Archive for January, 2009

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Scenic Sunday 26

January 11, 2009
Dunes on Sunset Beach, North Carolina. June, 2001.

Dunes on Sunset Beach, North Carolina. June, 2001.

I came upon this meme fairly late in the day, but I thought I would try to make a contribution anyway.

The picture above was taken on Sunset Beach, North Carolina, in June, 2001.  Betsy and I were on our honeymoon and we spent the day on Sunset Beach.  The picture, which can be enlarged by clicking on it, shows the dunes behind the beach proper.

Sunset Beach is the smallest and quietest of the three barrier islands which make up the South Brunswick Islands.  Sunset Beach, which is about three miles long,  has a white sand backed by sand dunes.  One reason Sunset Beach is so quiet is that the only road access to the island is across a one-lane pontoon swing bridge.  All traffic had to stop when the bridge swung open to allow boats to pass along the Intracoastal Waterway.  A new bridge is being built, so it will be interesting to see if the island remains fairly quiet.

I had been to Sunset Beach several times, but this was Betsy’s first visit.  When this picture was taken I still had a home in Little River, South Carolina, which is about twelve miles south of Sunset Beach.

To see more scenes from around the world click HERE or on the logo below.

scenicsunday

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Posted in Travels | 21 Comments »

A Glimpse of Spring on a Gloomy Winter Day

January 11, 2009

jacksonperkins

Yesterday was another gray, rainy day here in the Glade.  We had to go out to run a couple of errands, but mostly we stayed in and listened to the rain on the roof.

Fortunately we had a sure cure for a dreary winter day — the garden catalog.  When I was growing up in northern Indiana the winters were rougher than they are here in Tennessee and the garden catalogs were a welcome sign that Spring would eventually arrive.  I grew up on a small farm and we had a fairly large garden.  Mom and Dad would let my brother and me each pick out something to plant.  Oh, how we looked forward to those catalogs.

The garden catalog that brightened our day was the rose catalog from Jackson & Perkins.  J&P always has a beautiful catalog, not to mention beautiful roses.

Although I now get roses from a couple of different sources, I’ve grown Jackson & Perkins roses for over 30 years.  When I lived in North Carolina and Ohio I even grew test roses for J&P, which was a very interesting undertaking.  I would get roses to plant having no idea what they would look like.

I don’t do that any more, but I do still grow roses and wish that I had more room for them.  And I still look through the rose catalogs from cover to cover.

We learned about two new Jackson & Perkins roses last October and I convinced Betsy that we had room for both of them.  But in looking through the catalog yesterday I discovered FOUR new roses that I had never heard about before.

Betsy — we need a larger lot!!!

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Posted in Garden | 21 Comments »

A Visit to Black Mountain

January 10, 2009
Betsy at the North Overlook on Black Mountainnn. January 9, 2008.

Betsy at the North Overlook on Black Mountainnn. January 9, 2008.

Yesterday, since we had gone out for the previous two days, Betsy and I decided we would stay home.  It was laundry day for Betsy and I had wood to bring up to the garage and Christmas decorations to put away in the attic.

We did quite well until the early afternoon, but the day was entirely too nice to stay in.  So we drove to Black Mountain Recreation Area near the town of Crab Orchard, which is only about seven miles from the house.  The recreation area is atop Black Mountain (I guess that makes sense) and features a 1.7 mile loop trail that connects two overlooks.  There is also a connection with the Cumberland Trail, which, when completed, will be a north-south hiking trail across Tennessee.

We’ve been to Black Mountain several times.  Betsy especially wanted to go back in the winter to see if it was possible to spot Fairfield Glade from the North Overlook when there were no leaves on the trees.  The North Overlook provides a view of Crab Orchard Valley which lies between Black Mountain and the Glade.  The picture above shows Betsy at the North Overlook, but we still couldn’t see much because of all the tree branches in the way.

We continued on around the loop to the South Overlook, which probably has the best view of the Cumberland Plateau and the Tennessee Ridge and Valley beyond.  The South Overlook is our favorite place on Black Mountain, but we couldn’t stay long yesterday.  It was getting late and I definitely did not want to drive down the narrow, one-lane road after dark!

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Posted in Travels | 26 Comments »

Skywatch Friday 26 and an Anniversary

January 8, 2009
The moon in a blue sky at Fall Creek Falls State Park, Tennessee. January 8, 2009.

The moon in a blue sky at Fall Creek Falls State Park, Tennessee. January 8, 2009.

Since Betsy and I enjoyed our trip to Ozone Falls so much on Wednesday, we decided to drive to Fall Creek Falls State Park yesterday.  That park is special to us and contains five waterfalls.  There was relatively little water the last time we were there and we wanted to see what effect the rains of the past two weeks had on them.

There was lots of water, and I’m sure I’ll share more about that in the future.  If you can’t wait, Betsy is better organized than I am and has posted some pictures on her blog.

Yesterday was an absolutely gorgeous day on the Plateau.  There wasn’t a cloud in the beautiful blue sky.  As we were driving around the Gorge Scenic Drive, we stopped at an overlook to enjoy the “Grand Canyon of Tennessee”.  As we went back to the car I noticed the moon in a beautiful sky framed by trees along the road.  You can click on the picture to get a bigger view.

Won’t you join the fun of Skywatch Friday?  You can join or view more pictures from around the world by clicking HERE or on the logo below.

skywatch

*****
On a different note I want to note that I started blogging two years ago today.  I started on a different site but  switched to this site in July, 2008, because of technical problems with the first site.  I have no regrets about making the change at all.

In my first post I wrote “Since U. S. News and World Report stated that one of the things a person could do to improve their life is to start a blog, and since I turn 65 in two months, I thought I would give it a try.”

In that first post I noted that we had had a little snow here in the Glade but that Betsy was wanting more.  I noted that the more it snowed, the happier Betsy became.  I guess some things never change!

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Posted in SkyWatch Friday | 30 Comments »

Ozone Falls and What We’ve Missed

January 8, 2009
Ozone Falls, Ozone, Tennessee. January 7, 2008.

Ozone Falls, Ozone, Tennessee. January 7, 2008.

Betsy had a great idea yesterday.  The heavy rains had stopped and, although there were still sprinkles and an occasional snow flurry, she suggested that we go see Ozone Falls.

Ozone Falls is the nearest ‘major’ waterfall to our house.  We’ve been there several times  — a couple of times when there wasn’t much water going over the falls and once when there was a great deal of snow and ice around the falls.

Yesterday, as the picture above shows, there was a great deal of water going over the falls — much more than we’ve ever seen.  But the big surprise for me was something I hadn’t seen before.

A new (for me) small waterfall with Ozone Falls in the background.

A new (for me) small waterfall with Ozone Falls in the background.

I hiked down to the vantage point I’ve visited before, but this time there was enough water in the stream that I could see rapids below the falls.  Since there were no leaves on the trees I could see a way to get to the stream below the falls, and so I set off down the side of the cove.  I hiked down to the stream below the falls and found a second, smaller fall below the main one as shown in the picture on the right.  I had no idea it was there.

Since I was now most of the way down into the cove I decided to go a little more further downstream and found several additional small falls and cascades.

I reluctantly left the stream and started to climb back up out of the cove.  For some reason it was much harder climbing up than it was walking down, but I think my new discoveries were worth it.

A small fall downstream from Ozone Falls.

A small fall downstream from Ozone Falls.

As I said, Betsy had a great idea!

Betsy has more about our trip to Ozone Falls.  You can read her blog click HERE.

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Posted in Waterfalls | 33 Comments »

Watery Wednesday 17

January 6, 2009
Lake Michigan at Indiana Dunes State Park. July 5, 2002.

Lake Michigan at Indiana Dunes State Park. July 5, 2002.

We’ve had several days of rain and gray clouds here on the Plateau.  I’m not complaining — we need the rain — but I do need to see some blue skies and sunshine.  So I did what I often do — looked through some old pictures.

This picture was taken in July, 2002, at the Indiana Dunes State Park.  I had taken Betsy to northern Indiana to see my brother and his wife and to see my hometown of Crown Point, Indiana.  One day while we were up there I took her to the Dunes on Lake Michigan.

When I was a kid my parents would sometimes take us up to the Dunes in the summer to enjoy a day at the beach.  We really enjoyed playing in the water, but the most interesting part of the park were the dunes themselves.

The state park is now surrounded on three sides by the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, but the state park is much as I remembered it.  The park contains hiking trails, which Betsy and I enjoyed.  This particular picture was taken as Betsy and I were hiking down from the top of Mt. Tom, the tallest dune in the park at 195 feet.  It was a hot July day and the lake sure looked inviting at the foot of that dune!

To see more of our watery world click HERE or on the logo below.
waterywed2c

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Posted in Travels | 22 Comments »

My World 12

January 5, 2009

Crossville, Tennessee, bills itself as the ‘Golf Capital of Tennessee’.  We live near Crossville in Fairfield Glade, which has five golf courses.  Although I haven’t played golf since I was in college, the last two homes I’ve owned have been on golf courses.  I’m sure there’s a message there someplace, but I’ll save that for another time.

Right now  the golf course in my world is Druid Hills.  It’s a favored walking path when golfers aren’t around.
myworld01
The picture above was taken in the spring on the 11th fairway.  Since I was walking I could face the mountains in the distance.  If I were playing golf the mountains would be to my back.
myworld02
This was taken from the same fairway in early winter.  Note the church steeple poking up above the trees.
myworld04
Unfortunately for Betsy, this picture, taken on the 12th tee, was shot in 2006.  Betsy is still waiting for snow this year.
myworld03
The summer picture was taken from behind our house on a beautiful clear day.  This is the 18th fairway of the Druid Hills course.
myworld05
This early morning picture was taken from the 18th green.  Our house (out of sight) is down the hill on the right.  I like the early morning fog in the valleys below the course.

To see more of this fascinating world of ours, click HERE or on the logo below.

mwtblack

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Posted in Glade | 29 Comments »

Was I Really This Young?

January 5, 2009
The boys of Crown Point YMF with their church model. 1953

The boys of Crown Point MYF with their church model. 1953

My friend Jerry sent me the above picture.  It was taken in the Spring of 1953 when I was eleven years old.  The picture shows the boys in our MYF (Methodist Youth Fellowship) with a model of the new church building that was then being proposed for our congregation.  We built the model using blue prints the architect of the proposed building had drawn up.

In those pre-Politically Correct days, the boys and girls of MYF had different activities.  The little girl to the right in the picture is the daughter of Mr. Neidigh, our advisor.  The picture was taken in Mr. Neidigh’s home, where we did most of the work on the model.

Our church building at that time was next door to the Lake County Jail in Crown Point, Indiana.  A wall separated the church from the jail, but prisoners on the top floor of the jail could look out of their windows and see people entering or leaving the church.  Usually the prisoners just looked (we kids looked back) but the situation did give rise to funny feelings every once in a while.

The Lake County Jail was rather famous (or infamous) in that part of the country.  John Dillinger, the notorious bank robber, escaped from our jail using a ‘pistol’ he carved out of wood and blackened with shoe polish.  Lake County had a woman sheriff at the time of Dillinger’s escape — I’m not sure there has been another woman sheriff since!

The last time I was back in Crown Point the old jail was being  remodeled into a museum.  The new church building is still there, several blocks down the street from the old jail.  The model was destroyed by fire several years ago.

Incidently, Mr. Neidigh is standing on the left in the picture and Jerry is in the back in the middle.  I’m standing in the back between the two of them.

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Posted in American Life | 19 Comments »

A Caribbean Sunrise

January 4, 2009
Sunrise off Antigua. September 12, 2001.

Sunrise off Antigua. September 12, 2001.

I was going through some old pictures when I found the picture above.  It was taken on our Caribbean cruise back in 2001.

We flew to San Juan, Puerto Rico, where we boarded the ship.  The ship left San Juan on a Sunday night and we slept fairly late on Monday.  But we got up early enough every other morning to see the sunrise.  Of course, we usually went back to bed after the sun was up, but after all it was a vacation!

This particular picture was taken on Wednesday morning as we approached Antigua.  I like it because the light reflected on the sea seems to be beckoning us to follow it into the sun.  Unfortunately the ship was headed in a slightly different direction.

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Posted in Travels | 20 Comments »

Mission Accomplished

January 3, 2009
Some of the vinyl records I've converted.

Some of the vinyl records I've converted.

During the 2005 Holiday Season I started to convert some of my vinyl  Christmas albums to digital format.  By that time we were listening mostly to CDs and I thought it would be nice to listen to that Christmas music in the car or on my iPod.  Besides, some of the records had had a hard life and were getting pretty scratched up.

Since I have a Mac, it was a simple manner to connect the turntable and amplifier to my computer.  I got a program, Sound Studio, to allow me to edit the sound files and I was in business.  In addition to creating the sound files, Sound Studio allows me edit the files and remove many of the skips and scratches.

When I started this project I didn’t realize how long it would take.  While I was still working I didn’t have a great deal  of time, but even after retiring I still had plenty of things to do in addition to my conversion project.  I worked on Christmas music when I had the time for about six months out of the year.

I must admit that there were times when I thought I would never get done, but Thursday evening I finished converting the last of my records.  I’ve converted a total of 55 records to CDs.

I feel like I’ve earned myself a rest, but we have many more records that need to converted.  What should I work on next — Henry Mancini, Glenn Miller or Arthur Fiedler?

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Posted in Technology | 19 Comments »

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