The Big Meal

 "Big in what respects?", you may ask. Well, there were over 40* people, mostly family with a half dozen friends. Big in the amount of food that fed those people twice in one day and still some leftovers. Big in the amount of freedom we thus far have to gather as family and acknowledge God as the Source of our abundance physically and spiritually.

With the new arrivals in the past year, there were more of my branch of the clan present than ever before. It's not just for camera, she always smiles and is quite considerate, too.

Daughter and son across from each other with a son-in-law across from a nephew and two grandchildren in view.

Friends, nephew and great-nephews, too

We used to call it the "adult table", but the children are now adults. When did that happen?

The Lady of the House (Sister-in-law) in the Prep Room and Buffet Bars

I am glad the later pictures were happy moments. They were not in picture taking mode just then. Perhaps this was the scene just after the first winter.

The oldest grandchild is growing up before our eyes.

Still working hard to grow.

The hat simply caps the cuteness.

'Why are you so serious little man?'

10 out of 11 extant grandchildren. We are abundantly blessed!

If my youngest son, wife, and child had be there, the clan would have been out in full force. There are 11 grandchildren in the picture. Can you count them all?

Since "children are a gift from the Lord" (Psalm 127:3), what are grandchildren but icing on the cake of overflowing blessing? We pray for each and every one to come to the true knowledge of God through Jesus Christ our Lord. As you consider all that you are thankful for, our desire is that you may know Him unto salvation as well.

*The record was over 50.

Thanksgiving with the Next Generation

 The day before Thanksgiving our fourth born and family met us at a restaurant for lunch. Their little girl had grown so much since we had last seen her. She has such personality, focuses on what is going on around her, and is generally quite content.

When we got to our oldest son's house the next day, you might guess that Mamaw wanted to hold the new baby as much as possible. He is in sleeping and eating and growing mode.

Ah, the son, daughter-in-law and child with a cousin alongside and a young couple who also were invited.

We sang hymns, several of which were sung by the Pilgrims. Children were dressed like Pilgrims and Indians.

Some were dressed in everyday clothes.

There are family characteristics evident. A blessing poem was written for this one (at "Into this World") as for all my grandchildren.

I think that he is ready to eat.

The next few shots show how past ready the rest were to eat. 

They only look distressed. They acted quite patiently despite the wait for food preparation.

The bellies were empty and the Sun was full.

Ah, at last! That's more like it.

After the meal there were crafts for all of the children with assistance from parents, aunts and uncles.

Encouraging words and assistance were the mode.

This one decided to sit out the crafts for some more dessert.

Growing is hard work.

Mom stands with Governor Bradford.

There were some games, too.

We are not thankful in some vague, general sense. Our feasting was punctuated by prayer, singing, and remembering all that we are grateful for to our Creator, Lord, and Savior Jesus Christ. We are undeserving of any good and yet He is the giver of all good gifts. We are especially thankful for family and freedom to worship.

Bays Mountain Morning Hike

The Rafter of Turkeys: I see no less than 16 in the picture. Of course, I have the option of zooming in on the original.

First Ice of the Season. It is interesting how it forms in long bars across the surface of the water. Though very fragile, that makes for quite large crystals.

The lake between the ridges is fed by numerous small streams around its periphery. I guess that they decided to short cut the trail across the lake. There are most usually numerous waterfowl, but I guess the cold kept them huddling or else they have already flown south.

The woods were quite open on the way up with a predominance of Chestnut Oaks. Using GPS has its disadvantages. With a map you have a good idea of where you are going. With a GPS you have to constantly look at it to stay on track. We didn't at first and missed two turns, probably costing 30 minutes. The fire tower is almost hidden by the trees and certainly not an eyesore from further away.

It is not for lack of height though. I estimate this to be an 80' tower. I rock climb and am not nervous when I am tied in and have checked my gear but going up these steep steps with very open rails was a bit nerve wracking. The steps were in good shape, but a few boards on the landings caused me to step at their edges to prevent the possibility of falling through. I've seen worse.

This is a northwesterly view along the ridge with the Holston River winding around the end and Eastman Chemical at the white plume of smoke.

The next two pictures show Holston Ordnance Works which was built by Eastman during WWII and still makes ammunition for the Army.

Looking westward you can see the river rounding the southwestern end of the mountain.

I frequently wonder what was going on during the biblical worldwide flood that caused this ridge just here in this orientation with its steeper northwest slope limiting the river to flow around it. The Ordnance Works and Chemical Plant appear to be on prime alluvial deposits that should be farmed rather than be industrialized. The whole of the Great Valley from the Shenandoah Valley to Lookout Mountain must have been a wrinkle in the crustal fabric during that catastrophic event.

I think that the highest peak to the left is Chimneytop Mountain in Greene County. I fouled up my pictures easterly by getting my fingers too near the lenses.

I mentioned the 1/2 hour side trips because my hiking partner was supposed to be home to go with his wife to dance class by 10:30. Just after we left the tower, he told me that he texted her to say he would be to late to go to class. I replied that it was all downhill or flat back to the car and that we should jog. We jogged intermittently most of the way back. He arrived at home at 10:40, on time with a bit of rush to get into his dancing shoes and out the door. I am always amazed how a few hours in the woods does me a world of good. We talked theology and nature, I contemplated geological history, we got a good workout, and we came home refreshed in spirit. I did stop one moment to snap a picture of the fresh beaver work. We passed one beaver dam. The park is quite the nature preserve. 

Stoney Creek

Stoney Creek runs between two parallel ridges that range from 3600 to 4200 feet in elevation. At the upper, NE end is Cross Mountain that crosses between the two ridges and separates Stoney Creek from Shady Valley to the NE. At the gap on Cross Mtn is a parking area where TN91 crosses the Appalachian Trail. As my son and I discovered, this little section is an excellent Sunday afternoon stroll for the family, but everyone else was coming off the field a 3 PM when we started out. It was a lovely afternoon as you can see. Most of the cattle were in an adjacent pasture. 

The fences and gates were well kept for the bovine resident's security and keeping.

The views of Shady Valley and the mountains beyond were excellent.

After nearly a half a mile of fields, the trail crossed a fence into an open forest of mostly young-middle-aged hickories, oaks, and yellow poplar trees. After about 1/2 mile of this easy terrain, my son said, "I want to show you something. Let's go down here." We went to the left off of the trail along a gradually descending ridge, turning right after a few hundred yards to plunge down a steep slow into a deep draw. At the bottom was a leaf strewn, rock slick creek and rhododendron thicket. We came to the first waterfall, a cascade I'd call it, which you see my son descending.

The flow of water was minimal, but that didn't diminish the beauty or seclusion of the spot. We were somewhere along the upper reaches of Stoney Creek. We later determined that it must have been the North Fork, because of what we came upon next.

Moss covered is one thing, but this rock had splash zone flora.

There were some curious mixes of fern and ground cedar that I have not seen before, and the purple leaves were interesting. With their Autumn change and happenstance position surrounding a ground cedar stem, I thought that I had glanced a new species at first.

The second waterfall took much more effort and time than the first one but was well worth it. Here you see when it first came into sight after the need for a wide berth around the cliffs.

The slide my son is on below the falls is amazingly slick with leaves, algae, slope, and barely textured rock.

Perhaps it is 20 feet tall, but there was evidence that it could support some significant flow. We discussed the rock layers, limestone and shale mixed in.

We could not stay long. The light was getting dim. I told my son that I did not want to bushwhack along a slick creek in a rhododendron thick and briars in the dark even with headlamps. The only thing for it was to point straight up the opposite ridge 500' + in less than 1/2 mile to the Holston Mtn Trail. This is when I know that I am out of shape or getting old or both. We found mostly clear forest. The following picture shows the light conditions just after we reached the top. It was then that we realized how unmaintained this trail is. I very much wanted to get to the AT before the end of twilight. It was better than the rhododendron, slick creek below. All you have to do is stay on top of the ridge going in the right direction, in this case away from the sunset.

We arrived at the AT and Double Springs Shelter just in time to follow the more traveled and rock and log-lined trail. As we passed the shelter, a couple was cooking supper by headlamp. The Moon was near full, reflecting off of leaves and rocks sufficiently for us to not use our headlamps. It was very pleasant to amble back across the fields to the vehicle.

Pleasant all the way around- temperature, light and dark, field and forest, open and dense, slippery and well-traveled, shallow and steep sloped, easy and deep conversation- I was thankful to God for the short, intense time in the woods with my son. And I had been up Stoney Creek many a time in the past, but never so far up it as this time.