Smoky "Misty" Mountains

 

 

Far Over the Misty Mountains

By J.R.R. Tolkien



 

Far over the misty mountains cold
To dungeons deep and caverns old
We must away ere break of day
To seek the pale enchanted gold.

The dwarves of yore made mighty spells,
While hammers fell like ringing bells
In places deep, where dark things sleep,
In hollow halls beneath the fells.

For ancient king and elvish lord
There many a gleaming golden hoard
They shaped and wrought, and light they caught
To hide in gems on hilt of sword.

On silver necklaces they strung
The flowering stars, on crowns they hung
The dragon-fire, in twisted wire
They meshed the light of moon and sun.

Far over the misty mountains cold
To dungeons deep and caverns old
We must away, ere break of day
To claim our long-forgotten gold.

Goblets they carved there for themselves
And harps of gold; where no man delves
There lay they long, and many a song
Was sung unheard by men or elves.

The pines were roaring on the height,
The winds were moaning in the night.
The fire was red, it flaming spread;
The trees like torches blazed with light.

The bells were ringing in the dale
And men looked up with faces pale;
The dragon’s ire more fierce than fire
Laid low their towers and houses frail.

The mountain smoked beneath the moon;
The dwarves they heard the tramp of doom.
They fled their hall to dying fall
Beneath his feet, beneath the moon.

Far over the misty mountains grim
To dungeons deep and caverns dim
We must away, ere break of day,
To win our harps and gold from him!

Far Over The Misty Mountains Cold is a song sung by Thorin and company in Tolkien's novel The Hobbit. Often referred by fans as simply 'The Dwarf Song' features on page 14-15 of the Hobbit and is in the first chapter. In The Hobbit, the song helps to explain the back story of Thorin and his company, and plays a large role in the development of Bilbo from his 'Baggins' side to his 'Tookish' side, an evolution that takes most of the novel.

'All Woods Must Fail'

 

 

All Woods Must Fail
by J.R.R. Tolkien

O! Wanderers in the shadowed land
Despair not! For though dark they stand,
All woods there be must end at last,
And see the open sun go past:
The setting sun, the rising sun,
The day's end, or the day begun.
For east or west all woods must fail.

"Not all Those Who Wander are Lost" - The Riddle of Strider

 

The Riddle of Strider

 

All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;

The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.

 

 The poem is first given in the letter left for Frodo by Gandalf in Bree. In that letter, it appears as part of a postscript reminding Frodo to make sure that the "Strider" he meets is "the real Strider". The poem thus appears in that context as a means of identifying Aragorn. Aragorn indeed later quotes the first two lines, not knowing the poem is in the letter, and this does help to confirm his identity. Bilbo himself recites the poem at the Council of Elrond when Boromir expresses doubts about Aragorn's claim to be the Heir of Isildur.

Dowdell's Knob Overlook

 

The panoramic view is from  Dowdell's Knob on top of Pine Mountain.  These images were taken in March when the trees were just starting to show new growth.  Dowdell's Know was a favorite place for Franklin D. Roosevelt to have picnics and think about world events.

Robin Lake Beach and The Flying HIgh Circus

Early spring is not the season for tourist to be at Robin Lake so it was quiet and peaceful.  Robin Lake Beach is the world's largest man-made, white sand beach.  The beach stretches a mile around 65-acres.  The Florida State University Flying High Circus have taken up residence at the beach every summer since 1961. During the summer, the circus conducts a recreation program and performs seven shows weekly under the big top adjacent to the beach.   twenty five dedicated students from the Flying High Circus live and work at the gardens, working as performers and camp counselors. 


The FSU Flying High Circus

'Well Water' by Randall Jarrell

 

Well Water

  by Randall Jarrell 1969

What a girl called "the dailiness of life"
(Adding an errand to your errand.  Saying,
"Since you're up . . ." Making you a means to
A means to a means to) is well water
Pumped from an old well at the bottom of the world.
The pump you pump the water from is rusty
And hard to move and absurd, a squirrel-wheel
A sick squirrel turns slowly, through the sunny
Inexorable hours.  And yet sometimes
The wheel turns of its own weight, the rusty
Pump pumps over your sweating face the clear
Water, cold, so cold! you cup your hands
And gulp from them the dailiness of life.

From The Complete Poems by Randall Jarrel


In 1914, Randall Jarrell was born in Nashville, Tennessee. He earned bachelor's and master's degrees from Vanderbilt University. From 1937 to 1939 he taught at Kenyon College, where he met John Crowe Ransom and Robert Lowell, and then at the University of Texas.
His first book of poems, Blood for a Stranger, was published in 1942, the same year he enlisted in the Army Air Corps. He soon left the Air Corps for the army and worked as a control tower operator, an experience which provided much material for his poetry.

Following the war, Jarrell accepted a teaching position at the Woman's College of the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, and remained there, except for occasional absences to teach elsewhere, until his death. Even more than for his poems, Jarrell is highly regarded as a peerless literary essayist, and was considered the most astute (and most feared) poetry critic of his generation.
  

A Heavenly Bath in An Old Wash Bucket

As a child, I visited my grandparents in Sixes, Georgia outside of Canton for the entire summer.  There was no modern plumbing system only well water.  All the water used for cooking and bathing had to be drawn by buckets from the well.   I took my bath in a large tin bucket like the one in the picture hanging on the front porch.  In the evening, I bathed on the back porch and the water had to be heated in a kettle on a old wooden stove.  The tin bucket had many uses.  It was used to wash the freshly picked garden vegetables and it was used to wash my behind.

My grandmother made her own soap for washing clothes.  It was harsh and I never used it.  I always prefer catching rain water for my bath.  There was a delight in knowing I was being bathed from the waters that fell from the heavenly sky. Maybe there was star dust floating in the water or it might have been touched by the moon or kissed by an angel. In other words, it was a heavenly bath for a young child to enjoy.

Riverwalk Spirit of Trees

I like pictures with images from different angles and symmetries.  River Walk in Columbus, Georgia has many hardwood trees growing at the river base.  Some were planted but many are wild.  The trees add a spirit to the river that is inviting and alluring.

Florida's Middle-Earth and Giant Oaks

These views are from the picnic pavilion at Stokes Creek.  The trails lead into a dense forest of old oak trees.  I am standing in the middle of five oak trees whose roots have grown together to make a large oak floor between them. The roots were thick and even growing above ground.  The wind blowing around me sound like tree's whispering to each other.  Once again, New Zealand has nothing on Florida when it comes to giant oak trees. They felt like protectors of the forest.  I have my own middle earth in my backyard.

 

Stokes Creek Landing

 

The above is the observation tower at Stokes Creek.  The salt marsh runs for miles as far as the eye can see and in the distance is the Tolomato River.  The Interpretive Trail loops to the tower and intersects with the Marsh Point Trail.  Stokes Landing serves as an outdoor classroom for environmental education, it has been visited by area students and their teachers over the years. The observation platform for wildlife and marsh viewing was rebuilt by St. Johns County students. The students also developed the interpretive trail.

Marsh Point at Stokes Landing

One of the main reasons I love hiking is the beautiful and stunning landscapes along the trails.  Some of these pictures are as beautiful as oil or watercolor paintings.  The landscape is so vivid with a wide spectrum of colors that it affects all of your senses: sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste.  A camera can only capture a small portion of the magnificence.

White Spring Butterfly

 

The white and black color pattern of the White Spring Butterfly is stunning.  It attracts the eye immediately and the green foliage in the background makes a nice frame.

Wedge Spotted Cattleheart

The scientific name of the Wedge Spotted Cattleheart is Parides Panares and it is common to the Americas. I particularly like the green house window background.  The windows have a soft blue hue and accentuates the black coloring of the butterfly wings.

Butterfly Landing Gallery I

I like images of butterflies on various objects such as statues, limbs, chairs. and floors.  The different backgrounds adds more creative interest to the picture.

Orange Slice Butterflies

 

 

Flowers are not the only thing that provides liquid nutrients for the butterfly. They will often feed on fruit, manure piles, sap, and other materials that have dissolved into water.
Even moist sand or dirt often has enough liquid nutrients that the butterfly can get the nutrients it needs. Sometimes even rotting animal flesh will provide the butterfly with food.
If you are out working or playing on a hot day often a butterfly will land on you and drink from your skin. It is drawn to your skin by the salt in your sweat. Sweat has salt, and other minerals that butterflies need.

Molly Hugger Hill - Rocks, Leaves, Bees and Shirtless

Molly Hugger Hill Trail is located on Pine Mountain.  This is the third time for me hiking on Pine Mountain which has 22 miles of trails.  On the Molly Hugger Hill trail there are a lot of tree stumps and rocks.  The rocks are covered by 7 inches of leaves and there are rocks around all the tree roots.  A portion of the trail is currently home to a band of bees, a couple of them tried to chase me down.  Even though, it was early spring the weather was 73F and it became very hot with no shade from the trees.  New leaves had not started growing so a person could see the slopes of the hills through the bare trees.  I became so hot that in order to cool down, I had to take off my sweat shirt and hike part of the way shirtless.  Thankfully, no other hikers were in sight to witness my partial stripe tease.

Mountain Creek Lake

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Trail located in the Meadowlark Garden area is the .6-mile Wildflower Trail, where native plants of Georgia are featured, including many rare, threatened and endangered species. The trail offers a gazebo, waterfall and picturesque bridge overlooking Mountain Creek Lake.