Archive for the ‘Down Memory Lane’ Category

Down Memory Lane: Xian

April 29, 2025

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I first went to China in 1987 as part of an exchange program between my college and a Chinese university.  As part of the agreement, our hosts arranged for our group to see the Terra Cotta Soldiers.

In order to see the soldiers we had to take an overnight train from Beijing to Xian, the old imperial capitol of China.  We arrived in Xian in the late morning, so we were given a tour of the city before going to see the soldiers the ext day.

One of the landmarks of the city is the Big Wild Goose Pagoda (pictured above).  We were able to go into the pagoda and get a bird’s-eye view of the city.

We also visited the Stone Forest, which is a museum of steele’s going back to the imperial era.  We couldn’t read the inscriptions, but they were still very interesting to see.

Later in the afternoon we visited the old city wall of Xian and walked along it.

While walking along the wall we saw a drum that was used to sound an alarm when needed.  The drum was in a watch tower along the wall.

Since we were in Xian on July 4, our hosts took us, after dark, to a hotel that served foreign tourists.  That hotel had a sidewalk fireworks display in honor of the Fourth of July.  I’ve never been so close to a fireworks display in my like.

If you would like to see more pictures of Xian, click HERE.

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Down Memory Lane: Kunming Lake

April 1, 2025

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I’ve been fortunate to be able to teach English as a second language in China on four different occasions. My first trip was in the summer of 1987 when I took part in an exchange program with other professors from the college at which I taught.  During the summer the Chinese university took us and some of our students to the imperial Summer Palace near Beijing.  Kunming Lake is the largest lake in the palace grounds.  I captured this peaceful scene while walking along the shore.

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Down Memory Lane: Aberdeen (Hong Kong)

January 21, 2025

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Aberdeen is an area of southwestern Hong Kong Island, and includes Aberdeen Harbor, which is one of nine harbors in Hong Kong.

In 1987 I was a member of a team of professors from Heidelberg College in Ohio who were going to mainline Chine to teach English as a second language.  We flew into Hong Kong, and before going into China we spent several days touring the area.

Back then Aberdeen was known for its floating village and floating restaurants.  We didn’t visit any of the restaurants, but we were able to visit the floating village while touring the harbor on a sampan.  The residents of the village were fishermen, who lived with their families on boats

There were also boat yards in Aberdeen where boats were built and retired.

The area was beginning to change, as there were several high rise buildings around the harbor.

After touring the harbor we visited some of the outlying areas,  We visited Repulse Bay, a beautiful body of water that got it’s name (so a story goes) from a British  warship, HMS Repulse, that anchored there is the mid-nineteenth century.  The bay is beautiful, regardless of how it got it’s name.

To see more pictures from Aberdeen, click HERE

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Down Memory Lane: Petrified Wood

May 14, 2024

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Back in 2011 Betsy and I took our first trip out west.  Among the places we visited was the Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona.  I was impressed at the time with the examples of petrified wood that we saw, but recently, when reviewing some photos taken at the time, I became even more impressed with the detail and color of the petrified wood.

These first two pictures were taken in the Jasper Forest of the park.  In that section of the park erosion of high bluffs caused petrified logs to bear strewn across the valley floor.

These next two pictures show petrified wood from the Crystal Forest section of the park.  Here the petrified logs are very colorful due to glassy amethyst and quartz crystals that were embedded in the logs.  

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Tulips in the Walled Garden

April 2, 2024

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My Beautiful Bride really likes tulips, so we make an effort to get to Biltmore to see the tulips in the Walled Garden.  Some years we misjudge the weather and the blooms and don’t see much.  Other years the blossoms are gorgeous.  The picture above was taken during one of those years.  We hope we’re as fortunate this year.

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Pisgah Inn Panorama

February 6, 2024

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I never get tired of the view we have from Pisgah Inn on the Blue Ridge Parkway, and I never get tired of trying to get a panorama which at least approximates  the beauty we enjoy.  I got the photos that made up this panorama on a morning in June, 2023. Many of the mountain tops were lost in a sea of fog.

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Down Memory Lane: Pedestal Rocks

February 11, 2020

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When Betsy and I would visit Mt. Nebo in Arkansas, one of our favorite places to visit and hike was the Pedestal Rocks Scenic Area off of Scenic Route 7 north of Mt. Nebo.

Pedestal Rocks features “mushroom’ shaped columns sculptured by wind and weather. The “pedestals” are both fascinating and beautiful.

Pedestal Rocks is a great place to hike on a beautiful winter day.

In addition to unique shapes, many of the pedestals have lichen growing along one or more sides. Some of the colors are varied, vivid and beautiful.

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Down Memory Lane: The Smokies in the Spring (2001)

February 16, 2015

2001 -- Smokies Spring

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Betsy and I visited the Smoky Mountains in May, 2001.  I had never spent much time in the Smokies, but I had an excellent guide since Betsy had visited them when she lived in Tennessee earlier.  We very much enjoyed the beautiful green of the mountains and the flowing clear waters of the streams.

In the collage above, you see Betsy on the deck of the Wonderland Lodge, where we stayed, on the upper left.  A view of Newfound Gap, near the Tennessee/North Carolina border is on the upper right.

A nice man took the picture of Betsy and me along Mill Creek in Cades Cove.  In the lower center is a photo of the John Oliver cabin, also in Cades Cove.  I got the picture of Betsy along Mill Creek which is on the lower right of the collage.

To see larger versions of these pictures and others, click HERE.

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