Appalachian Mountain Dreams

UnSATisfactory: “THE DRAMATIC decline in SAT scores announced yesterday raises the issue of whether there is something wrong with the new test or, even more worrisome, with the lessons being taught in high schools.” Could it be that the test has run up against “the Test”. Wouldn’t it be right about now that the teaching to the test in “no

This caught my eye this morning for no particular reason… The Writer’s Almanac from American Public Media: “On this day in 1875, Captain Matthew Webb became the first person to swim across the English Channel. In twenty-one hours and forty-five minutes, he swam from Dover, England, to Calais, France. Nine years later, he drowned in Niagara Falls, trying to swim

It has been a very busy time for me at the day job…which is keeping my posting down here. So just to keep something going here is: The Photo of the Day This was a shot taken at Hoover Dam in January 2005…I feel like this fella’ when I walk outside this week.

I was out last night with hopes of seeing some meteors. About the only thing I saw in the night sky other than the dim stars was a few airplanes. Living in the Houston Galveston metropolitan area the nights never get that clear. The thing over-riding every other sense though was the heat…you could literally smell the heat in the

Jeb Loy Nichols Website – Lyrics: “HEAVEN RIGHT HERE I got penny change in my pocketI got heaven on my mindI got a gravel road, twenty milesGonna spend a little timeFor the ways of the world seem to frustrateAlways stealing food off of the next plateOnly hate is our fate and it’s too lateAll we get is a crumb from

The Blog of Henry David Thoreau: Thoreau’s Journal: 12-Aug-1854: “Thoreau’s Journal: 12-Aug-1854On Conantum saw a cow looking steadily up into the sky for a minute. It gave to her face an unusual almost human or wood-god, faun-like expression, and reminded me os some frontispiece to Virgil’s Bucolics. She was gazing upwards about 45°. There were only some downy clouds in

SIMPLY WAIT: A BOWL OF CORN FLAKES (Who can I still be?): “It was probably thirty years ago when my uncle was diagnosed with melanoma. The prognosis was dire. While he procrastinated about seeing a dermatologist for the lesion on his cheek, the cancer advanced. Bluntly, the doctor gave him six months.” And that is how Patry Francis starts tonight’s

I generally try to keep the politics I feel strongly about off of this sight. I think though that this is a message that needs to be said loudly and often between now and November…It is time for a change! Daily Kos: But Enough About Us …: “The message is the message. Let’s make it even simpler, shall we? The

The Blog of Henry David Thoreau: Thoreau’s Journal: 11-Aug-1853: “Thoreau’s Journal: 11-Aug-1853What shall we name this season? This very late afternoon, or very early evening, this severe and placid season of the day, most favorable for reflection, after the insufferable heats and the bustle of the day are over and before the dampness and twilight of the evening! The serene

How does rice thrive in toxic soil? – Weird Plants: The cultivation of rice has always appeared to be environmentally-friendly. After all, most rice is produced in paddies. Water buffalo churn up the soil, most of the fertilizers used are organic, and the planting and harvesting is done by hand. But organic matter and flooded conditions provide a perfect home