Good god, two weeks since the last entry.
So much for the meteor shower on the eleventh/twelveth. It rained. Yes, we really needed the rain but damn it! I really wanted to see it! I guess those two I saw a few days earlier will have to sustain me until November.
The opening ceremony of the Olympics turned out to be interesting, although it seems they changed the program. According to a story linked on Wren's Nest, they were originally going to include more of the Greek Gods but the Greek Orthodox church objected, saying they had no part in today's Greece.
Ninety six percent of Greece is Christian - what is the Church so afraid of? People suddenly stopping in the streets to offer sacrifices? (Who was it who got the black goat? I don't remember.) Are they afraid of Zeus opening the heavens and flinging lightening bolts at their butts while yelling, "THAT'S FOR WHAT YOU DID TO MY TEMPLE!" "...AND THAT'S FOR WHAT YOU SAID ABOUT ME AND MY KIDS!" Heh, now I've got this image in my head of Zeus having a great time, flinging bolts and pretending to be utterly pissed while scanning the female atheletes for his next conquest. "OOOooooo - there's a tasty looking lass....uh...I mean, HOW DARE YOU INVOKE MY WRATH!!"
Thursday was a neat day. My mom, Bobby and I packed up and made a day trip to Rugby, Tennessee. I'm going back sometime soon - it's a really neat place. I wish the colors in the stained glass had come out better. It was pretty bright outside and there is no flash photography allowed in any of the buildings. The red color on the walls is original from 1886 or so, along with the gold flake fleur de lys (I know that's spelled wrong) on the walls.
They still hold services here every Sunday. You can tell it's been in continuous use for over a hundred years because of the energy of the place. If you can't tell it when you first walk through the door, you will when you sit down on one of the pews. The place sings with a peaceful energy.
My favorite place, of course, was the library. The tour guide told us how strict the original librarian was: he was well known for going to people's houses to retrieve overdue books himself. It's said he never left, even after he died - there are several stories about things occuring over the years - but all was quite when I was there. This library was in use until the late 1960's, when all the modern (post 1899) books were removed and the others preserved. Today there are 7,000 books in the library. I found several books by Swedenborg as well as one called Sun, Moon and Stars. They also had a complete set of accounts from the Civil War - all the orders, military movements and the like bound into something like twenty books.
My absolute favorite stop on our trip was an impromptu left turn off of hwy. 52 on the way back - Standing Stone State Park. According to the website, there used to be a large stone here, marking the boundary of several tribes hunting grounds. The remaining piece of the rock is in Monterey, TN. I've heard a different story about that rock, about how the stone (before it was destroyed) was naturally shaped like a wolf and it marked, not a boundary but a sacred site. Eh, I'll have to see if I can find that again. Maybe I dreamed the whole damn thing.
In the park, I kept seeing signs saying "WARNING! ONE LANE BRIDGE AHEAD!" I kept thinking it was probably a little home made looking thing, possibly even wooden, like you still see around here on the backroads. We came from above it and my first thought when it came into view was, "Wow! What a neat little stone bridge going across the lake." Imagine my surprise when we went to the parking area below it and I saw it was an old stone dam! The water energy was amazing here - I was energized, yet at peace as well. I really didn't want to leave. I really miss living near running water. I don't feel complete somehow.
While we were there, I also took the opportunity to conquer a long standing fear: suspension bridges. The last time I crossed a suspension bridge was in Chattanooga's Rock City - the one ninety feet in the air. Strange thing, looking down from the bridge didn't bother me...it was looking out and over the valley and seeing Chattanooga off in the distance that did me in. I remember standing there, eyes shut as tight as possible while hanging on to the top wire of the bridge with both hands and fighting down the fear and nausea as this smartassed kid goes by me and laughs at me (which earned him some choice four letter words I managed to get around the nausea as his father hurried him on.)
There was a small bridge crossing the stream beneath the dam, complete with all the bounces and swings suspension bridges are known for. It was barely twelve feet or so above the water but it was enough to bring on the fear when I looked off in the distance. In the beginning, I stood over one of the supports where it wouldn't swing or bounce, glad to have made it the entire three feet to it (isn't that sad?) Finally, I made my way across the thing and by the time I got to the other end, I was in rhythm with it. It was bouncin', I was bouncin' and having a great time. I lost track of how many times I yelled, "Wheeeeeee!!!!!!"
Take that, you old stupid bridge fear!!
Just because it was interesting, I'm including this website I found as I was looking for the Standing Stone site:In the Wake of Sheltowee. It is the account of several Buddhist folks from southern Middle Tennessee who went hiking through middle Tennessee.
Page and graphics Copyright 2004 D. Firewolf
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