | 1 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.”
Posted in Ecology, Gardening, General, Nature, Outdoors, Photo | Tagged Gardening, Outdoors, Trapping, Wildlife | 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
Posted in Assurance, Blessing, Faith, General, Glory, God's Word, Gospel, Salvation, Work of Jesus | Tagged Glory, Inheritance, Salvation, Security, Work of Jesus | 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.”
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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.”
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One son is passing through and requests lunch at his older brother’s house. We get wind of eight grandchildren all at the same location. It is one of our joys of moving to East Tennessee, that we have more access to more grandchildren and not substantially less access to fewer. So, we left the house at 8 AM on Saturday morning and spent most of the day with two sons, two daughters-in-law, and eight grandchildren. We even had a bonus added onto the end. See pictures and reflection at “Every Precious Moment.”
Posted in Family, Grandchildren | Tagged Family, Grandchildren, Visit | Leave a 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.
Posted in Climbing, General, Nature, Outdoors | Tagged Climbing, First time climbing, Rock Climbing, Sport Climbing, The Dump | 1 Comment »
I was going to call this “The Downside” to go with the last entry, “The Upside“, but downside has too many unpleasant connotations. There was one downside, however. As of the last entry, we stood atop Cliff Top of Mt. LeConte, 6.6 miles into the trip. Given our chosen route, we still had another 9.0 miles to go, and it wore sorely upon us. Trillium Gap Trail (TGT) was definitely the better downhill choice, but we should have hiked across to the Rainbow Falls trailhead from the TGT-head rather than leaving that traverse for late in the day. It was a pleasant walk with things to see, but, tired as we were, I did not take as many pictures. Click on “LeConte Descent” to see what notable things we saw.
Posted in Family, Grandchildren, Hike, Nature, Outdoors | Tagged Family, Hike, Mt. LeConte, Nature, Outdoors | Leave a 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“.
Posted in Family, General, Grandchildren, Hike, Nature, Outdoors, Photo | Tagged Family, Grandchild, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Hike, Mt. LeConte, Outdoors | 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.
Posted in Family, General, Grandchildren, Hike, Memories, Nature, Outdoors | Tagged Family, Outdoors | 1 Comment »
One way I keep my little exercise outings fresh and real is to change them up and mix and match. I recently did that by way of mountain biking along the Tweetsie Trail in Johnson City with my bouldering pad on my back. This arrangement allowed me to try out some small outcroppings that I had seen and thought good for climbing when my son and I were there a week before (See that outing at “A Few Quick Miles“.) but would be beyond walking distance. The Tweetsie Railroad, begun in 1866, “the ET&WNC line… was to operate from Johnson City, Tennessee, to the iron mines just over the state line at Cranberry, North Carolina. (1)
On the way back from riding and climbing I took some pictures which you may see at “Tweetsie Special.”
Posted in Climbing, Exercise, Nature, Outdoors, Photo | Tagged Biking, Bouldering, Exercise, Nature, Outdoors, Tweetsie Trail | 1 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.
Posted in Ecology, Exercise, General, Hike, Nature, Outdoors | Tagged Mountain Bike Park, Mountain Biking, Nature, Outdoors, Tree varieties | Leave a Comment »
You can make plenty of plans, but circumstances may superintend them all. We had planned so many things outdoors when we were to visit our son for the weekend. We did do one chore before it rained. On Friday evening before supper we plopped a fourteen foot section of telephone pole into a four foot hole and tamped in dirt until it was solid and plumb. It rained lightly thereafter, so we ate supper and played with our granddaughter. The next morning we tamped in a second pole to within six inches of surface level before the rain came. So, instead of more outdoor activity, we went to a Book Barn of used books in a warehouse. I found a few good reads. Between the periodic hard showers pelting on the metal roof, the hypnotic classical music, and the row upon row of books it was quite relaxing. That evening during supper we watched a nice PG movie. Sunday morning we were challenged by a sermon from Acts 4 on praising God for the bright and dark providences. I hope to make further comment on that at a later date. After a big lunch we talked a few more hours before driving 4 hours home. Times with family can be so short but so meaningful. I hope that it encouraged our son and daughter-in-law as much as it did us and made our granddaughter as happy as it did us. Click on “Little Visit” to see a few pictures.
Posted in Delights, Family, Influence, Photo | Tagged Family, Grandchildren, Visiting | Leave a 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.
Posted in General, Hike, Nature, Outdoors, Photo, Wildflowers | Tagged Bushwhacking, Nature, Outdoors, Ridge walk, Wildflowers, Woods | 1 Comment »
CreatorWorship 