I finished the last of the orange marmalade this morning.  I didn’t want the jar to be empty, but I knew saving the last little bit wouldn’t help.

The marmalade and Downton Abbey make me think of Wendy.

Wendy made the marmalade.  It is her mother’s recipe.  She has… Read full post »

Following the Wisconson elections in which Scott Walker, Republican Governor, fought off a recall I thought this might be worth reposting.  Walker and his billionaire funders outspent the Democratic challenge 8:1.

..................................................................................… Read full post »

Leaf buds at full stop,

Low and in the canopy,

Hide the mountain top. 

What to wear today?

Easter frocks and blue kneed girls.

Shall I wear my pealrs? 

Nothing is so vain,

As Azaleas in full bloom,

Sparkling after rain.

Sorry, I couldn't catch… Read full post »

Warning: if you are not fascinated with words, if your family has not given you a dictionary of Indo-European roots as a Christmas present, you may want to read something else.

The etymology of etymology:

etymology

late 14c., ethimolegia "facts of the origin and development of a word," from O… Read full post »

This is an experiment.  I have been trying, unsuccessfully to post video in posts for some time.  What should follow is a Blondie video of Rapture, one of my all time favorite videos.

My Obamacare story does not involve me, directly.  It involves my granddaughter.  My daughter could tell this story so much better, but I will give it a try.  To protect our family's privacty our granddaughter's real name is not used.  I've decided to call her Daisy.

 Nearly… Read full post »

Somehow, in spite of its ambiguity, I’ve gotten hooked on the NBC television series, “Awake”.  For those of you who have not seen an episode, the central character, Michael Britten, (played by Jason Isaacs) has survived a car crash, for which he was responsible, and either his… Read full post »

 http://www.americanrockscene.com/2012/03/28/rip-earl-scruggs/

The link below will take you to a sample of Earl's banjo magic.

http://youtu.be/oArTv86Miak

I never met Earl Scruggs, but he touched my life in several ways.  I am a, mostly self trained, musician.  Th… Read full post »

This week we visited my mother-in-law in Jonesboro, Arkansas.  I was struck with a number of things.  The town has grown a lot since I first worked there in the mid-1960s.  As with many towns the core of town has been changed.  The downtown area which was once occupied by retail/… Read full post »

  As a child I learned to do a lot of things to make spending money.  For many reasons opportunities seem to be more limited today, but this is about the late 1940s and the 1950s.

The first thing I can remember doing for money was singing.  The neighbors seemed to enjoy… Read full post »

Social conservatives are engaged in a battle to prevent women from having access to birth control while, at the same time, attempting to force women to suffer when they get abortions to terminate the pregnancy produced by the lack of access to contraception.The mindset of the people – men &ndas… Read full post »

My father’s God had skin of fur and bark.

Bones of granite and joints of chert,

Connecting mountain tops and groves and parks

its lifeblood coursed through walls of dirt.

… Read full post »

Last night was one of those marathons of vigilance where you look at the television waiting to see if you will become a weather history statistic.  We finally got to bed around 2:00 am and I’m awake at 5:00, glad we werent blown away during the evening and thinking/… Read full post »

  In 1941, the work of W.J. Cash “The Mind of the South” was published by Knopf.  This was an expansion of a series of editorials written for The American Mercury in the early 1930s.  In The Mind of the South, Cash wrote about a mythology that had developed concerning anteb… Read full post »

I awoke at 5:00 this morning, turned on the coffee, checked email on the computer and, throwing on my favorite oilskin cap and coat went for a walk in drizzle.  While I am walking the earliest evidence of dawn appeares.  The pre-dawn is my favorite time of day, and it always… Read full post »

I saw a friend at a cocktail party recently that I hadn't seen in months.  The first thing out of his mouth was, "I had a terrible summer.  I went to see my son in Dallas and got lost in Jackson, MS.  I drove 1000 miles out of the way.  I… Read full post »

Higher Ground | Playing For Change from Playing For Change on Vimeo.

Our currency bears the inscription E Pluribus Unum.  That Latin phrase is often translated as, “out of the many, one”.  However, and I must admit near total ignorance of Latin, the phrase, “e pluribus unu… Read full post »

Background to a World Movement; Transition

A movement began about twenty years ago that has been variously called the Transition Movement, Transition Towns, and Transition Network.  This movement was based on the book, “Permaculture, A Designers Manual” written by Bill Mollison and p… Read full post »

This past weekend we went to see Red Tails.  We actually went to see War Horse, but there was no matinee, so we settled.  Being in Southern Appalachia we expected to be the only couple in the theater.  I’m happy to say that the theater was full.  I’m also happy that… Read full post »

“Have you heard of the wonderful one-hoss shay,
That was built in such a logical way
It ran a hundred years to a day,
And then, of a sudden, it — ah, but stay,
I’ll tell you what happened without delay,..”

The Deacon’s Masterpiece or The Wonderful One Hoss Shay - Oliver Wend… Read full post »

In the Norwegian fairy tale, “De tre bukkene Bruse (The Three Billy Goats Gruff)”, a loathsome troll who lives under the bridge separating three goat brothers Gruff from green pasture is defeated.

The defeat comes through a combination of wit and strength; wit on the part of the younger,… Read full post »

Martin Luther King Day came and went almost without notice by me.  My medical care comes through the VA system and I needed to go to Asheville for  x-rays, as well as to take care of some other things while at the hospital and in town.  We planned to go on… Read full post »

The mountains of Northeast Georgia are the southern tip of the Appalachian chain which reaches from a few miles south of here north to Maine.  They are geologically very old and, also, very beautiful.  We are fortunate to call them home.  Here are a few scenes of our home and the/… Read full post »

Today is January, Friday 13, 2012.  Fear of the number 13 is termed triscadecaphobia.  It is not specifically related to falling on Friday.  The association of Friday with the number came about as a result of the massacre of thousands of the Knights Templar in 1312 on Friday 13, by the… Read full post »

A Washington Post article this morning revealed that Newt Gingrich, under pressure from other Republicans, had withdrawn his attack ads against Mitt Romney.  Gingrich responded in part:               

“I think he o… Read full post »