I’ve always been in awe of the heavens above me on a dark, clear night. The majesty of the brilliant points of light that make up the starry canopy above our planet is enough to take your breath away, if you pause long enough to appreciate it. Try to count the visible starts in the night sky. If you are far enough away from city lights, the task soon becomes impossible as you lose your place while finding dimmer objects in between the brighter ones.

There was street parking only for most of the morning on May 11, when the Sharps Chapel community came together to celebrate a long-anticipated event at the Historic Oak Grove School, now home to the Sharps Chapel Book Station.

Norris Lake Quilting Bee members Mary N. Johnson, Emily Lemming, Rita Poteet, Nancy Sullivan, Judi Gerew, Rebecca Miller, Janet Pauciulo, along with three Sharps Chapel residents, Kirra, Judy and Peyton Duncan made a decision to dive headfirst into a community project.

It’s a posture so common we almost don’t notice it anymore: someone sitting at a computer, jutting his or her head forward to look more closely at the screen. But this seemingly harmless position compresses the neck and can lead to fatigue, headaches, poor concentration, increased muscle tension and even injury to the vertebrae over time. It can even limit the ability to turn your head.

The Courtship
Bringing all the covenant imagery to life in Jesus Christ.
(NOTE: This is part 3 on this subject. The last article in this series was published on 04/30/2019)

Revelation 21:9
“And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife.”

Sometimes you find an immature bird that has fallen out of the nest, which can happen in the spring when the birds are old enough to move around in the nest but too young to fly. Their flopping about sometimes puts them on the ground and in serious trouble. So what to do?

Mincey’s Musings
Year Two, Week Eighteen

One has to be careful when typing or texting, especially when texting. Sometimes the auto-correct on Facebook can get a person in trouble, like the preacher who once texted me that he was sitting on his deck; unfortunately, auto-correct changed the vowel in the word “deck”. The message that came to me, though totally unintended, was hilarious, and provided my soon-to-be-deceased stepson one of his last moments of hilarity. I never told the preacher of his mishap.

Believe it or not, this old tomboy is a pretty decent cook. Most people don’t expect a girl who grew up wrestling and playing ball to be able to prepare scrumptious food. You see, I had the advantage of learning from two awesome southern cooks: my Mamaw Myrtle/Girdle and my Mamaw Jo.

Mamaw Myrtle/Girdle was more of a “fancy” cook; whereas, Mamaw Jo cooked with a country flair. I still use a combination of their different methods, but there was one thing they both agreed on: bacon grease could make dirt taste good.

The heavy rain woke me up and as I lay there listening to it pounding our tin roof, I thought about how it used to be. Like everyone we knew, there was a little building out back at the end of the well worn path. The outhouse stood there in its regal majesty. It had importance and knew it.

In my personal opinion, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is one of the most fascinating places on Earth. I have been there more times than I can recall and learned many things each time I went. I learned about the rocks, the animals, about the different types of flowers and trees, and I learned about the people who once called this area home. I learned that after a hip replacement surgery, I could walk all the way up to the Mount LeConte lookout. I was tired, but I had done it! At times it was like a home away from home.

In 1773, German zoologist Johann August Ephraim Goeze peered through his compound microscope and gazed upon a tiny, eight-legged creature he dubbed a “little water bear”. Cute, huh? The scientific name for these itty-bitty varmints is “tardigrade”, but there’s another nickname for them I like better – moss piglet. Can you believe it? I mean, look at that thing. Moss piglet! That’s perfect. I can almost hear it oinking.