Archive for December, 2009

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Skywatch Friday: Unaka Mountain

December 18, 2009

Hoar Frost on Unaka Mountain, Tennessee. November 27, 2009.

This is my post for Skywatch Friday, a meme for sharing views of the sky from all over the world.  To see more, or to join and share your own photos of the sky, click HERE.

Betsy and I were in East Tennessee the day after Thanksgiving on a waterfalling trip.  The weather forecast had called for snow flurries and Betsy had hoped that we would see some snow, but there was none.  Friday morning was cold but clear.

The closest Betsy came to seeing snow was this hoar frost on the top of Unaka Mountain.  I had to get a picture of something white for my beautiful bride, so I snapped this picture from the road we were on.

I’m not that thrilled with the hoar frost, but that clear blue sky is beautiful.

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Posted in SkyWatch Friday | 19 Comments »

A Perfect Way to Spend a Wintry Evening

December 17, 2009

Our living room at Christmas time. December 12, 2009.

When I lived in western North Carolina we had a wood-burning stove to supplement the heat in the house.  I was teaching at the time, so I spent much of the summer cutting and splitting wood to use in the stove.  (I was MUCH younger then and had MUCH more energy!).

Years passed and I met my beautiful bride.  When it came time for us to find our dream house, Betsy essentially had one requirement — it had to have a wood-burning fireplace.

So now, many years later, I have to be concerned with firewood.  We now get firewood cut to length, but some of the pieces still need to be split.  So I often spend a chilly day splitting wood; at least that helps keep me warm while I’m working outside.

And I have to admit that there are few things as pleasant as sipping tea in front of a fire on a cold evening.

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Posted in American Life | 15 Comments »

Watery Wednesday #66: St. Maarten Sunset

December 16, 2009

Sunset off St. Maarten. September 11, 2001.

This is my post for Watery Wednesday.  To see more of our beautiful watery world, or to join and post your own pictures to share, click HERE.

This picture of the sun setting on a smooth ocean was taken in 2001 off the coast of St. Maarten.  Some of that warmth would really be appreciated today!

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Posted in Watery Wednesday | 13 Comments »

My World: Baltusrol Falls

December 15, 2009

Baltusrol Falls, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. December 13, 2009.

This is my post for the My World meme.  It is hosted by Klaus, Ivar, Sandy, Wren, Louise and Fishing Guy.  To learn more about our world or to join and share your part of the world, click HERE.

Most of you know that Betsy and I collect waterfalls.  We’ve just returned from a weekend trip where we drove and hiked to visit several falls.

But we don’t always have to go a great distance to visit a waterfall.  The waterfall in the picture above is only about a quarter of a mile from our house.  It flows from the golf course into a vacant lot down the road from us.

Usually there is only a trickle of water flowing down, but after a heavy rain like we had Saturday night and Sunday morning, it can be quite impressive.

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Posted in My World | 10 Comments »

I Wasn’t Looking for This Type of Water Flow

December 14, 2009

Plumbers at work in our front yard. October 13, 2009.

Let me begin by saying that Betsy and I had a wonderful weekend waterfalling in east Tennessee and western North Carolina.  We saw several new waterfalls and had a wonderful hike on Friday.

The weather forecast for Saturday night and Sunday was very iffy — there was the possibility of ice, sleet and rain and/or snow.  So we decided to come on home Saturday evening instead of traveling on Sunday.

It was after dark when we pulled into the driveway and the first thing we saw was water flowing across the driveway.  We both remarked that there must have been a lot of rain, because we hadn’t seen water flowing across the driveway since I built the new wall in the front yard.

HOWEVER …

When Betsy went to check on her bird feeders on the back deck, she noticed that the deck was dry.  She then noticed that we had no water in the house.  So, flashlight in hand, I checked the front yard and saw water gushing up through the cover of the water meter.

We called the water utility and a man came out to turn off the water and check the problem.  He found a crack in the line leading to the house about three inches on our side of the meter (sigh!).

They came to the rescue!

To make a long story short, our friendly plumbers came by Sunday and fixed the line and turned the water back on.  They also told me where I could get the tool to turn off the water at the meter.  If I do that, any leaks while we’re gone have to be on the utility’s side!

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Posted in Home | 19 Comments »

On the Road Again

December 10, 2009

Betsy at Lower Spivey Falls, Ernestville, Tennessee. November 27, 2009.

Betsy and I have planned a long weekend in western North Carolina to visit some of the sites that we’ve wanted to see but haven’t had the opportunity until now.  It’s an opportunity to get away before things get too hectic because of Christmas.

So I’m going to be out of pocket for a few days.  We may have an some access to the internet while we’re gone, so I’ll do my best to visit you.

I hope we have good weather and that you have the weather you wish for at this time of year.  I also hope we all have a wonderful weekend.  I’ll post again when we get back.

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Posted in Travels | 14 Comments »

Watery Wednesday # 65: Warwoman Creek Cascade

December 9, 2009

Warwoman Creek Cascade, Clayton, Georgia. October 13, 2009.

This is my post for Watery Wednesday.  To see more of our beautiful watery world, or to join and post your own pictures to share, click HERE.

Betsy and I have been through Clayton, Georgia, several times on our waterfalling adventures.  One of the roads we’ve traveled has the intriguing name Warwoman Road (I would love to learn the origin of that name, wouldn’t you?).

On our last visit to Clayton in October, we found Warwoman Creek.  We didn’t find the waterfall we were looking, but we did find this cascade on Warwoman Creek.  I thought it was pretty enough to share on Watery Wednesday.

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Posted in Watery Wednesday | 14 Comments »

My World: Rutledge Falls

December 8, 2009

Rutledge Falls, Tullahoma, Tennessee. February 14, 2009.

This is my post for the My World meme.  It is hosted by Klaus, Ivar, Sandy, Wren, Louise and Fishing Guy.  To learn more about our world or to join and share your part of the world, click HERE.

One advantage of living here on the Plateau is our close proximity to a number of very nice waterfalls.  I’ve mentioned several times that Fall Creek Falls State Park is only about an hour away.

There are several other waterfalls within a couple of hours of our house.  Rutledge Falls, near Tullahoma, Tennessee, is one of those waterfalls.  We visited Rutledge Falls on Valentine’s Day.  The waterfall is on private property, but the owners grant access to the public.

If you would like to see more of Rutledge Falls click HERE.

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Posted in My World | 12 Comments »

The Benefits of Waterfalling

December 7, 2009

George and Betsy at Wilderness Falls, Unaka Mountain, Tennessee. November 27, 2009.

As most of you know, Betsy and I collect waterfalls.  We enjoy researching waterfalls in an area and then visiting as many as we can.  That’s what we did over the Thanksgiving weekend.

A waterfall doesn’t have to be big to be enjoyable.  We often get to a waterfall by driving or hiking through some of the prettiest scenery you could imagine.  Since we photograph our waterfalls I have a tripod in the car and a small tripod in my backpack.

We found this pretty little waterfall on Unaka Mountain along the Tennessee/North Carolina border, and of course we had to get our picture.

Pretty waterfalls, beautiful scenery, and fresh air.  Yes, there are many benefits to finding a new waterfall!

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Posted in Waterfalls | 12 Comments »

Scenic Sunday # 73: Double Happiness

December 6, 2009

Snow and pine needles, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. December 5, 2009.

This is my post for the Scenic Sunday meme, which shares beautiful scenes from around the world.  To see more Scenic Sunday posts, or to join and show your own pictures, click HERE.

This may not appear to be much to you, but it is very beautiful and scenic to my beautiful bride, who just loves snow.  We woke up Saturday morning to an inch or two of the white stuff and Betsy was over-joyed.  Unfortunately (for her) the snow probably won’t be around for long, but she is ever-hopeful that more will soon come.

Jen's calendar and the almanac.

The mailman brought a second happy event for the day.  Jen, who blogs on unglazed, had a giveway a week of so ago and I was fortunate enough to win.  The gift is a 2010 calendar of photos Jen has taken.  To say that each photo is beautiful is really an understatement.  Jen takes wonderful pictures of the birds in her area and I encourage you to visit her site if you haven’t done so.  Jen also included a copy of the Farmer’s Almanac.  Jen knows how much Betsy likes snow and wants her to know when the snow will arrive!

Thanks again, Jen.

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Posted in Scenic Sunday | 18 Comments »

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