Spring 2013 - dogwoods and my bluff

Early music anyone?

Got to play Geoff Roehm's tenor Viol da Gamba at his workshop.  Makes me want to start a Renaissance band.  The gamba is tuned exactly like a lute.  Reminds me of my days at FSU in our Early Music Ensemble.

Spring scenes on the mountain

Hiking along Lost Cove and in the Franklin Marion Forest, wild azaleas, waterfalls, and a mountain lake at sunset.   A crisp spring day for a walk on the good Earth.

Wildflower hike

Celebrated Monday with a hike of the Shakerag with Don and John.
Red and purple trillium were around.  Not quite as prolific as the Collins Gulf, but nice.
Beautiful day.  The professors at Greens View...

Spring is in full swing, trees are about 50% filled in here in sunny Champion Cove.

Sleeping with the windows open downstairs and feeling the cool mountain breezes, hearing the rushing of the creek below, makes morning a pretty wonderful experience.  Do not want to leave the bed too soon.

2:40 am

Music

“The final aim and reason of all music is nothing other than the glorification of God and the refreshment of the spirit.”

― Johann Sebastian Bach

Revelations from the woods

Belief.

Last night I talked with a super talented young musician who was the victim of a car-jacking.  He was shot in the neck and for a while, didn't know whether he would live or die.   He said, at times like that, 'your true colors appear.'   He said he was a Christian and his belief carried him through it.  He said he never felt closer to God.  His manner was admirable.  Graceful and humble; and his musicianship - expressive and impressive, especially for such a young guy.

Not being traditionally religious, I thought about this a lot in my alone time - a great time to process.  (Alone time in abundance is rare for most people.   Married people and parents can't relate to this, as they have really never been alone for any extended period in their lives.  Maybe it's the abundance of alone time that makes such social interaction all the more valuable and vivid, as well as serving as a great opportunity for real reflection).

Positive thinking, kindness, love and religion are all the same vibration.   Positive thinking in the powers of the universe - it is in us all.  Critical thinking is important to a point, but sometimes to release preconceived notions can make for a better understanding, more diversity of experience, better human relations and respect.  Trying to change people by disparaging them for their beliefs is such a waste of energy, that is why politics suck. I do believe in standing up for what I believe in but I haven't had the energy lately to be involved with politics.  Sometimes, religion loses it's way and becomes divisive as well.

I used to use the irritating rhetorical question, "Is that what you believe?" ... all the time.   Glad those days are over.  Belief is such a loaded concept.  It often doesn't make for a very useful construct in human relations.  Being a skeptic by nature has not helped me in that regard.  I'm ready to leave that behind because 'doubting' is 'a religion' - in and of itself, and not a good one.  It can alienate people and be divisive.  It is limiting and conservative.  It's puts people unnecessarily on guard.  Who am I to judge something that is beyond my experience?  The goal is love and kindness in any human relationship and there is sometimes a rub with belief and skepticism.   Even healthy skepticism doesn't need to be demeaning.  Polite inquiry should rule the day, not sarcastic challenges.

That is why politics is such a bust and so little cooperation takes place.   Opponents beliefs are often used to demean them.   It's not black and white. There is only the diversity of experience and cultures.

I find myself attracted to the good.  I feel like I want to share some music.  I hope to play in church sometime.

Life is good.  I'm happy to be able to learn something new whenever I can.  I'm really enjoying learning  new music.

Windy and 68º on the bluff today with winds gusting to 27 mph.

Wildflower season in the Cumberland 2013

I've not seen Dutchman's Breeches as prolific on the Shakerag Trail as I did on Monday.   Great day for a hike.   Trilliums are just about to pop and yellow Trout Lilies were abound.

With a healing foot, I'm glad I can hike, albeit cautiously, in the Cumberland during this wildflower season.   It's been a lifestyle change from being a competitive athlete... instead of grabbing my spikes when I get up, I now grab my guitar.  Looking forward to playing my Handel Suite at the Trails and Trillium reception, and meeting David Haskell.

Trout Lily

Dutchman's Breeches

Happy Easter

I framed the art piece Paul brought me from England.   It is a stained glass template from the church in Yelverton, England.  A watercolor and pencil painting/drawing of Mary and Joseph.  It fits nicely above my stairs.

I also built a 6' wide bookcase and moved some of my favorite books up here.  Been enjoying a book of Sewanee lore about teaching and nature, (despite it's glorification of hunting) ... "Wedding the Wild Particular" by R. Benson.

The view of the rain and fog was irresistible this afternoon.   It was in the low to mid 50ºs today, but I had a fire going and the sliding glass door open... hissing of the fire in one ear, patter of rain in the other.  A nice backdrop to learning this Handel suite which I'm just loving.

The sunset was spectacular.

I expect to move my webcam out beyond the trees to get an unobstructed view of the cove, and better timelapse videos.

Mid week treat

So nice to have seen Edgar Meyer walk out on the stage for two encores in Sewanee with Chick Corea and Bela Fleck last night.  What a concert!  Best I've seen in memory.

I'm really looking forward to playing a concert of new music in the fall here at Sewanee and other places.

Had just enough time after the concert for a workout at the Fowler Center and a hang with friends.  Won't be long now before I'm running again.

Here's more of my timelapse mania...

Fullmoonset to sunrise:






Wish I had brought my camera... here's a cell phone shot of the superstar performers: 
 Bela Fleck, Chick Corea, Edgar Meyer 

Wild sky

I'm just loving this observatory of sky and weather on the bluff.   I got my high anemometer back up, 41' high. I grounded it well with copper wires and strap, insulated it with electrical tape, and stood it on a brick to keep it from touching any wood, expecting it may be hit by lightning.

We had thunderstorms last night with unusually long rolling thunder.  What an amazing place to watch lightning!  Today a Wind Advisory is in effect and snow is forecast for tonight and tomorrow.  Cold spring.

This morning, my Weather Cat software captured a time lapse of the fog rolling in and out of Champion Cove.   I hope to improve these videos in the future with a better camera position and a better manual focus webcam.

Timelapse movie: 3/24/13  - 6:00am - 10:00am

Guitar and moon

It was a great week... some random photos: the crescent moon setting and the gift of being able to play a 1947 Hauser I guitar in mint condition at a friend's home.

 This guitar is the Stradivarius of guitars. It is worth significantly more than I paid for my house. There are about 500 Strads in the world, but only a few Hauser I guitars. The provenance of this guitar is amazing. It was literally paid for with food and medicine by a physician to the Hauser family that was living in a desperate post war Germany. All of the collected letters between Hauser and the doctor are in the owner's possession. Fascinating.

I'm hoping to have my Handel Suite ready soon, maybe I'll play in church sometime in the near future. I'm just loving playing guitar again.

A bell like tone, rock solid basses ... this guitar gives everything I ask from it with sweetness, balance, and clarity.

 A dream guitar.

Presenting the new Sky Castle weather station

The Weather Center

Using a Davis Vantage Vue weather station and WeatherCat software, I have installed an automated reporting station at Sky Castle in Sewanee.

To my knowledge, it is Sewanee's first such weather station that is integrated with the Weather Underground's national reporting database.

I also will retain my Vortex anemometer in addition to this weather station since my Vantage Vue instrument package is compromised from collecting good wind data from the north by trees.  The Vortex will be mounted above tree top level.  I thought it simply too risky to mount the expensive and fragile Vantage sensor package atop a 39' pole.  It would be very difficult to service.  So the Vantage package is mounted about 18' high on the edge of the bluff in the old satellite mount.  It has a vertically unobstructed view of the sky and the wind data from the south and west is unobstructed.  So, I will check wind data from both sources.

Here you can see my data:

From the Weather Underground network:

• You can see complete real time data and forecast here: Sewanee Jump Off weather
• Abbreviated real time conditions with daily highs and lows here: Sewanee Jump Off 
• Historical stats with highs and lows here: Sewanee weather data

I also added a Weather Underground web 'sticker' to my sidebar on the left of this blog that shows current conditions at a glance.

I secured the domain name: SewaneeWeather.com and have integrated a web cam.   That site is my personal site and is updated every 15 min and has a broad array of graphs, data, and a webcam which I hope to improve soon.  (The present webcam has auto focus and sometimes it doesn't focus properly.   I hope to get a better webcam at some point).

March '13 snow

It was a memorable weekend.

 Saturday March 2, it snowed lightly all day.  Glad I had plenty of firewood.  By Sunday morning, there was a good 2" of snow on the ground.    I hope kids got a chance to go sledding because this was their last best chance this season. It was just beautiful. I wish I went sledding, but I enjoyed some walks, socializing, working out at the Fowler Center, and seeing my friend John on his birthday.

Laurel Branch creek was roaring in the valley below, the bird feeder was very busy with colorful finches, and the snow provided a beautiful mountain backdrop to a warm fire and some indoor projects.

Window view

Map Room

I wanted a detailed large map for the house so I obtained the 4 contiguous USGS Topo maps for the Sewanee/Monteagle South Cumberland area.  After buying and returning several frames, I decided to make my own 48"x 36" frame with plexiglass.  I mounted all four maps as one and illuminated it with an overhead clamp light - the best solution.  Always good to see the 'big picture.'


After much thought, I've decided to move my weather instruments away from the house to the old satellite mount about 50' from the house.   I don't need a lightning attractor like that 30' steel pole attached to my house.  I think I will need an additional 10' of pipe and a practical means of raising and lowering the mast.   Still brainstorming that.   I think I'm going to buy the Davis Vantage Vue weather station and eventually establish an automated weather data and webcam page online.


I finally found a Preway cone shaped fireplace that will be integrated in my screen house on the bluff.   I was hoping to start work on that week after next, but now I think I may postpone that til April/May.   I really want to get that weather station up and away from my house before spring storms.   That will be priority for spring break.

Hard to believe Spring break is less than a week a way and spring wildflower season is just around the corner.


I took the video below on Saturday afternoon 3/2/13 to remember this late winter snow ... especially when I look back during the warm seasons.

Sunset, moonscape and a new weather instrument

Sky Castle has a new anemometer... a wind speed gage.  This model is an Inspeed Vortex 2. Thanks to help from Evan, I was able to get this heavy 30' section of galvanized pipe mounted to my deck.   Spend a good part of the day creating a support for it and then, at dusk, I checked my mail and the anemometer was there.  I HAD to mount it that night.   A High Wind Warning was forecast.   So there we were, me and Evan holding this 50 lb, 30' section of galvanized pipe in a stiff wind in the dark.  It was a challenge but we got it up there.

The height of my anemometer is 39' off the ground, 27' higher than the floor of my deck, just clear of the tree tops.   The World Meteorological Organization has set the international standard height for wind measurement devices at 10 meters (33 feet) above ground, so I'm doing pretty well.  Of course winds from the W/SW are completely unobstructed.  Last night the wind was blowing from east so the readings weren't as high as they would've been if it had been a westerly.  It blew an Adirondack chair off my bluff.

Last night, the Vortex2 got a workout -  the maximum gust recorded was 37.6 mph from the east.

Anemometer mount

Display gage - current/maximum

 The sky brought some amazing beauty again this weekend.   Friday night the near full moon was so intense you could see fog forming in Lost Cove.

The sunset wasn't too shabby either.

Next project - planning to build a screen house with a cone fireplace in a few weeks.   That should be amazing.

Moonscape - Lost Cove

Firewood, snow showers, and sunsets on the mountain

Thanks to a little help from my Dad, I replaced my stolen chainsaw with the best - Stihl MS261 Professional model.  It was the best 18" saw the dealer had on the shelf.

Stihl MS261 - the Mercedes Benz of chainsaws

With the temperatures dipping into the teens Saturday night, I had both my fireplaces cranked (although not at the same time).  My bedroom fireplace really takes the chill out of the air.

Spending nearly $700 on a professional chainsaw and accessories is a little over-kill for my needs, but I had a professional model chainsaw stolen, and I wasn't about to accept a downgrade.  This saw should last me for life.

Saturday, I spent hours cutting and splitting firewood.   It was blustery cold with snow showers.

It was cool watching snow showers blowing through Lost Cove from my perch up in Sky Castle.

Snow shower blowing through Lost Cove, 2-16

The weekend offered some spectacular sunsets and sunrises. Last week I photographed the sunrise so today, I'll offer up a sunset. The sun is setting further north on the horizon and soon it will move behind the ridge.

Painted sky over Lost Cove

Random photos

Just another sunrise from my deck.   Happy Fat Tuesday.
Looking over my shoulder from my bed this morning, I was stunned at the beauty of this morning's sunrise, though I did go back to sleep.

Sky Castle, Sewanee, TN - 2/12

Sewanee house.

Murfreesboro house, kitchen.

Ground hog day 2013 - light snow in Middle TN

A little more beautiful snow this saturday morning.

Winter in the mid-south

What seems like an increasingly rare event... snow in middle TN, just a dusting, maybe an inch before it melted. Typical tumultuous weather pattern... warm 70º tropical air, 4am tornadoes Wednesday morning, then a blast of winter. We had big beautiful flakes falling for over an hour.  Sewanee had 2" predicted but was thwarted again.  The snow missed them and went east.  All schools were cancelled anyway.   That's a southern thing.   It IS cold.  May not get above freezing today.

Full moon weekend

Sunset and the first full moon of the new year.

This house on rugged cliff doth sit. Within, a crackling fire is lit.

Happy birthday to my dear mother.  Happy winter and full moon to all.

Sky Castle art

On this 16th day of January, in the year of our Era, 2013; I hereby christen this noble dwelling, a grand observatory of sun, sky, nature, and the elements as:

Sewanee, Tennessee.

After 3 straight days of cold rain, my foray into the visual arts came to fruition today as I hung my art piece on my castle wall.  It is plywood with a nicely flamed wood grain which is highlighted by a two-tone semi transparent wood stain.   It is triple coated with spar varnish to withstand the elements.  The design is my own, inspired by some similar metal art that I had seen.  It is roughly 9' x 7'.  I thought I could hang it myself but I found it impossible.   Evan Jones came to my rescue, it took us just a few minutes to hang it.  

Long live Sky Castle.

The hearth at Sky Castle

I never get tired of looking at the ever changing fog and clouds in the land down hither.  It's magic.