mountainmelody

so long...

2011-11-26T16:21:00.001-06:00

I am moving away from the mountain...sadness. No more mountainmelody, I guess!

blogging

2011-05-28T14:32:00.001-05:00

Blogging is a little boring. I may or may not keep posting frequent updates here.

sunset on the mountain

2011-05-25T20:04:00.000-05:00

I made it home just in time for this.

view from Blue Ridge Parkway

2011-05-24T06:32:00.000-05:00

more later--

skinks

2011-05-22T18:24:00.000-05:00

skinks

2011-05-21T19:50:00.000-05:00

skinks

2011-05-20T09:08:00.000-05:00

skinks

2011-05-19T17:21:00.000-05:00

skinks

2011-05-18T13:04:00.000-05:00

skinks

2011-05-17T14:50:00.001-05:00

skinks

2011-05-16T17:49:00.000-05:00

pictures of skinks

2011-05-15T17:45:00.000-05:00

Next up on my exciting blog: photos of the skinks that play on my steps. You have to admit that they're kind of cute!

more storm stuff

2011-05-14T18:29:00.000-05:00

We found this tarp hanging from the trees just down the street from my house.

Crazy.

cleanup

2011-05-13T20:27:00.000-05:00

This has been an eventful and sometimes exhausting week for me--and much more so for many whose homes and lives have been devastated by the tornadoes.

Here are a few pictures a coworker took of our cleanup efforts on Tuesday. Much more work remains to be done.

disaster relief

2011-05-10T20:35:00.000-05:00

I spent the day today helping clean up debris in a hard hit area about an hour away. I'll post photos and more information this weekend. It was a good day!

walk

2011-05-08T17:06:00.002-05:00

tired again :(

2011-05-07T12:26:00.000-05:00

Last night I slept for 11 hours, got up, and was so tired the only thing I could do was go back to bed for 2 more hours. I should mention that I had a relaxing and restful day yesterday, and I am not sick that I know of.

If I feel like this when I am 30, what will I be like when I am 60??!?

walk

2011-05-07T10:17:00.001-05:00

walk

2011-05-06T12:51:00.002-05:00

disaster relief

2011-05-05T19:16:00.003-05:00

ways my church is helping
one way to give

walk

2011-05-05T14:50:00.001-05:00

walk

2011-05-04T20:03:00.001-05:00

walk

2011-05-03T12:47:00.001-05:00

walk

2011-05-02T10:06:00.001-05:00

walk

2011-05-01T13:44:00.000-05:00

walk

2011-04-30T16:42:00.001-05:00

Daybreak in Alabama

2011-04-30T09:45:00.003-05:00

My "walk" pictures will continue to post, but the minds of most of us here are on the recent tornado tragedies. This poem by Langston Hughes about beautiful Alabama seems appropriate to read:

When I get to be a composer
I'm gonna write me some music about
Daybreak in Alabama
And I'm gonna put the purtiest songs in it
Rising out of the ground like a swamp mist
And falling out of heaven like soft dew.
I'm gonna put some tall tall trees in it
And the scent of pine needles
And the smell of red clay after rain
And long red necks
And poppy colored faces
And big brown arms
And the field daisy eyes
Of black and white black white black people
And I'm gonna put white hands
And black hands and brown and yellow hands
And red clay earth hands in it
Touching everybody with kind fingers
And touching each other natural as dew
In that dawn of music when I
Get to be a composer
And write about daybreak
In Alabama.

things I found

2011-04-29T20:32:00.002-05:00

So sad.

walk

2011-04-29T17:21:00.001-05:00

walk

2011-04-28T14:39:00.001-05:00

still here

2011-04-28T06:31:00.001-05:00

I interrupt this series of posts to let you know that I am fine, despite the crazy tornadoes that came through many parts of Alabama. Here's debris I found in my yard--probably from about 85 miles away in Tuscaloosa!

walk

2011-04-27T13:38:00.001-05:00

walk

2011-04-26T09:05:00.002-05:00

a walk outside my door

2011-04-25T12:36:00.000-05:00

For the next several days I'm going to post some photos from my regular walk. I walk right outside my door onto a path that is less than a mile long. I don't claim that all of these are the greatest photos, but I hope they give you a taste of life in the country.

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T15:04:00.000-05:00

Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and on those in the tombs bestowing life!

Secret Church

2011-04-23T12:15:00.001-05:00

last night

today

2011-04-22T11:06:00.000-05:00

Good Friday

Maundy Thursday

2011-04-21T21:43:00.001-05:00

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

-John 13:34

beautiful spring

2011-04-18T16:36:00.000-05:00

hiking down the mountain

2011-04-17T18:34:00.002-05:00

from beautiful scenery...

...to not so beautiful.

tornadoes

2011-04-15T18:22:00.000-05:00

Oh, the joys of life in Alabama...
Haven't blown away yet.

the road home

2011-04-11T15:43:00.001-05:00

I didn't drive back from Chicago, although that might have been faster in the long run! One of my flights was delayed 3 hours, and I ended up spending an extra night in Chicago. I guess there are worse places to be than the Radisson at Delta's expense.

And I won't show you all the food I scored with the free vouchers, but let's just say I used them all up. I should have plenty of extras for my lunches all week! Why turn down free food?

Chicago

2011-04-09T16:53:00.000-05:00

I'm at Techny Towers, near Chicago.

The leaves on the trees here haven't come out yet. Yikes!

Cold weather and no sweet tea...I don't think I could live here!

The truth of God is greater far

2011-04-08T19:51:00.003-05:00

The truth of God is greater far

Than our poor human mind,

Than any doctrine, creed, or sect,

All partial and confined.

His treasures hold uncounted wealth

That hearts have never heard.

Our boundless God has yet more light

To shine out from His Word.

Who dares to limit God Himself

To what we understand,

To shrink His sprawling mystery

And hold it in our hand?

Immensity of purest love!

An ocean unexplored!

Our boundless God has yet more light

To shine out from His Word.

O Lord, Your Word is Jesus Christ,
Your truth in us begun,
But O the depths of all He is
And all that He has done!
Let faith and love each day increase
The hunger You have stirred:
May more and more of Christ our Light
Shine brightly from Your Word!

~Ken Bible and George Rawson

view

2011-04-04T10:55:00.000-05:00

Here's the view from the star in spring.

food for thought

2011-04-04T10:01:00.004-05:00

I like this powerful analogy by Francis Chan.

amazing spring

2011-04-02T15:21:00.000-05:00

pelican

2011-04-01T21:17:00.000-05:00

I loved seeing all the pelicans at the beach!

sunset at the beach

2011-04-01T06:28:00.001-05:00

beach

2011-03-28T17:48:00.001-05:00

Here's the house where we stayed on Dauphin Island.

It was very close to the beach. Nice!

birds at the beach

2011-03-27T19:06:00.000-05:00

Check out these birds that followed our ferry from Dauphin Island to Fort Morgan. Watch the pelican in the second half of the video!

pollen

2011-03-24T19:11:00.000-05:00

Don't look now, but it's pollen season in Alabama.

Yellow dust coats everything, including my car...

...and the driveway to my work.

Lovely.

:)

2011-03-22T20:21:00.001-05:00

I love spring!

2011-03-21T17:30:00.001-05:00

Vulcan

2011-03-20T18:34:00.003-05:00

Yep, it's Vulcan!

:)

2011-03-18T19:57:00.004-05:00

:)

2011-03-13T16:45:00.000-05:00

tired

2011-03-12T12:04:00.001-06:00

I try to ignore it, but sometimes I am just so tired.
:(

hmm...

2011-03-11T20:43:00.002-06:00

In the 1950s, 12 percent of high school seniors said they were a “very important person.” By the ’90s, 80 percent said they believed that they were.

rain

2011-03-09T06:25:00.001-06:00

Let the rain kiss you. Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops. Let the rain sing you a lullaby. ~Langston Hughes

I love this kind of stuff

2011-03-07T15:27:00.002-06:00

doomsdays throughout time

blog

2011-03-05T09:01:00.003-06:00

Have I ever mentioned this great blog?

spring

2011-03-04T21:13:00.003-06:00

Nothing is so beautiful as spring--
When weeds, in wheels, shoot long and lovely and lush;
Thrush’s eggs look little low heavens, and thrush
Through the echoing timber does so rinse and wring
The ear, it strikes like lightnings to hear him sing;
The glassy peartree leaves and blooms, they brush
The descending blue; that blue is all in a rush
With richness; the racing lambs too have fair their fling.

What is all this juice and all this joy?
A strain of the earth’s sweet being in the beginning
In Eden garden. --Have, get, before it cloy,
Before it cloud, Christ, lord, and sour with sinning,
Innocent mind and Mayday in girl and boy,
Most, O maid’s child, thy choice and worthy the winning.

~Gerard Manley Hopkins

last one for now

2011-03-03T19:26:00.001-06:00

more on football and “pickup-truck alumni”...from the New York Times

very true

2011-02-27T14:35:00.003-06:00

blogs wane as the young drift to sites like Twitter

spring :)

2011-02-27T11:43:00.002-06:00

today

2011-02-26T07:43:00.002-06:00

Come hear me play handbells.

3 PM
Pleasant Grove United Methodist Church
Interstate 459, exit 1

quote

2011-02-23T06:30:00.002-06:00

Rich people who neglect the poor are not the people of God.

~David Platt

:)

2011-02-20T14:01:00.001-06:00

Forget those crazy winter storms...this is my preferred February weather.

2011-02-20T07:32:00.004-06:00

Seriously? I like nature more than most people, but...a shrine to a tree? And praying for trees?

only in Alabama

2011-02-17T20:04:00.005-06:00

people poisoning trees and crying over trees...a lottery to win seedlings from the trees...all in the name of sports

Valentine stamps

2011-02-14T10:12:00.001-06:00

Happy Valentine's Day! Have you ever heard of the nineteenth-century traditions for attaching stamps to valentines? Check out the hidden meanings behind each stamp position.

business

lovesick, lonesome, or I love you

love and kisses

I promise to never leave you.

Will you marry me?

Yes, I will.

Learn more about the history of valentines here.

crazy weather!

2011-02-10T20:00:00.000-06:00

By now you may have stopped believing the fact that it didn't snow at ALL for the first 6 or 7 years I lived in Alabama. But it's true!

This winter has about made up for it--more snows than I have ever seen in my life! Last night we got 2.5 inches of snow. Impressive!

These pictures aren't the greatest, but they'll give you the idea. First, here is where I found deer tracks leading right up to my car door this morning. Perhaps Bambi wanted to find a warm place to sit down?

And here are some of the gigantic icicles that were hanging from my house when I got home tonight. Brrr!!

only in Alabama

2011-02-08T06:31:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I attended a seminar that had speakers such as Colin Powell, Laura Bush, and Rudy Guiliani. But the speakers that got way more applause than anyone else were the football coaches from Auburn and Alabama.

I don't care what your political persuasion is--that's just wrong!

ice in the cemetery

2011-02-04T10:30:00.001-06:00

ice storm

2011-02-03T19:31:00.003-06:00

This morning I certainly would not have expected to be blogging about an ice storm today! The storm caught all the weather forecasters off guard. I think I was the first one to leave my work this afternoon, but it still took me a very long and nerve-wracking 2 hours and 15 minutes to make it home.

Here are some pictures from the drive. (Don't worry, Mom! I took these while stopped in traffic.)

This is the first of many wrecks I passed--people who slid off the icy roads.

Here the ice is freezing on my windshield while I'm waiting in a line of traffic--

parents who rushed to get their kids out of school.

Here I'm waiting behind a line of cars trying to drive up a very icy hill. It was quite the adventure.

Here's an icy driveway near home, after I made it past all the wrecked cars and icy patches on the road.

I haven't been so glad to get home in awhile!

Alabama culture

2011-01-30T17:42:00.001-06:00

Let's just say that this place is very, very close to me.

today

2011-01-29T15:36:00.003-06:00

Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin. ~Mother Teresa

nerdy ramblings about culture

2011-01-28T21:05:00.010-06:00

I am fascinated by different cultures. Today I heard a good presentation that reminded me about high context and low context cultures. Some scholars argue that the American South is an example of a traditionally high context culture in the midst of a low context nation.

A related topic is direct versus indirect communication. I definitely think that in the South, women especially are socialized to communicate more indirectly. Even today, if I want someone else to do something, I always phrase it as a question instead of a command: "Could you please make a copy for me?" And I find it difficult to strongly criticize someone I'm talking to. Instead, I would say mostly nice things and slip a kindly worded suggestion in the middle. But if they were from my context, they would understand.

I think this type of background makes direct communication seem more jarring, especially when it comes from someone with whom you do not have a strong relationship. Understanding the cultural differences is essential.

What do you all think about this--especially those of you from the South?

quote

2011-01-27T20:20:00.001-06:00

We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature--trees, flowers, grass--grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence. . . . We need silence to be able to touch souls.
~Mother Teresa

new look

2011-01-22T17:23:00.002-06:00

I decided to change back to a black layout. See what you think.

Auburn

2011-01-21T22:02:00.002-06:00

We accidentally went to Auburn on our road trip. It was the week after their national championship--not bad. We saw the toilet paper in the trees at Toomer's Corner and everything!

quote

2011-01-20T20:30:00.001-06:00

It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are. ~e.e. cummings

look

2011-01-18T20:42:00.002-06:00

snow pictures

Eufaula

2011-01-17T20:10:00.004-06:00

I went on a great road trip with a friend today. We drove all around the state, eventually making it to Eufaula. I'll post more pictures later if I get a chance!

quote

2011-01-15T19:28:00.001-06:00

I think it is safe to say that while the South is hardly Christ-centered, it is most certainly Christ-haunted.

~Flannery O'Connor

tracks

2011-01-14T16:03:00.006-06:00

car

deer

human

dog

four wheeler

2011-01-13T18:43:00.000-06:00

I finally made it home and am enjoying the snow/ice from the warmth of my house. :)

Atlanta ice skating

2011-01-11T19:14:00.001-06:00

2011-01-11T15:16:00.000-06:00

Still stuck and not sure when I can get home...blah. At least I have a warm place to stay!

2011-01-10T15:30:00.001-06:00

My house had 4 inches of snow...but I'm stuck at Shocco with 1 inch if ice!

2011-01-08T08:39:00.003-06:00

This is what happens at the bread aisle in the grocery story when snow is forecast for Alabama!

(photo from www.alabamawx.com)

2011-01-06T19:58:00.002-06:00

It's going to snow again...maybe a lot!!!

This is amazing, since it didn't snow at all for at least the first five or six years I lived in Alabama!

2011-01-03T09:32:00.000-06:00

Every good, beautiful, perfect, inspiring, moving, joyful, sustaining, edifying, unifying, loving, gracious, whimsical, happy, life-giving, soul-stirring, paradigm-shifting, kind, generous alive thing is a gift from God.

~Cathleen Falsani

song for Baptist children, circa 1920s

2011-01-02T14:31:00.000-06:00

(Tune: London Bridge)

Help us build a bridge of peace,
Bridge of peace,
Bridge of peace!
Help us build a bridge of peace,
Hi-ho, laddies!

Help us live in friendly ways,
Friendly ways,
Friendly ways!
Help us live in friendly ways,
Hi-ho, lassies!

Don't you wish you could come to the archives with me??

2011-01-01T19:03:00.004-06:00

I've been having more "fun" trying to decipher old handwritten minutes.

Try not to be too jealous.

Serendipity seldom strikes in the shower or on the beach--serendipity most often happens in the archives. ~Laurel Ulrich

2010-12-31T07:51:00.002-06:00

I'm still recovering from 2010...here's to a better year ahead in 2011!

2010-12-28T20:20:00.000-06:00

Don't look now, but Jesus is coming back in 1843. You heard it here first, folks.

:(

2010-12-26T11:08:00.003-06:00

Two inches of snow are on the ground at my house--the first white Christmas in almost 100 years. But I'm not there!