Lessons from Raccoon Mountain

Ever try throttling back a nuclear power plant? Yeah right! Failing that, what would you do with the excess capacity? Engineers with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) faced these same challenges in the late 1960s. Their solution was to build TVA’s largest hydroelectric facility on the top of a mountain. What??? No really, the top … Read more

Heated Raised Beds

What if the excess heat produced for a greenhouse was used to heat the soil that’s in the surrounding area? Raised beds could have transparent caps that protect the early plantings from a late frost. I love the way the raised beds in this image have contours.

Teen Bitcoin Millionaire

Teen crypto star Erik Finman is famous for his investment in Bitcoin back in 2011. At the age of twelve — at $12 a coin, the high schooler’s $1,000 gift from his grandmother earned over $4 million during the cryptocurrency’s 2017 all-time price highs. Finman sealed further fame by winning a bet with his parents. … Read more

5ER

5ER is shorthand for The Fifth Epochal Revelation. This article describes five revelations to our planet that are of epochal significance. 5ER refers to The Urantia Book, published by The Urantia Foundation in 1955. Of course God is still talking. But in the wide range of revelationary literature, only one book is described by its … Read more

The Seclusion – Book Launch

In the year 2090, America has walled itself off from the rest of the world! Order The Seclusion at Amazon or browse the list of retail stores at Good Reads. Listen to the author, Jacqui Castle, discuss and read from her timely new book at the launch party in Asheville, North Carolina. This event occurred on … Read more

Remedy?

One thing is certain. When it comes to protecting our children, there are no easy answers. Sure, we could do a better job of flagging those that are correctly or incorrectly perceived as a danger to themselves and others. Although the powers that be would likely do so with the kind of coercive labeling that … Read more

The Sacred Harp and Shaped Note Singing

Our cabin fever is soon to break and, as our minds turn to thoughts of spring, these hills are very much alive with the sound of music. Julie Andrews taught us the “Do-Re-Mi” song as children. If we can understand that, we’ve already learned the basics of an Appalachian tradition akin to what was carried … Read more

Celebrating Creation

“Gazing past the planets, looking for total view.”  With this lyric from the popular sixties album To Our Children’s Children’s Children, a Moody Blues tribute band opens a unique celebration of creation spirituality with the Jubilee Community  in downtown Asheville, North Carolina. It was on a warm night in late May last year, that Jubilee hosted … Read more