Merry Christmas

Our neighbor is lighting up the neighborhood.

Merry Christmas!

Take time to consider the One who was born and lived and died and arose and ascended and is seated at the right hand of the Majesty on high, Jesus, the Christ, My Lord and Savior, who I hope is or will be your Lord and Savior as well. Oh, what a blessed New Year that would be for you to know Him!

Little Blessings in the Day

A colleague at work gave me an early Christmas present. I immediately placed it in plain view for clients and colleagues alike. I like that I can rotate it to keep my mind and thoughts fresh on God.

I have an ongoing project in my backyard. There were three brush piles left in the yard when I purchased it in July. I saw a notice in some welcome literature that I received proclaiming that burns without a permit were not allowed from May to October. While waiting, I built a little fire pit. The first time that I burned brush, a van from the fire department cruised by my house. I guess a neighbor informed them, but it was not dry, I was not burning a pile, and permits are not required. The driver hesitated a moment watching me as I sat enjoying the fire and then drove away.

One of the sticks had sac fungi on it with water from a recent rain and a mold growing on a decaying one at left. I guess fungi are not among those who receive "grace upon grace" (John 1:16), but rather decay upon decay.

I sat by the fire as the stars came out and the lights came on.

Inside she was preparing supper and wondering why I hadn't come in yet.

I bought my wife a gift from Meraki Macrame (shopmerakimacrame.com), a home business of my daughter-in-law.

I requested this special order for our 41st anniversary. Having just recovered from COVID on our 40th anniversary, we barely were able to acknowledge it, so I thought we could do better this time.

The fawns who slept in our backyard during the summer have lost their spots and grown a thick winter coat. It is a good thing since it is supposed to be a few degrees above zero tonight.

It was nine degrees this morning when I got up with a skiff of snow and strongly swaying trees from the blustery wind.

The first snow of winter blown in by a fast moving Polar Express came just in time for Christmas.

When you are blessed, daily life is far from mundane. Oh, there are chores like washing dishes and pumping gas and every menial task in between. If "whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God," (I Corinthians 10:31) you are truly blessed and life is wrought with purpose. Oh, I'm reminding myself as much as you, dear reader. Let us be mindful and alert for God's glory where there is peace and joy.

Diminutive Falls

 Most people, including myself, only know of Laurel Fork Falls out of Dennis Cove. It turns out the creek and tributaries have many other small falls and cascades.

So, my son and I went to find a few of these.

There are transitions in cold water stream environments with respect to temperature. The least of these is sufficiently cold air temperature to freeze the spray, as in the following scene. Flowing water is mesmerizing, blocking out distractions of forest and mind.

Anything straight in the woods is either fascinating or suspect. We are down in a deep draw, almost gorge, and here runs 100+ yards of straight creek bed. Notice the mid-30's Rhododendron leaf droop and the Doghobble at left foreground.

On the way to the falls were at least four creek crossings. In 30-degree weather I have crossed creeks before, but we didn't feel any need this day. The first three had stout cables you could shiny across.

My son led the way.

The locale is Upper East Tennessee, but the geology is decidedly Western North Carolina. Now I know that geology is no respecter of political boundaries, but generally speaking, ETN is strongly sedimentary and WNC is igneous and metamorphic. As my son pointed out, the geology is similar to WNC, but the vegetation is definitely ETN. I think that the increased rainfall and encroachment of native flora populations are probably the explanation.

This is another cataract among many on a steep section of creek.

At the top of the steep section of creek was a very flat section with few rapids. The graded sandbar was unexpected in the otherwise dropping creek. It was in this section where we decided to turn back rather than wade barefoot in cold water on slippery and jagged rock. It was a testament to our chill attitude of a "stroll in the woods." The result was not getting to the most substantial falls. Oh well, a warmer day would invite wading.

On the last crossing of six (three out and three back), I had my son snap a picture of me crossing the creek. It was the only non-level one and much more work. I was amazed two days later by the forearm soreness, which showed how out of shape I am for climbing. I've got to get at it.

The last falls was oddly shaped and gave little evidence of possible high flow during heavy rains. We got to it by another short trail from the parking area.

The spray zone is not often dry, I guess.

The spray caused the more interesting part of the falls- icycles.

It seems that the icycles more forcefully in the spray are being eroded into jagged ice hangings by the above freezing spray. Also, notice the rounded blobs on top of the log formed by splattering water.

I was so thankful to be out again in the woods, and with my son. It would be fascinating to go see the creeks after the arrival of multiple days sub-freezing and sub-ten degree weather.

Mt. Kephart

Newfound Gap, Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Near the bathrooms is a very large Buckeye tree.

Can you see the turkeys?

This part of the Appalachian Trail is very well used by tourists and hikers alike. It has been well maintained so that there are places with many steps.

A medium-large Red Spruce tree

Christmas Ferns at the base of a rock

The moisture in this neck of the woods must be continuous to produce the growth we saw.

It was in the low twenties on top that morning. The north slope had many slick spots along the trail.

The forest along this ridge is temperate rainforest with a blanket of moss and ferns. The tree species are few, Balsam Fir, Red Spruce, and several varieties of birch.

Lichen takes up residence where moss does not predominate.

It is healthy rather than the more frequent dry and flaky versions on exposed rocks.

Right where the Boulevard Trail cuts off of the AT, there begins to be much rougher going.

You can see that The Jumpoff is not far, and Mt. Kephart is halfway to there.

This is The Jumpoff, which is a view at the end of a spur trail off of the Boulevard Trail to Mt. LeConte. Just behind my daughter is a 1400' drop down to Lester Prong. The drop is not vertical but starts off nearly so and averages steeper than 75 degrees. From this vantage point you can see about 3 more sixers we need to bag in the future.

Perhaps you discern the nervousness of my sitting. Just glancing behind me shows no bottom. The perspective of this picture is towards the Great Valley. There are no major population centers in view, but the edge of Sevierville is at the left extreme and Newport at the right. The highest part of the low, dark ridge in the background at right is English Mountain about 20 miles away.

The next picture is about a 150 degree panorama view from The Jumpoff.

Parallel to the cliff you can see this is indeed steep real estate.

I attempted to reach the camera out over the edge and take a picture. Each time I took a picture of the bush. I did lay down at one point of the cliff and look over. It reminded me, as I commented to a family coming up the trail later, that we were made for something bigger. That is the reason we want to see beauty and bigness. We were made for it because we were made for God. We will keep seeking out bigness and beauty until we find it in Him. The whole of Creation screams out His glory, and we are privileged to observe it, but we are only ever fully satisfied as we experience His glory by faith through His Son, Jesus.

The branch can't have been comfortable, but she wanted to sit there. I can relate; I want to be and do and go many places and experience many things.

The Firs are coming back after the years of dying off from the Balsam Wooly Aphid blight.

But the little sap suckers are not gone, as you can see in the following picture. I wonder if the higher rainfall of the past few years has reduced the stress on the trees and perhaps made it harder for the insects.

As we sat on the little round top of Mt. Kephart eating our lunch, a mouse came out from under the log my son-in-law was sitting on. It kept coming back, so he began to drop small pieces of peanut for it to find. It seemed to become more and more bold. At one point my son-in-law started back when it appeared that the mouse was getting ready to crawl up his pant leg.

The mouse would scurry away at fast movement, but otherwise seemed to be unafraid. Here he is being videoed while he eats his peanut. This went on for at least 10 minutes.

White underneath, gray on the flanks, and bronze-brown above, he was dressed up for company. I guess he is fattening up for the hibernation ahead.

Ice Water Springs Shelter

At Charles' Bunion the iron deposits were bright and brittle.

The seep had moss and mold coloring the shale like material.

The gold colored algae must be hydro- and ferrophilic.

The trail narrows considerably at the Bunion.

The Bunion is at the head of a large draw opening into a larger valley.

The Hiking Compadres

A noble stance at the vista

The camera lens is probably about 38-45 mm focal length, which makes things appear abit far away for the purpose of a slightly wide-angle view, but I am still amazed at how distant we seem compared to the zoom version above.

More gold algae

Do they think that I am silly to climb up and take a picture of algae?

After the hike, my daughter wanted to go see the benchmark on the top of Clingmans Dome. Everyone else was looking for something.

This benchmark is at the edge of the parking lot.

The Dome is plenty broad for the circular ramp to the observation tower and more.

If I had more time I would refamiliarize myself with the names of major peaks in the four compass directions.

The third ridge away is Mt. LeConte. Mt. Kephart is probably the peak at right under the most distant ridge.

The tower is 45' high, plenty high to be above the fir trees. We searched for 1/2 hour for the benchmark. A ranger later told us that it was done away with when the tower was built, and that the base of the tower counts as the benchmark. I had not been here for many years and had almost sworn off of coming back because the top was so naked of trees after the aphids decimated them. I was so pleasantly surprised that they were back in force. I figured that the Red Spruce would eventually replace them, but obviously not.

With my green pants and graying top, I feel like an aging fir or spruce. They seem so old even though they really are not. And I am the same, beginning to show age but feeling young at heart. I am thankful to be out and active. God has been good to me. I give Him all the glory for the beauty and bigness of His Creation and His power to create and sustain it and me.