Humans seem hardwired to fear snakes, and it is useful to help us be cautious around poisonous species.
But most snake species found in our area are harmless and perform a useful service of keeping rodent populations in check.
There are two well-known poisonous ones in our woods where caution is advised, though.

I bet you’ll never guess what my favorite jewelry was when I was a girl. Here’s a hint: it could be rather itchy at times.
When I was kid, we mainly played outside. No smart phones or computer games. Just us and the great outdoors. This was especially true at school where the schoolyard was blessed with little wildflowers. At the time, we didn’t know their names. All that mattered was the fact that we could make jewelry out of their blooms.

2 Timothy 4:3 KJV
[3] For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
Have you ever scratched a hound dog behind its ears? Dogs just can’t seem to get enough ear scratching. I can recall countless times when my boyhood hound dog Sam would cozy up to me, nudge my hand and encourage me to scratch behind his ears. Seems like Sam especially enjoyed this if I told him he was a “good dog.”

Imagine you are seven years old and you have just been awakened in the middle of the night, maybe by police officers or apologetic social workers, and ripped from your parents’ arms.
If you’re lucky, you’re handed a trash bag to toss your entire life into. If not, then you may find yourself arriving empty-handed to a state office where a frazzled, full-time employee will try to wash the lice out of your hair in the bathroom sink, then stick you under a waiting room chair to sleep for the two days you’ll most likely be there.

Visiting the company website GRIID.com, you will learn that they are an American infrastructure company that procures low-cost, renewable energy to build, manage, and operate their growing portfolio of vertically integrated bitcoin mining facilities. Hansel further explains that they are a blockchain data center, blockchains being the crypto part of cryptocurrency that verifies the transaction and keeps it secure when transferring from one entity to another. Those shipping container-looking units are full of computers crunching numbers for encryption such as crypto coin.

The UCHS Lady Patriots are only one of 8 teams left in AA softball in the state of TN to advance to the state tournament.
Coming out the Division I AA District softball tournament as runners-up behind Gibbs High School, the Lady Patriots traveled to Alcoa High School on Monday, May 17th and beat Alcoa 4-2 to advance to the Regional Championships where they would face Gibbs High School again. This time the Lady Patriots beat the eagles 7-6 to become the Division I Regional Champions.

A new Gallup-Palmer survey that tested public assumptions about chiropractic care discovered that a lack of knowledge about health insurance coverage for chiropractic care and sensitivity toward costs may be preventing some adults in the United States from using chiropractic services. Nearly half of U.S. adults reported not knowing whether their insurance plans covered chiropractic care. In addition to uncertainty about insurance coverage, the survey found that perceptions about the cost of chiropractic care could also be a factor preventing some individuals from seeking it.

If I were to meet a king or any other member of royalty, I’d certainly want to know the social rules for appropriate behavior. One thing’s for certain—I would want to know how to address King George VI, especially since his actual first name was Albert. I doubt in any case it would have been appropriate for even his natural mother to have addressed him as “Al”.

It had been a long, tiring day at work and I had stopped by the Ingles in Halls on my way home. I didn’t really want to stop, but we needed a few things. You know how it is.
After racing through the store, I threw my bags into the car and slid into the driver’s seat. I turned the key. Nothing. No dash lights. My car didn’t even make any noise. So, I called Tim and told him my car wouldn’t do anything. He asked what I meant by that. I replied, “It isn’t doing anything. No lights. No noises. Nothing!”

By: Steve Roark
Volunteer Interpreter, Cumberland Gap National Historical Park

You have no doubt noted the large swaths of yellow flowers in pasture and hayfields this Spring. Those are buttercups, and while picturesque, are not welcome to farmers because they can poison cattle and take up growing space that should be growing grass.