Got Snow

The first snow of the year fell last night. One and a half inches of the white stuff covered our place on the mountain and just thrilled our 4-year-old grandson Ethan. He made snow angles, ate the snow from the front yard (who knows what was in that snow) and squealed with delight when he hit “gann-momma” with a snowball. Later in the day he and momma and “gann-momma” went to get the Christmas tree and that was a success. We get a “ball” tree each year, and plant it as a windbreak across the front of the property. It will be enjoyable to watch them decorate the tree with all the old ornaments that have been collected over the years. Ours is always an “old fashioned” Christmas filled with things from the past, memories from the past, and our favorite recipes. Friends will drop by and it will be good.

This week was fairly uneventful. John, our son-in-law, drove back to California for 3 weeks to begin his orientation on a new machine his company is developing. He will return for Christmas, and then be gone for another 6 months or so as he oversees the installation of the new machine for various clients all over the globe. I completed my final course and submitted my e-portfolio for grading. I am looking forward to the challenge of graduate school and all the new experiences that will bring.

Our good dog “Tag” ran off two nights ago. The neighbor’s dog also went missing, at the same time. They must have gotten together and went exploring, and lost their way. Our efforts to find them so far have not been rewarding. We all hope that after they have had their romp, they will return.

I am considering making a weekly blog entry to summarize the events of the week – I will give it some more thought.

Until that day,

Jim

Thanksgiving - 2009

Thanksgiving is a national day – it is our nations day – a day we set aside, by both tradition and edict, to give thanks to our God, our Creator, for all the many blessings we enjoy, as a free people, in a safe and secure nation.

It is all together fitting that we give thanks, not only to our Creator, but to all those man and women, throughout the ages, who have served and who now so honorably serve in our armed forces, who put themselves in harms way, so that we might be free. As we have read so many times – freedom is not free. We all know, and must always remember, our freedom was purchased for us by the blood and sacrifice of those who came before us, and our fellow countrymen today. Each generation must make a payment on that freedom and we today must acknowledge that debt and make our own payment, in any way we are called upon to make that payment.

The world’s great religions are at war again, as they have been for so many hundreds of years. It has always struck me as a great tragedy and contradiction that we kill in the name of religion – any religion.

It will be my prayer this thanksgiving that your God, whoever that God may be, will grant you peace of mind, peace of spirit, and a sense of understanding and acceptance - of the God - your neighbor may worship – wherever your neighbor may be!

Jim

A Change In Direction

Yes, I am making a change in direction - no more log cabin building for Jim!

In just a few short days, I will complete my undergraduate studies and will have earned a Bachelor of University Studies from the University of Tennessee at Martin.

The last 30 hours of that degree I earned “online”, and it was by far the most challenging and difficult. Those last 30 hours sparked in me an intense desire to know more and share that knowledge with - all those who seek knowledge. I had a good GPA (Grade Point Average) so I decided to take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) and if I scored high enough, to meet the requirements of the graduate school, I would apply for admission. Well, I did score high enough and made application and was accepted into the program of study for Master of Science in Education and Related Studies. The related studies will be Criminal Justice where I have a varied 30-year experience at both the street level and the command/administrative level.

Graduate school and the academic challenge it presents will be great, and the challenge to secure a teaching job, because of my age (I will be 70 when I graduate) will perhaps be even greater, but I remain optimistic about the future and my role in that future. There are jobs available in the public and private sector and in the developing online “open university” environment. I am particularly interested in the prospect of integrating technology into the classroom, wherever that classroom might be, and I believe it can and increasingly will be anywhere. I support the idea of a universal degree program- a degree earned by online or in classroom study, at any university in the world. I have joined Teachers Without Borders and support the Millennium Develop Goals, of the United Nations, (and that is about all I support of the United Nations) and the role education can play in the realization of those goals. From Nigeria to Indonesia to the established pedagogies of Europe the quest for knowledge is growing, and is being quenched by the far reach of technology. Technologies that are being used as tools not just delivery devices.

On every continent the untapped resources of the human mind and spirit await the opportunity to actualize their full potential, and I intend to be a part of that process. I invite each of you to join me on my journey of discovery by subscribing to my blog. I will be talking about much more than education, on that blog, and I welcome the opportunity to learn from your comments.

Winter Is Walking Up The Mountain

Yes, it is true. Winter is walking up the mountain. We have cleared the morning glories from the greenhouse and let the sides down and stored all of Jill's plants in there, hoping they will winter-over well.

The leaves are showing all the varied colors and have begun to fall and carpet the ground. We have wrapped the exposed pipes, cleaned up most of the garden and done all the "chores" that need be done before winter arrives in full force. I believe we will have a hard winter this year.

I will soon finish my undergraduate work and graduate from UT Martin this fall. The past 18 months have been very challenging and demanding, but I will finish my undergraduate studies this fall and receive my Bachelor of University Studies degree. I plan to enter graduate school this coming spring and pursue a Masters of Education and Related Studies degree and then teach Criminal Justice at the college level.

I have returned to my genealogy investigations in my spare time, on rainy days when I can't get outside. All of the firewood needed for the winter has been cut, and most of it split. John, Sherisa and Ethan have settled into life in the cabin and all is well on the mountain.

It's June Already

It's June and we have added another super, a honey super, to hour bee hive and the hive is thriving.

We have completed, except for the covering, a 12 X 16 greenhouse, which we built for about 1/3 the cost of a commercial kit and expect it to give us a "jump-start" on our spring garden and to offer protection to Jill's plants and flowers during the winter months. Jill can move from her cramped, small, and dark potting shed to the greenhouse to pot her plants and flowers. She plans to landscape around the greenhouse with flowers and rock scapes and yard sculptures, of various kinds.

We have added another load (19 tons) of crusher run gravel to the driveway - an 800 foot drive way and the county E911 service has renamed our driveway Powers Lane. Good, it is a name I can remember.

The garden is producing as expected. The compost bin is serving us, and our garden, well and the plants are very healthy. We have already gotten squash and raspberries from the garden and the carrots will be ready in another week.

Rabbits Released - Blueberry's Planted & Screen Door's Hung

It has been a busy two weeks despite the incessant rain.

Jill successfully raised (rehabed) the baby rabbits to the point where they were eating clover and could be released back into the nearby "wild." The blueberry bushes we ordered and were planted and the screen doors, which should have been hung, and rehung, last year are finally in place and look pretty good.

I will begin a compressed semester at UT Martin in an upper division criminal justice course (have to write some legal briefs in this one) and I am getting ready. I look forward to the challange and expect a good outcome - translation - an "A."

More when time allows.

Jim

Green Walking Up The Mountain

Green Is Walking Up The Mountain

Folks who live in the mountains will be familiar with the phrase: “green is walking up the mountain.” It means that the leaves turn green in a progression from the valley to the top of the mountain. It’s logical really. It is warmer at lower elevations (the valley floor) than it is on top of the mountain. Plants will typically, in our area, get green and bloom, in the valley, about 3 weeks before they do at our place.

In our garden the compost in the compost bins is ready for use this year and should return dividends of much larger and healthier vegetables. We have added raised strawberry beds this year and are also adding blueberry bushes to our garden. In addition we are adding 1 hive of honeybees (Carniolain), which are not aggressive and resistant to a number of problems that plague honeybees.

We have added a cabin for Ethan (grandson) since our last post and we are looking forward to seeing him enjoy it for many years. He is moving here in a few months (and bringing his momma and daddy with him) and we expect to teach him some helpful mountain ways.