Apollo 11 or Apollo 15?

FYI: This week in English class I had to write a "letter to the editor"...so I did. Here it is! Enjoy!

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To Whom It May Concern at Bob Jones University:

Before I start into this letter I want to say how much I have enjoyed your English (Writing & Grammar 11, 2^nd Edition) curriculum. While I do not particularly excel in English, your course is the best and most interesting English course I have ever found. Most of the time I have found that the pictures are well suited to accompany the sentences.

However, I felt mislead by the fact that on page 105 your seventh sentence (“Your grandparents will probably be happy to share how they felt when WWII ended or when a man first walked on the moon.”) and picture below do not match.

As an avid reader on the Apollo space program, I immediately recognized the picture, which is of Jim Irwin on Apollo 15. I felt misled by the fact that the sentence read “when a man first walked on the moon” and the accompanying picture shows the eighth man on the moon.

There are several clues that show the picture is from a later Apollo mission. First of all, the Lunar Rover (the car-type vehicle on the right) was only on Apollos 15, 16 and 17.

Second, at the Sea of Tranquility, where Apollo 11 landed, there are no such mountains as there is at the Apollo 15 landing site, Hadley Rile. (The mountain in the background is Hadley Mountain.)

There are a variety of ways you could fix this discrepancy. You could either change the sentence to read, “when men walked on the moon”, or change the picture to an image of Buzz Aldrin, who accompanied Neil Armstrong on Apollo 11. Apollo 11 and Apollo 15 are both note-worthy missions, but when talking about either I would highly recommend that you use a picture or sentence from the correct mission.

Sincerely,

Tennessee Photobug

Rivers: The Natural Highways that Shaped America

FYI: This week in American History I studied on life in Colonial America, and how rivers shaped life in that time period. Here's an essay I wrote on river's part in shaping American life.

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As more and more settlers came to the New World we now know as America, they began to spread out and settle in different areas of the country. Some moved to New England, and some moved to the South.

One great asset about the South was rivers—the highways of trade! The rivers were slow and deep...ideal for communication and transportation of goods and people. With all the rivers, there were very few if any roads on dry land—the rivers were the watery roads to shipping and receiving. There was so much land in the South that you could just say, “I’m going to settle here”, and do so! You would get a huge plantation, and build a dock on the riverfront. As in all of America, the farmers and landowners in the South were jacks of all trades—meaning that they would do everything for themselves.

Pictures, Pumpkins and a Few Old Cars

Today was the County Fair! :D :D There's different crafts people can enter for judging, and then I also enjoy the antique cars and trucks, model train layout, veggies, animals and more. Today we also went for a 10-minute ride on a truck/train/shuttle around the fairgrounds. I really enjoyed seeing the petrified wood and other rocks at the local Geology Club's booth. (see picture below).It was really, really fun...even though it sprinkled! When Alison kept wanting to enter things we would tell her, "OK, you can, but you may not get any ribbon". She knew that. Well, what do you know we go to the Fair today and find she won TWO first prize awards and a second!!! I think she had entered a basket, cooking, and a sewing craft. Alison was very excited about that. She totalled that in prize money she'll get $13.0o! :D Mom also got 3 first places (on a basket, healthy cooking and doll dress) , and Dad a third on his drawing. I did not get any awards on my pictures.

Okay...this comes from my antique car-crazy grandfather...but my favorite thing at the fair was the really cool antique cars and trucks--including an original 1928 Model A Ford. :D

The Pictures Part

^^My picture of a butterfly on Indian Blanket taken in Texas, 3+ years ago. As you can see, I went on Photoshop and played with the colors, then added the "you are a new creation in Christ"
Bible verse.

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Sooo....yesterday I spent a long time posting about the County Fair, then showed my completed post to my mother...and she said, "where's the pictures of your pictures? I told my blog viewers to go to your blog to see them!"

Wild Critters of Tennessee

Hey there, everyone!

Thought I'd share with you all some rare pictures of wild critters in Tennessee.... ;D

Yesterday afternoon our good friends invited us over to see the baby squirrels they were squirrel-sitting for the weekend. There were three in the cage, and all were VERY active!! I do not think squirrels have the words of "stay still for me to take your picture" in their vocabulary! :P

Those little rascals were stay still for a moment, as if they were teasing, "You can't catch me, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah!" Of course I would compose my shot, but it was hard to get my camera to focus on the squirrel instead of the cage wire...

Grace

It happened this summer. My room was a MESS! Stuff thrown in corners, desk and dresser tops covered, shelves messy, and drawers bulging.

But did I do anything? No. I'd straighten my room each week for Sabbath, but unconscionably I lowered my standards bit by bit....until my room was, I admit, quite messy. So one Thursday, my mother entered my room and just about exploded, my room was SO messy!

Soon after she called me. Then we went into my room and there she told me what was going to happen. First and foremost, she explained, I was going to have my room clean before I used computer! I was to use my new time to transform my pig's pen into a spotless haven of rest and relaxation.

Maryland & Pennsylvania

FYI: This week in American History I studied about William Penn, Pennsylviania, and Maryland. Here's an essay I wrote on them...

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Amid many colonies, two that would be more successful were called Maryland and Pennsylvania.
There were several envious and good qualities of these colonies.

Maryland was an English colony. Named after Charles I’s wife, it was to be Catholic ruled, and George Calvert was to govern. Calvert, or Lord Baltimore, was so important to the king that he had him on his royal council. The bulk of the population was indentured servants, who would gain their freedom after a certain number of years’ work. Maryland succeeded because of several reasons: there was a good climate, great soil, crucial water transportation, and liberal land policies.

The interesting thing about Maryland was that while it was Catholic ruled, more Anglicans than Catholics came!

Connection

I love taking pictures in our yard. The tall, green trees that sway in a thunderstorm. The small, vibrant fruit trees with newly-produced fruit. Add that to some other trees, flowers, and a wonderful lawn, there are lots of things to take pictures of.

This summer I was taking pictures in our yard when I happened across some of our blackberry plants. I just thought that they were so beautiful--the juicy berries connected to the green leaves and tan stem. (picture at right).

This picture reminded me of what Jesus said in John 15:5.

"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."

Flying American

Hi Everyone! Well, every once in a while I like to take a bunch of screenshots of a flight I fly on Flight Simulator and then post them here on my blog...so that's what I've done here again! Recently my sister and I flew an American Airlines MD-80 from Miami to Orlando. It was a LOT of fun, and I seriously made a PERFECT landing. (Yes, I know my friends won't believe this! ;D)

The Tempering

The source only says, “Selected”, but I thought this story was so good that I’d share it with you. I found it on the back page of a copy of Young Disciple magazine, Volume 19, Number 24.
The story’s entitled, “The Tempering”.

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Over the years, the blacksmith had endured many difficult trials and hardships. Yet through it all- he kept a joyful trust in God.

One day, an irreverent old cowboy could stand it no longer. “How can you trust a God who treats you so poorly?” A smirk on his face, he stood awaiting the answer.

The blacksmith stood silent a moment, and then held up an iron rod. “I often take a piece or iron like this and put it in the fire,” he explained. “After I bring it to a white heat, I put it on the anvil and strike it once or twice to make sure it will not break. Next, I plunge it into water, then heat it again, then once more sink it into the water. I repeat this process several times, to make sure the iron is well-tempered. Then I hammer it, bend it, rasp it, and file it. At last, it becomes something useful—a tool, a piece of machinery, or a utensil.”

The Blue Angels..what an awesome video!!

This is a really cool video of the Blue Angels that I found on YouTube...enjoy! :D

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His Royal Highness Learns A Lesson

FYI: This week in my English class I had to write a folktale...here it is. I based it on our animals, so it is kinda true and not true all at the same time...enjoy! :)

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His Royal Highness, King Emperor of the Whole House, Pumpkin Pie the First lazily relaxed on the dining room table. He may have just been a little orange tabby cat, but His Royal Highness held quite a high opinion of himself.

“I am a cat. I can do anything I want.”

He took little notice that he had been told many times not to go on the table (where he was) or that he could not go in the Middle World. He was so proud of himself that he leaped off the table, ran, and found his cat-brother, Felix.

Felix was a wise, old cat. He did not move around a lot because of his age. And while he was not too tolerant of “the younger generation”, as he called His Royal Highness, Felix would give good, sound advice when asked.

“I am a cat. I can do anything I want.” His Royal Highness stated.

Felix did not think this was too good of a statement.

“You…may…be…a…cat…” Felix sleepily responded. His Royal Highness was sure Felix would go to sleep and not finish the advice. But the tabby cat was wrong.

“You…may…be…a…cat…but…you…need…to…follow…the…rules…do…not…go…into…the…Middle…World…”

At that Felix dropped his head, and started again one of his 25-hours-a-day sleep cycles.

Pilgrims & Puritans: Similar but Different

FYI: This week in American History I studied

the Pilgrims and Puritans...naturally I had to

write an essay on them. Enjoy! :D

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Sixteen years after the Jamestown colony was planted another group of colonists sailed to the New World. They came from Holland, and they became known as the Pilgrims.

The Pilgrims originally came from England. At this time they were called “Separatists”, because they wanted to be separate from the Church of England. If you did not believe like the Church of England did, you would be persecuted. The Separatists did not like this, so they uprooted themselves and their families from England and moved to Holland, where there was religious freedom.

However, Holland had its ups and downs. True, there was religious freedom and that was nice. However, since the Separatists could not speak the language, they could not get good jobs. Naturally that meant they did not earn much money, which did not make life easy. And to make things worse, the Separatists’ children were becoming Holland children, forgetting the English customs and traditions. The parents didn’t like this. While the Separatists didn’t like the lack of religious freedom, they did want their families to retain the good customs and traditions of their homeland.

The Separatists knew they had to move. But where?

Frogs, Bees & Butterflies: Happy September 4!

Well today the weather was quite nice, and in the afternoon we took a walk! Today was really the first nice day in a while. We walked on the Promenade, and (of course!) I had to bring my camera. I was not disappointed with photo opportunities! Flowers, frogs, bees, and butterflies all presented themselves to me, though some were more cooperative than others! :P

The Map

Recently our good friends Steve and Carol came to spend the weekend with us. It was a lot of fun, and one of my favorite things was listening to Steve tell about their flight from central California to our place in Tennessee.

It was amazing to look on the aviation maps and see where they flew, the airports, the terrain, and the different kinds of airspace. It was neat to see their flight plan, and how they plotted it to go around restricted airspace and moas (both places you don't want to go). Every little dot on the maps had meaning!
The maps were very important, warning our friends of mountains, valleys, obstructions, etc. It also told them the route on how to get to their destination.