Machine Falls

January 7, 2010

Scenes from our hike to Machine Falls. February 14, 2009.

Since we’ve been having some cold weather, I’ve been able to spend more time indoors at the computer and am actually getting some things done that should have been done long ago.

One of the folders that I got cleared away contained pictures of a hike Betsy and I made last Valentine Day to Machine Falls.  Machine Falls is in the Short Springs State Natural Area between Manchester and Tullahoma, Tennessee.

The day was beautiful and the hike was very pleasant.  There wasn’t a great deal of water going over the falls, but the flow over the bluff was quite impressive.

To see these pictures and others click HERE.

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I’m grateful for the beauty of God’s creation and for the opportunities we have to enjoy it.

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Posted in Waterfalls | 10 Comments »

Watery Wednesday #69: A Snowy Walk in the Glade

January 6, 2010

A wintry scene on the Druid Hills Golf Course.

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.

I have to admit that this picture was taken several years ago — we’ve got the cold temperatures but not the snow.  The weather forecasts say we’ll get some snow tonight and tomorrow, but Betsy is skeptical.  She’ll believe it when she sees it.

The pond is one of the water hazards on the front nine of the Druid Hills Golf Course here in the Glade.  Betsy and I had taken a walk to enjoy the beautiful snowfall.  It was obviously warmer than it’s been for the past week.  But then, we were several years younger and could tolerate the cold better.

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Darla at More Family and Flowers has issued a challenge for bloggers to end each post with something for which they grateful.  I think that is a wonderful idea and I’ll try to remember to add a gratitude each day.  I’m grateful for my beautiful bride who can make even a snowy day bright and sunny.

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Posted in Watery Wednesday | 17 Comments »

My World: Perhaps We Need Larger Feeders

January 5, 2010

Pileated Woodpecker at a suet feeder, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. December 30, 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.

We’ve had quite a few visitors to our feeders during this cold spell.  The Pileated Woodpecker in the picture above has been to the feeder a few times.  We didn’t realize just how large this type of woodpecker could be until we bought this house.  Before we we moved up here full-time we had problems with woodpeckers munching on our wood siding.  Fortunately we’ve gotten that problem control, so I don’t mind feeding this guy at the suet feeder.

Bluebird checking out the feeders, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. January 3, 2010.

This beautiful bluebird is looking over the feeders trying to decide which one offers the best buffet.  He looks as if he’s well-prepared for the cold weather we’re ‘enjoying’.

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Posted in My World | 15 Comments »

We’re in a Deep Freeze

January 4, 2010

The cascade behind our house. January 3, 2009.

I hope the year 2010 has gotten off to a great start for each and every one of you.  By the way, how do you say 2010?  Is it “Two Thousand Ten” or “Twenty Ten”?  I hear it both ways around here.

Now that the holidays are over we can get back to normal here on the Plateau.  Of course winter means that there is not a great deal to do outdoors except to split and  bring in firewood.  Perhaps winter days will mean that I’ll have more time to get caught up on all the indoor projects I have on my list.

One thing I would like to happen is for us to get out of the deep freeze.  Temperatures in the single digits are not to our liking!  Fortunately the single digits have been overnight, but we haven’t been above freezing ALL YEAR!

The picture above shows the icy cascade behind our house on the edge of the golf course fairway.  We’ve seen ice there a few times before, but I don’t think it has ever been this thick.

The saddest thing (at least as far as Betsy is concerned) is that we have all this cold weather with almost no snow.  We woke up Saturday to a very light dusting of snow, but that’s all we’ve seen so far.

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Posted in Weather | 13 Comments »

A New Year Is Dawning

December 31, 2009

Sunrise on Mount Nebo, Arkansas. December 4, 2008.

It’s hard to believe that 2009 is drawing to a close.  It seems like only yesterday that we were celebrating the new year, watching football on TV, and eating Betsy’s special Hoppin’ John, a New Year’s Day tradition at our house.  Now we’re getting ready to do it all over again.

Life certainly didn’t slow down in 2009.  We seemed to have more projects in our yard rather than fewer.  (I wonder if we’ll ever get it looking the way we want it to?).  Sometimes the work was downright hard, but it became worthwhile when we could see new roses for the first time or enjoy old favorites again.  The other flowers didn’t seem to cause as much work, but they sure brought a lot of enjoyment as well.

We managed to enjoy our families in 2009.  We were able to see four of the five children in person, along with their children.  We didn’t make it out to Las Vegas, but we were able to virtually visit thanks to phone calls, text messages and video calls.  Our faithful Prius took us to Hendersonville every other week (sometimes more often than that) to help my folks.  That involved a lot of miles, but my parents appreciate each and every trip we make.

We managed to get in some waterfall trips.  We ‘discovered’ Tallulah Gorge State Park in Georgia and fell in love with the waterfalls and the trails.  We enjoyed our first trip in June so much that we went back in October.  We also visited new waterfalls in Arkansas, Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee.  We revisited some old favorites in each of those places as well.

We also got to do quite a bit of virtual traveling through all the wonderful people we have met in the blogosphere.  I can’t begin to tell you how much we have appreciated your visits to our blogs and how very much we have enjoyed visiting with each and every one of you.

What will 2010 bring?  I don’t know.  But if it’s anything like 2009 it definitely will NOT be boring.

We’re going to Hendersonville bright and early this morning (Thursday).  We want to help the folks finish up a few year-end details and get the new year off to a good start.  I’ll try to visit you as I get a connection, but I don’t expect to post myself until Monday morning.

So until then let me wish each and every one of you a very Happy New Year!

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Posted in American Life | 18 Comments »

Watery Wednesday # 68: A Watery Mystery

December 30, 2009

The picture of Hogskin Branch Falls I posted on December 1.

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.

On December 1 of this year I made a posting about all the junk we found around Hogskin Branch, a pretty little waterfall near Flag Pond in northeast Tennessee.  The next day I heard from Bill, another waterfall collector, who said that he and his wife had visited the waterfall a couple of weeks before we did and there had been no junk around.  He wondered what had happened and sent along a picture that he had taken.

The picture Bill sent after reading about Hogskin Branch Falls on my blog.

It quickly became obvious to both of us that we had not seen the same waterfall, so the question became ‘What waterfall did Bill and his wife see?’.

When Betsy and I went to Brevard, NC, about three weeks ago we decided, since I-40 was still closed, to go through Flag Pond to see if we could find the mystery waterfall.

Lower Clear Branch Falls, Flag Pond, Tennessee. December 10, 2009.

I think we were successful.  The picture above is of Lower Clear Branch Falls.  There was much less water when we were there, but the shelving and the rocks are the same as Bill shows.  Further, the surroundings all matched what Bill reported.

Not only did we solve a mystery, we got another waterfall to add to our collection.

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Posted in Watery Wednesday | 12 Comments »

My World: Is Not White

December 29, 2009

Our front yard, Fairfield Glade. December 28, 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.

If you were to ask Betsy what was wrong with the picture above, she would have a very succinct answer:  THERE’S NO SNOW! In spite of heavy snows north and east of us, we have only had a dusting or two.  It’s officially winter and the temperatures have been low, but the grass is still relatively green.  The roses have been cut back and covered, but not all of them have gone dormant yet.

What’s worse, there’s no snow on the mountains we can see from the road in front of the house.  They look as bleak and bare as they have since the trees lost all their leaves.

The only white to be seen is in the clouds scurrying across the beautiful blue winter sky.

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Posted in My World | 11 Comments »

Christmas Odds and Ends

December 28, 2009

Betsy and George on Christmas Day.

First of all, I hope you all had a Christmas as wonderful as the one Betsy and I shared.  Every Christmas is special, but this one seemed to be extra wonderful.  I think part of the reason was that this was the first Christmas for a while on which we didn’t travel.  People came to us this year.

One of our Christmas traditions is to take a Christmas photo.  This year’s photo (above) was more informal than most have been.  Thanks to a roaring fire in the fireplace we wore T-shirts from Santa Claus, Indiana, given us by our good friends Judy and Charlie.

The mailman actually brought these on the day before Christmas, but we put the package under the Christmas tree unopened.  These beautiful mats came from Mary at Faith, Fabric and Photos.  They are absolutely beautiful and the rose patterns are perfect for us.

It’s another tradition at our house that Betsy comes up with a gift that is completely unexpected.  She did it again this year with this baseball cap.  The cap says ‘Don’t Forget My Senior Discount!  (I Know I Look Too Young For It)’  I’m sure there’s a message there, but I’m not sure exactly what it is!

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Posted in American Life | 10 Comments »

My Christmas Angel

December 24, 2009

No, Betsy didn’t pose for this angel figurine, but she easily could have.  She has short blond hair, big blue eyes and an angelic face.  During and after college Betsy sang in choirs and in theatrical productions.  When we first met, Betsy was the Associate Minister at my parent’s church in Hendersonville.  So for all of these reasons, and others that will be evident shortly,  I’ve considered this angel to be very representative of my angel.

It wasn’t very long after we began dating that I was convinced that I had found an angel.  Don’t get me wrong — I still feel that way — but the feeling was new and exciting back in 2001.  I realize I’m showing my age, but in my mind I had all the questions that were asked in the lyrics of the big-band era song “When Did You Leave Heaven?”.

But back to the figurine.  The first time I saw it I just knew that it just had to represent Betsy.  Betsy did have another side to her personality — a side that was shown by the twinkle in her eyes at times and an almost impish grin.  As I got to know her better — and as I met her sons and heard their stories — I realized that impishness was indeed a part of her character.

What does all this have to do with the angel figurine?  Take a look at the back of this angelic figurine.

That’s a sling shot sticking out of her pocket.

That’s my angel!!!

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Betsy and I will be taking a long weekend from blogging to have time to celebrate Christmas with family and friends.  We’ll be back Monday, but in the meantime we want to wish you and your family a very merry and blessed Christmas.

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Posted in Betsy | 15 Comments »

Watery Wednesday # 67: Bald River Falls

December 23, 2009

Bald River Falls, Tellico Plains, Tennessee. July 3, 2007.

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.

Tennessee is blessed with many waterfalls, and one of the most impressive in southeastern Tennessee is Bald River Falls.  Bald River drops 80 to 100 feet as it nears the Tellico River.  The falls can be seen from the bridge where Tellico River Road crosses Bald River, but there is a parking area nearby.  I got this picture by walking back to the bridge after parking the car.

Tellico River Road follows the Tellico River for about five miles from the Cherohala Skyway near Tellico Plains, Tennessee.  The river itself offers many wonderful views for future editions of Watery Wednesday.

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Posted in Watery Wednesday | 8 Comments »

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