My son, who accompanied me on a hike is looking up at a bluff along Blackburn Fork Creek,
Cummins Falls State Park, TN
My son, who accompanied me on a hike is looking up at a bluff along Blackburn Fork Creek,
Cummins Falls State Park, TN
Cummins Falls, view from the overlook. According to the web site Cummins Falls is the eighth largest waterfall in Tennessee (volume of water) and was named one of the top 10 best swimming holes in the United States by Travel and Leisure magazine.
Away from the falls where most ford the river to get to the bottom of the falls for a swim or magnificent view.
This spot is serene and has a beauty of a different kind. http://www.tn.gov/environment/parks/CumminsFalls/
Deer feeding at Cades Cove.
Fifteen Random Thoughts about ME!
I was tagged to do this by Tempguestbrief and @Foodhog
1. I have corrected vision — mono vision (I use my left eye for reading or near vision and the right eye for distance)
2. My corrected vision was done with RK (Radial Keratotomy)
3. Unrelated to my vision is the fact that I have no working tear ducts in my left eye so I tear down my cheek. (So I will automatically cry at a chick flick and impress people, mostly females, with my fake sensitivity.)
4. I am in my second marriage and have celebrated 36 years in that relationship.
5. My first marriage lasted 12 years.
6. I have four children, two from each marriage (boy, girl, boy girl)
7. I graduated from a small high school in South Dakota that had 24 graduates.
8. I was once named “fielder of the week” while playing baseball for an amateur team.
9. I played one summer of amateur baseball with a team of predominantly Sioux Indians. They teasingly referred to me as the Albino.
10. I grew up on a working diversified farm meaning we raised grain, hogs and cattle.
11. Our farm had no electric power until the REA (rural electric) was installed when I was about 12.
12. I have a history of owning small cars and have driven Fiats, VWs, Renaults. I currently drive a Honda Fit.
13. I made more income my first year in graduate school as a teaching assistant than I earned as a teacher the previous year. (That amount was $5k)
14. I practice centering prayer (a form of meditation)
15. I attend a support group each week for a two hour meeting. We are not an AA group or any variation of a 12 step program but a gathering of people who share their life experience with each other and provide support to each other. We are not religious in that we do not open with a prayer or close with a prayer. This group has been together for years and currently has eight members.
And your bonus random fact — I published a book of poetry consisting of poems by members of Xanga. A few people who wrote for the work are still members here but I have lost contact with many of them. The book was entitled Honey & Darkness and much of the content is available for your read here. http://books.google.com/books/about/Honey_and_Darkness.html?id=osh1j7LM9NcC
http://www.cadescove.net/auto_tour.html
Yesterday Yvonne and I drove to Cades Cove and did the auto tour loop, an eleven mile one-way trip. While a bit cloudy we did see turkey, deer and a fascinating pair of woodpecker that entertained us for a while. If you are ever in the area take the drive.
On a totally different topic — I was most impressed with this article and at the same time disgusted by the incident. Eliminating prejudice is more than “being tolerant” as is so well expressed in this article by Seema Jilani http://www.huffingtonpost.com/seema-jilani/racism-white-house-correspondents-dinner_b_3231561.html
http://uswildflowers.com/detail.php?SName=Polygonatum%20biflorum
click above for information about the smooth solomon’s seal wildflower. These were getting ready to bloom and become a white flower similar to a bleeding heart.
A perennial herb with a pretty bloom that comes in March, April and May.
More information http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=IRCR
The Walk
Nature’s contributions cascade along the steep trail.
Numerous white patches and yellow splotches
set on a blanket of green
amid immense coverings
so blue that it seems parts of the sky have fallen.
Pinks protrude like boulders in a creek
while reds try to hide around rocks and crevasses.
Faded petals,
past announcements of spring
now reside alongside signs of birth,
buds seeking an identity.
Arrays of mature blossoms parade full and ripe
along a path of short lives and long lives.
Fallen relics, grey, mossy and dying
display across the emerald carpet,
a memory of another time.
A most striking fern. Information about this wild fern. http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=ADPE
More info. http://www.aboutferns.com/maidenhair_fern.shtml
Two photos of a tiny wildflower called One-flowered Cancer Root. Link http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/plant-of-the-week/orobanche_uniflora.shtml
Also called the One-flowered Broomrape, the flower is a parasite. http://www.ct-botanical-society.org/galleries/orobancheunif.html
Go here to see where I found the flower. http://vexations.xanga.com/773037561/chestnut-top-trail—-fire-pink/
Fire Pink
A different view of the Fire Pink
A link about the flower…http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=SIVI4
Information about the trail — http://www.hikinginthesmokys.com/chestnut.htm
Another link – http://www.everytrail.com/guide/chestnut-top-trail-great-smoky-mountains-national-park
NOTE::: If you go to the second link above (everytrail link, which is fantastic by the way) scroll down to the video about Fire Pink
as it gives you more information than most of us want to know about a flower.
If the one little trillium is blooming in the backyard it must be time for a mountain hike to see the wildflowers in bloom.
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