Mark Twain-ism ... Duh Department

"It is better to be careful 100 times than to get killed once."  

-- Mark Twain

Quote of the Day -- Thomas Jefferson

"Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add 'within the limits of the law' because law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual." 

 - Thomas Jefferson

My Choice for an Every Day Carry Flashlight...

http://www.browning.com/products/catalog/flashlights/detail.asp?fid=016H&cid=371&tid=1231#center




I have enjoyed the Browning Alpha 90L flashlight for a couple of years now as my primary Every Day Carry.  Not as bright as some of the higher-end lights, but also no where near the expense.  The light rides well clipped in my pants pocket.  I find myself using this tool quite often at work, home, church, and outdoors.

Quote of the Day -- Do Because It Is Right

"Cowardice asks the question: is it safe? Expediency asks the question: is it political? Vanity asks the question: is it popular? But conscience asks the question: is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor political, nor popular – but one must take it simply because it is right." 

- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Springtime Swayback Hike - 4/13/2013

Hike: Swayback Bridge Trail of Legends - Sat., 4/13/2013 - 09:45-12:30
Distance: 5.5 miles  Rating: 5/5
Difficulty: Easy to Moderate
Conditions: Mostly clear blue sky. Warm. Light wind. Trails wet from recent rains (muddy in a few spots).  A couple of Mtn Bikers on the trail but otherwise a solo hike.

Thoughts/Observations:

Quite possibly a perfect Spring day for a hike...  Wind was light, sky was gloriously blue with few clouds, and the forest was resplendent with the shine of fresh spring leaves.  The early spring leaves have something special about them.  Maybe it is because they are the first green against the dark colors of winter, but I believe the green is actually a lighter, fresher green. The forest literally shimmers in the sunlight, casting a mottled pattern across the floor.  Underneath the trees the fiddle heads are unfurling toward the sun, shedding their brown leaves stunted by frost and replacing them with bright green fronds.  Along the forest floor small streams babble and bubble with the water still draining from spring rains as it splashes toward the brown waters of Lake Jordan.  Scores of turtles sun themselves on logs and dead falls -- splashing into the muddy water as they see me hiking down the trail.  Some of the turtles are no bigger than my hand, though some would be larger than my head!

As I pause trail-side, I am serenaded by the ubiquitous passarines... their songs are truly lovely.  Wild azalea, woodland violets, and other small wild-flowers of blue, purple, yellow, pink, and red provide a concert of color.  Squirrels and chipmunks are busy about the forest floor, shoreline, and trees.  Their romping through the leaves is accentuated by the occasional lizard and snake scurrying away.  The forest is alive -- very much so today.

Worshiping during my hike, I remember John 14:6... "6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life."  HE brings life to the forest and HE will bring life to us as well.

Agape!

Gear List:
o RedHead Gortex Hikers
o MountainSmith Lumbar pack w/ FAK & ESK
o 1 KleenKanteen of water
o JazzCam
o Gerber CLS

Largest Solar Flare to Date in 2013

http://earthsky.org/space/sun-emits-a-mid-level-flare?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+earthskyblog+%28EarthSky+Blog%29&utm_content=Google+Reader



Beautiful picture from NASA of the M6.5 Solar Flare eruption on 4/11/2013 at 03:36EDT.  Largest flare (so far) in 2013.  Coronal Mass Ejection associated with this flare is "earth-bound".  More details from NASA at the above link.

"The heavens declare the glory of GOD..." (Ps. 19:1)

Sobering Though... Quote of the Day

"…There is no nation on earth powerful enough to accomplish our overthrow. … Our destruction, should it come at all, will be from another quarter. From the inattention of the people to the concerns of their government, from their carelessness and negligence, I must confess that I do apprehend some danger. I fear that they may place too implicit a confidence in their public servants, and fail properly to scrutinize their conduct; that in this way they may be made the dupes of designing men, and become the instruments of their own undoing."

- Daniel Webster, June 1, 1837

Quote for the Day...

"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent."

- Thomas Jefferson