Colourful Anniversary

Today was our anniversary.  We decided to take the 2 kids and look for some colour in the hills.  We headed over toward Tellico Plains and on up the Tellico river valley to Whigg Meadow, returning on the Cherohala Skyway.  These are some of the colours we saw here in beautiful east Tennessee. But first, just to let you know we're slightly schizophrenic in TN - we don't know whether it's autumn or spring - here is proof from nature itself!

Is it spring or fall? You tell us, 'cos we don't seem to know around here!

I LOVE Etowah's main street!  Sometimes one sees a horse and buggy here from the nearby Mennonite community.  Or maybe that's Benton.  They're both quite similar towns, really.

Into the mountains we go.  This is part of the Tellico River.

From higher up the valley. 

Reflections...

And more reflections

Best friends!

Trying to climb a waterfall.

This water is COLD, Mom!

Mmmm, an autumn picnic lunch!

Gotta be careful of those hauling trucks!

I love how the sunlight shines through these.

A gnome's woodland castle garden.  Now we're on a little side road called, I think, the Little North River road.  This one cuts across the way to the Whigg meadow road. The road is a little narrow for comfort but we managed somehow!

Peace, perfect peace!

 

A tunnel of yellows

Plenty of water.

In the spring the Rhododendrons are magnificent.

There's a yellow glow everywhere in the woods.

View of the beautiful colour on the way to Whigg meadow

Blogspot, what are you doing now?  I can't move this photo around in my blog.  It's like once it's here, you can't switch it around.  Anyway, this is on the way back from Whigg.  Looks like the Yellow Brick Road, doesn't it?

Whigg meadow was cold and windy.  We were happy to have brought warm coats.  Also, as you can see, the leaves have about left and it's very wintry-like already.  The elevation here is around 4949 feet.

Taking photos of the colour reflections.

Why go up to New England when you have Tennessee?

A Gnome's stool.  This is about the size of a quarter.

And that's the end of our slideshow, folk.  Come on up (or down) to Tennessee and do some leaf peeping. We have about another week or two of colour then we're "down to brown" until April. (And that's about the time I go into hibernation - November!)

Our 5th field trip (and, as it turns out, other ramblings)

It's with a heavy heart that I write this.  Nevertheless life goes on.  We miss our little classmate; our star pupil; the eager one, the listening one, the bright-eyed tail-wagger; the one who galloped wildly to the schoolroom door when the bell rang, dancing and jumping on her hind feet til teacher let her in.  The one who loved to "find" all the little pieces of "bone" we hid around the classroom; the one who let us know with eager, happy barks if anyone or any "thing" had dared to enter our yard, or even to walk past on the road, dare-devils, you! The one who pretended to have been chasing squirrels away from the feeder all day if we'd been out, quickly running to the tree and barking energetically when she saw our car pulling in. OK, I'll stop reminiscing!  I hope we see her in heaven one day, and if not, I trust that God knows best.

I don't think any of us needs to think we'll be sitting on puffy clouds playing harps for eternity.  For one thing, we'll be in "heaven" only 1000 years (Rev. 20) before Jesus recreates the earth anew (Rev 21:1-3) and the Holy City will be moved from heaven to the very earth!  We, the redeemed from sin, will be the crowning exhibit of God's LOVE, to the universe through the person of His beloved son, Jesus, who has bought us, nay, adopted us.

So, getting back to eternity, - people, there's a whole UNIVERSE out there waiting for us to explore.  There's a whole, almost infinite world of microscopic minutiae waiting for study and exploration, on this earth, and then in the universe. Besides the objective world to know and study, we have millions of relationships to enter in to.  Not only with our relatives, but with our other loved ones, our friends, our acquaintances, new friends; our ancestors, then beings such as angels, beings from other worlds and of course, - the most fulfilling relationship of all, with Jesus our Saviour; our Creator; and with God the loving, merciful, Father, and with the Holy Spirit - who has guided and comforted us through our whole lives, never leaving us for an instant!  Bottom line - eternity will NOT be boring or monotonous!

Our now finite minds will be open to absorb billions of bits of data and information.  Our hearts open fully to the amazing and completely accepting LOVE of our Creator.  Please study the link between the Creation and the Creator.  Lets not worship creation, but the infinite and loving God who created it!

OK, back to the 5th field trip.  This time we killed two birds with one stone (isn't there a less violent analogy somewhere?? - I've asked this painful question before but nobody has given me an answer. Come on, people!).  We went to the CDM; and got to see the replicas of the Pinta and Nina (two ships that Columbus sailed when discovering the New World).  I'll show you photos of the day.

This was the first stop of the day.  When we got to the CDM, there was already a school group there, and being very noisy and busy on the upper level, somehow we all ended up in the quiet reading room for some solitary enrichment...

I have no idea what C was trying to accomplish here, but A seems to be a football player, or maybe an Indian with war-paint.

The girls seem to have favourite places where they always end up some how or another.  Seems like a familiar spot, doesn't it?

Good idea, A!  Let's trap C then go have some icecream!

Oh, my leg!  Guess I'll have to use this wheelchair while I recover.

Nice job climbing, girls.  I think this was too easy for you!

Oops!  I think we've passed the red line!

Our science class today was on the Bernoulli effect. (air flow, air pressure, and all that). Science class had to be out in the lobby/hallway due to renovations in the science auditorium.  They're moving the science theatre from North gate mall, to here.  They say it'll be ready in mid-November.

 

Ah, the Nina and the Pinta (this is the Pinta) are in port! Too bad we missed it sailing in today.

We're here, teacher!  (They're standing on a moving dock.)

Close up of the rigging (2nd ship, the Nina).  It's hard to imagine so many people on a ship this size, sailing across the Atlantic!

Hey Matey, can we come aboard?

And so ends our 5th field trip of the year.  It was a nice, sunny day with a brisk, cool wind blowing.  We are sometimes spoiled here in SE Tennessee - especially in October!  This month is the only reason some of us stay around here (perhaps I should only speak for myself, huh? - I don't want the Chattanooga tourism board breathing down my neck.)  Hey, I still say I named the Tennessee River Gorge Explorer (yes, thanks for making the name suggestions anonymous, you guys, I could be famous/rich by now! - ha ha).  MUCH better than the river Express or whatever!  You know who you are, :-)!

Til next time!

Who would have known...

that living in the country is more violent and dangerous than living downtown? Yesterday morning our dog, Caridee, came crawling home after being shot (presumably by a neighbor?)!  Miraculously she survived, with the bullet passing between major veins in her neck, through her trachea and on up between lungs, past the heart, and more major blood vessels, into the skin on her back!  After major surgery yesterday, she is now recovering in doggy hospital.

Thank goodness for doggy pain medicine!

Our poor baby.

This miracle story is so miraculous, in fact, that our vet has posted photos on his facebook page to show other vets and even regular doctors how the bullet missed so many major "landmines", as it were. You're one lucky doggy, Caridee!!

By the way, I'd like to recommend Dr. Dickinson in Ooltewah if you're looking for a good vet! This is his description of the x-ray below: Gun shot. Ruptured trachea. Massive subcutaneous emphysema. Collapsed left lung. 2 broken ribs....... And of course, bullet fragment. (and microchip).

One of the vet's X-rays

After surgery, this is what he had to say: entry wound in neck, went through thoracic inlet, chest, and lodged in subq on left lat chest. NO MAJOR VESSELS/NERVES DAMAGED! Amazing!

Looking much better on Friday - see tail wagging?

Enjoying all the attention!

On Sunday the drip is out but still draining from the thoracic cavity (somewhere!)

Looking forlorn that she has to go back into the cage!

She came home on Monday late afternoon but here she is back in hospital on Tuesday.

Now I have to dodge a bullet myself - $$$!  If you don't see another posting, you'll know I didn't survive!

LATER:

Poor baby got a blood clot, paralyzing her hind legs.  Poor prognosis, but Dr. is willing to try coumadin. Later: This is the last photo of her....sadly, we had to put her to sleep after things didn't look good at all...RIP, my sweet, precious doggy!

She'll be greatly missed!

A Jewel in the Hills

In the beautiful hills of eastern Tennessee lies a jewel - the Hiwassee River. Pristinely clear, cold water cascades down between the rolling hills until it meets up with the Ocoee and continues on into the Tennessee river.  This is where we spent a few hours yesterday afternoon.

Some of the history of this area.  If you click on the photo it should enlarge for you. (hmm, blogspot...it USED to do that for you....what's the deal now?)

Looking upstream

Swifter flowing than you might think

Looking downstream

This is one reason I call it a jewel!

We hiked a mile or two up river and then crossed it and hiked back along the railway track.  This is the spot where we threw our stuff over, then swam across just a little higher up as the current was really strong at this little point.

Walking back along the track.  Actually, while we were swimming, the tourist train chugged by, filled with people enjoying the scenery and beginning autumn colours.

A swinging foot bridge across the river just below a power generating station where water is let out through huge pipes from a dam up the hill.  Hence, the larger river downstream.

She'll be comin' round the mountain...

Smoke from a campfire wafts across the blue

May you all have a grand week - those at Mfolozi especially!  Hope you see lots of animals...

Wise words to Parents

from various sources.  These spoke to my heart because many times I have failed to show true grace.

“Many Christian parents, myself included, tend to speak to children as though they were Pharisees. We can speak harshly and with judgment, implying by our manner that their hearts are hard and resistant. But this attitude is not justified by Scripture. There is no record of Jesus ever speaking to a a child in a harsh tone. When the Gospels record Him speaking to a child, it is always with gentleness. Our children are not our adversaries. Though our children’s hearts are corrupted by sin, they are not hardened sinners who have made conscious choices to reject the Savior. Our children are simply immature and childish. That’s why children need love and compassion, not harshness and guilt.” ~ Clay Clarkson in Heartfelt Discipline

“Grace can’t be some abstract concept that you talk about in your home. It has to be a real-time action that ultimately imprints itself in your children’s hearts. To talk about grace, sing about grace, and have our children memorize verses about grace – but not give them specific gifts of grace – is to undermine God’s words of grace in their hearts. Grace means that God not only loves them but that He loves them uniquely and specially. The primary way to give our children grace is to offer it in place of our selfish preferences.” ~ Tim Kimmel in Grace-Based Parenting

"I say this gently, as the parent of grown kids, knowing *insert parenting guru* is also the parent of grown kids: we have wonderful children — he does, I’m sure — and so do I. But without even knowing his children I can know this about them: they are not perfect. They hurt. They make mistakes. They struggle. They are prideful and overly simplistic at times; and crippled by shame and hesitancy at others. Yes — they are beautiful examples of human beings, his children (I assume), and mine (I know.) But they are not perfect. If they were, they would not be human. If it were possible to raise children to perfection, then God would have sent a parenting method, not Jesus. Our marching orders are not to raise our children by a method to be like *insert parenting guru* children. Our marching orders are to be Christians to and with our children." ~ Kathy Thile

"Kindness, gentleness, long-suffering, forbearance, patience, sympathy, a willingness to enter into childish troubles, a readiness to take part in childish joys, these are the cords by which a child may be led most easily, these are the clues you must follow if you would find the way to his heart." ~ J. C. Ryle in The Upper Room

“So what do we do to encourage them to grow inwardly, to become resourceful and creative, to think, to meditate, to lay the foundation for growing up well? Don’t push, but affirm them! Give them the sense that all is well, that their rate of progress is acceptable to you, that you like them just the way they are…..Guide them but be delighted in them. Let them know that life is to be reached for and drunk of deeply…..Enthusiastic, that’s how you want them to grow up! The word comes from “en Theo,” or “in God.” Support them with words of faith, hope, and love, and in that framework “in God,” they’ll be ready to tackle everything. Fears and cautions are built in at an early age but so is courage! Tomorrow’s world will be different if your child has been released to experiment, to risk, to lead others, to pursue righteousness, to be an affecter for good in society, to go courageously after God.” ~ Anne Ortlund in Children Are Wet Cement"

 I stole these quotes from the blog, thatmom.com.  Just so you know I didn't search for all these myself.  Sorry to be so lazy!  I hope you will be lifted up and edified by these quotes and that the world will be a better place because of the difference we make as parents/surrogate parents.