A Leiper’s Fork Christmas Parade with a Squeal

This is probably my 3^rd Leiper’s Fork Christmas Parade.  I posted on last year’s parade (Dec 25, 2012) and do so again this year. Each one was fun and a wacky.  This year’s parade had it all: Pam Tillis, antique automobiles, the elementary-middle school band, Arnold the pig, Williamson County Pageant Winners, the General Lee, horses, riders and dogs, the Grinch, and even Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus were at the end.

Everyone knows about the Dukes of Hazard. The TV series ran from 1979 through 1985. One of the most memorable props in the series was the General Lee, an orange 1969 Dodge Charger with the number “01” on the door.  Of course there were the Dukes.

Besides the General Lee, and a bit less recognizable, was “Arnold the Pig.” Arnold was featured in the TV series Green Acres that ran from 1965 through 1971. The sitcom starred Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor, who moved from New York City to a rural farm. Of course, the whole premise made for some silliness. Arnold lived indoors, watched TV and was treated as if he were human.

It brought to mind a visit my wife and I made to Florida one summer in the early seventies. We were in graduate school then and lived in East Tennessee. My Aunt “Bill” and her brother lived in Florida and had a small ranch in which they had several head of cattle and a bull. They were hopeful to make a living raising cattle. She and my father had one of those fabulous relationships in which a lot of teasing and joking went on. So of course, being in Florida and near where she lived, we went to see her. Behold, she had a pig and like the TV star pig, her pig was allowed to go in and out of the house as he wanted. And he did. We watched him. Thank goodness he was not as big as the pig in the parade. I asked her his name. She told me his name was “Arnold.” I thought at first he had been named after Arnold in Green Acres. But no, she was determined to have the last laugh with my dad. Aunt Bill, with a gleam in her eye, told us she had named him after my dad. His name, “Arnold.” On returning home and telling my dad about Aunt Bill’s pet pig, I am sure I heard her and “Arnold” squeal with laughter even though she was 700 miles away in Florida.

I have another story from this visit, but alas, it must wait. It involves the bull.

Enough of this story, take a look at parade.

Christmas Gifts of Red and White

This Christmas season my wife has decided this year’s Christmas theme will focus on the colors red and white. It is her way of exploring different aspects of Christmas to learn more about this rich season. I’ve come to take it as a good thing and this year I’ve decided to join her photographically, looking at the God’s gift of red and white through the lens of my camera.

It is obvious that certain colors are associated with certain holidays, seasons and events. We decorate in browns, yellows and dark red in the fall.  We use green, red and white during the Christmas season. We use red by itself to symbolize courage and the ultimate sacrifice. We cannot think of a man or woman’s love for another without seeing it. And so, we celebrate a red kind of love at Valentine’s. We see green, yellow and pink and we think of spring and Easter and orange and black at Halloween. Black by itself often accompanies the formal and serious. We see it used at death and mourning and we see white with wedding gowns, suggesting innocence and purity. In scripture, white symbolizes holiness, which is unachievable for man. In more recent years we’ve come to more strongly associate the environment with green.  There is even a green, environmental flag. If I mention red, white and blue, what does your mind do? Almost everyone visualizes the flag of our nation at the mere mention of those three colors.

Many of our associations come with the inherent colors of a season, but some do not, like the values we associate with gold and silver, emerald and jade. These colors seem to suggest things that are desirable and have value.

Many color associations are purely social, cultural and commercial. In the United States Santa Claus always comes in red and white. In other culture, Santa Claus sometimes wears red, blue and purple suggesting power, authority and royalty. Red and purple and were expensive colors to produce and are often associated with those in power. What colors do various products bring to mind? Think about Target, Southwest Airlines, The Red Cross, Pepsi, and your favorite school or sports teams? What do yellow traffic signs tell you? Some of you will remember the barber pole. You probably make other color associations too.

 

What special meanings has God spoken to you through some color or colors? Every color is a gift of God.
Ecclesiastes 3.1 says there is a time for everything.  Is there a color God has given you this year that has a new meaning for you? Remember, He has given us every good gift. Maybe, you’ve been surprised by an especially thoughtful gift? What gifts are you thankful for today? In what colors were they wrapped?

 

Scripture

God created light. Genesis 1.3

God gave green plants as food for life. Genesis 1.30

The curtain to the Tabernacle is to be made of blue, purple and scarlet thread. Exodus 26:31

The blood will be a sign on the houses where you are present. Exodus 12.13

 

After the spies had gone, Rahab hung a scarlet cord from the window. Joshua 2:21

Though your sins are like crimson they will be white like snow. Isaiah 1:18

The soldiers stripped Jesus and put a scarlet robe on him. Matthew 27:27-29

Jesus led Peter, James and John to a high mountain and was transfigured before them and his clothes became intensely white. Mark 9:2-3

There was someone dressed in a robe. His head and hair are like wool, white as snow. Revelation 1:13-14

There was one riding a white horse, and clothed in a robe dipped in blood. Revelation 19:11-13

 

 

Personal Footnote to the Assassination of John F Kennedy

 

The afternoon just seemed to be endless. I was in a study hall and a senior in high school.  It was the fall of 1963 and my family had just moved in June from Florida to Tennessee. I had transferred from Riverview High School in Sarasota, Florida to Jefferson High School in Jefferson City, Tennessee. So, it was a year of transitions and unbeknownst to me the changes would continue to come - in part because of the move, in part because of my age and stage of life and in part because of national political changes that were unfolding on this November day.

On a personal level I had met many new people in my life, school, community, and church. One, who was becoming a close friend, was John Toomey. He had given me a book of political fiction, which I had begun a month or so earlier. The book was ‘Advise and Consent’ by Alan Drury. John was a neighbor and was a couple of years older than I. It had been made into a movie but had never seen it. I read several chapters of the book daily in Mrs. Shipley’s study hall. The book was about the practice of the Senate “advising” the President concerning presidential nominations and constitutional requirement that the Senate “consent” to those nominations.

 

 

It was about 2:30 pm (East Tennessee Time) on that Friday afternoon when my reading was interrupted by a school public address system announcement. The president was in Dallas and he had been shot. At that announcement I immediately went to prayer. It was not effective.

No more than 30 minutes later we were told to go to the school’s auditorium and were informed of Kennedy’s death. It seems like there was a prayer, but I don’t remember any details beyond the fact that school was being dismissed immediately. We gathered our belongings and boarded buses that took us home. I did not own a car, so I had to ride the bus. Our bus driver’s name was “Lightening.” That’s what everyone called him. Yes, he was black and everyone liked him because a noisy, rowdy bus didn’t bother him. That afternoon it was eerily quite.  

 

 

On reaching home we immediately turned on the television. News was dominated by the events of the afternoon. The president’s visit to Dallas, the motorcade, the Dallas Book Depository building where the shots were fired, the rush of the President’s limousine to the hospital, the President’s death, and the swearing-in of Lyndon B. Johnson (referred to as LBJ) shortly before leaving Dallas on Air Force One.

 

The next several days were consumed with ever-growing details of Kennedy’s death, his war service, his presidency, his family and simply speculation. I don’t recall whether it was news coverage that brought things back to my mind or my memory of the events of the three previous years, but I thought back on the controversy that as “candidate” he was Catholic and that many thought he would implement Vatican policies, but since he had been sworn in on January 20, 1961 I had not seen any evidence of that suspicion.

 

 

I also recall that President Kennedy had established the Peace Corps shortly after taking office. I wondered about the volunteers who were serving in Africa, Asia and South America. I wondered because when I was a sophomore in high school we had been assigned by my teacher, Paul Susce to read ‘The Ugly American’ by William Lederer and Eugene Burdick (my copy was printed in Dec 1961). Susie was the grandson of an immigrant who had told him that even during World War II his grandfather warned him that the Soviets, one of our allies in the war, were as big threat to the world as were the Germans. The book was about Americans working in developing countries and how we are sometimes perceived and why.

 

My thoughts also went to the Bay of Pigs (April 17-20, 1961) and the Cuban Missile Crisis (October 14-24, 1962). The Cuban Missile Crisis involved U2 Spy planes documenting the construction of missile silos in Cuba, a pretty intense time if you lived in Florida.

At the time of the Bay of Pigs Invasion I was a paperboy in Florida and I recalled seeing the headline on the papers I delivered and how disappointed I was of its failure. Castro had lead a guerrilla war in Cuba against a dictator and in January 1960 became the country’s leader. Unfortunately, he became a Communist and allied with the Soviets. The Cuban Missile Crisis, which followed was notable because of Florida’s proximity to Cuba and the interest by many in Florida in building bomb shelters. The immediate nuclear war crisis ended when the US informed the world it would stop and inspect all Soviet ships off the coast of Cuba and Khrushchev agreeing to dismantle the missile sites.

Then there was the erection of the Berlin Wall between East and West Berlin. At least one TV documentary and a movie followed the construction of the wall in August of 1961 depicting East Berliners escaping by climbing the wall and digging tunnels from the East to West Berlin. And then who can forget the words of Kennedy, “I am a Berliner” in German when he visited West Berlin on June 26, 1963. Our hearts went out to the Berliners who were trapped in East Berlin.

So, during this period of political tension Kennedy had captured the hearts and attention of many of my peers. I suppose it was because he appeared to be a vigorous leader, who, as presidents go, was young. He was also following President Eisenhower, a retired general. Though Kennedy was older than my father and fought in World War II, he was so often pictured doing things that seemed youthful. He could be seen on yachts, playing football with family members and swimming. He also had young children. It was referred to as “Camelot.”

So on Saturday, November 23 the media focused on Kennedy’s body lying in the East Room of the White House, the Mass that was given that morning, movements of family members, and the friends and government officials that came and went. I recall too that enormous crowds were gathering outside the White House and other Washington sites as everyone prepared to observe his funeral. It was a gloomy, foggy drizzly day in East Tennessee.

Unfortunately, November 23 was also my mother’s 37^th birthday. There was no celebration. She didn’t even have a cake, but I guess she didn’t feel in the mood for one either.  I suppose no one was ‘up’ for any kind of party. I am not even sure it was mentioned by anyone, least of all her. It was unfortunate because we didn’t give her the attention she really deserved. Her day was lost in the tragedy that overwhelmed us all.

 

On Sunday morning, November 24, 1963 I went to church.  I don’t recall anything about the service. I suppose it too focused on the tragedy but nothing seems special about it now. I only recall that by the time I had returned home, Lee Harvey Oswald had already been killed by Jack Ruby. I had missed the live coverage of that event at 11:30 am CST in Dallas, but saw one of many re-runs of that event later that afternoon.

Later that day, John F. Kennedy’s body was taken by horse-drawn caisson from the White House to the US Capitol Rotunda, and throughout the remainder of the day and night hundreds of thousands of people lined up to view the closed casket. It seemed TV coverage covered the over 250,000 people that filed by Kennedy’s casket. The line of people continued to file by the bier until mid-morning on Monday.

At mid-morning on Monday, November 25 another caisson carried Kennedy’s body from the Capitol to St Matthew’s Cathedral.  The procession behind it was led by Jacqueline Kennedy, Robert and Edward Kennedy, Lyndon B. and Lady Bird Johnson. It seemed to take forever. As I recall it was a cold day in Washington. At the Cathedral of St Matthew the Apostle, Cardinal Cushing held a Requiem Mass. The most memorable event afterward was when John-John saluted his father coffin upon its leaving the church. Everyone was moved.

Again the casket was carried by caisson to Arlington National Cemetery for burial and at the end of burial services, Jacqueline lit an eternal flame.

The events from Friday through Monday seemed endless and exhausting. I suppose too much of us were in shock. How could it be possible for anyone to murder a president in the 20^th Century? We had Secret Service Agents. We were a civilized county. This wasn’t the 1860’s. Our hearts had been ripped out and yet there was so much yet to be done. Parallels to Lincoln were made and speculations as to who else might be involved were being asked. Conspiracy theories were already being formed. It seemed to many that no one man could do this. It was obvious Investigations into Kennedy’s death would consume the news for months to come.

Indeed, in the months and years to follow, Kennedy’s assassination was tied to the Cuban and Soviet Union connections of Lee Harvey Oswald and to organized crime and mafia connections attributed to Jack Ruby. Because of the events leading up Friday, November 22, it seemed to all, any one of these factors may have been the agent to his death. Months and years were devoted to uncovering the truth. I’m not sure there is total agreement by expects to this day.

During the events of that tragedy, one thing never crossed my mind and that was the issue of Vietnam. Southeast Asia was really not on my radar. It may have been an emerging issue in Kennedy’s last days, and it may have been in the news, but it wasn’t the national preoccupation that it would become under President Lyndon B. Johnson months later.

The assassination of John F. Kennedy was (to that point in my life) the first of six gripping national tragedies I have experienced. For my mother is was her second or maybe third tragedy. What was her first? It was the bombing of Pearl Harbor. She was a teenager at an afternoon Church Christmas Performance Rehearsal. On hearing of it their hearts were no longer in it and the rehearsal ended. I understand her heart. I understand it fully.

Do you know someone who filed by Kennedy’s casket or was alive then? What were their memories of those days? Maybe you were alive; what do you recall from that time? How old was your mother or grandmother on Friday, November 22, 1963? If she was alive, she would be 87 on November 23. I wish I could tell her, “Happy Birthday Mom.”

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Scripture

There is a time to live and a time to die. Ecclesiastes 3.1-8
We were created from dust and to dust we will return. Genesis 3.19
Everyone is appointed to die once and face judgment. Hebrews 9.27
Moses on Mt. Nebo saw the ‘promised land’ but was prohibited from entering it and then dies. Deuteronomy 34.1-7
King David dies. 1 Kings 2.1-4 and 10
Elijah taken up into heaven on a chariot. 2 Kings 2.9-12
Stephen being stoned to death. Acts 7.59-60
Sarah (Abraham’s wife) dies in the land of Canaan. Genesis 23.1
Jesus said to the Apostle John, “Behold your mother.” John 19.26-27
Jacob was gathered to his people. Genesis 49.33
John proclaimed that Jesus was the ‘Lamb of God.’ John 1.29
Jesus’ saying, “It is finished” on his death. John 19.30
Because Jesus rose from the dead, Paul wrote, “O’ death, where is your sting?” 1 Corinthians 15.55

The Call of Rainbow Falls (Great Smoky Mountains National Park)

There is a Disney movie about a man (Carl Fredricksen) who, on his retirement, plans to go to Paradise Falls (UP!) using a zillion or at least several thousand helium balloons. For Carl it was a place of his childhood dreams.  So, let me spoil it for you and say, he makes it to Paradise Falls and it was quite an adventure. It didn’t go exactly as planned because so many unexpected things happened. But as things go, he learns a lot about life, even as an older person, and he establishes several memorable relationships.

When I mentioned to one of my grandchildren I planned to hike to Rainbow Falls her immediate thought was that I was going to a waterfalls, just like Carl in the movie “Up.” Maybe she thought I was planning to move there like Carl. For her my Rainfall Falls was the Paradise Falls in the movie.

 

My grandchildren enjoyed the movie immensely. The thought of using a zillion helium balloon to float his house to the idyllic waterfalls of his youth is simply an irresistible notion. It was the dream of Carl’s life. He had anticipated his retirement for years and now was the time for that adventure. It was time to put his plan into motion.

 

Well, on September 27 my brother, his girlfriend and I didn’t buy a bunch of balloons and float ourselves to Rainbow Falls; we used our feet.  It wasn’t necessarily easy, at least for my brother because he has been having some feet problems, in particularly, a condition called plantar fasciitis. But because we don’t see one another often, living in different regions of the state, we committed to the task.

 

He looked at numerous options and figured the Rainbow Falls Trail, relatively shorter than most (5.2 miles round trip) was the best trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park for his condition. It was rated to be a little less strenuous. Well, it wasn’t rated a “four” or “five,” though it wasn’t a “one” or strictly “two” either. It seems, most folks rate it as a “two” or “three” in terms of difficulty. It would be a day-hike adventure.

 

The first task was in getting to the trailhead. There was simply a lot of traffic. The trailhead is just south of Gatlinburg, Tennessee on a road called Cherokee Orchard Trail. Getting there took over an hour from Interstate 40, going through Sevierville, Pigeon Forge, and Gatlinburg. It takes a lot of patience to drive through Sevierville, Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg these days. Forty-five years ago many of the outlet malls, restaurants, crafts, art and gift shops, miniature golf parks, museums, motels, hotels and show and other entertainment facilities did not exist along the roads leading to the park.  Driving this span of road took less than half the time it does today. I don’t think local developers and decision-makers considered there might be some people who just wanted to get to the park to hike, backpack, picnic, and enjoy the mountains. We didn’t make a single stop to see any of the attractions designed to catch our attention.

 

We arrived at the Rainbow Falls Trailhead at 11:45 am.  We ended up at the Rainbow Falls Overflow Parking Lot.  I suppose it was just too beautiful a September day for many people to stay in one of the towns we drove through. Maybe they were anticipating the federal government shutdown. At any rate, the Rainbow Falls trail is a popular trail and the parking lots were nearly full by the time we arrive. We took advantage of the restroom at this trailhead (TH), but we were glad we didn’t have to fill our water bottles there (potable water isn’t available).

 

We began our hike from the western-most parking lot at noon. Before we knew it we passed the trail’s junction with the Trillium Gap Trail (.1 mile from the TH). From there we hike along Le Conte Creek, at least for a mile or so. I took photos of the trail, noting the many rocks and tree roots that cause tripping, and enjoying the creek that runs alongside the trail.  In fact, the sound of tumbling water accompanied us much of our way on this trail.

 

Somewhere in route we eat lunch as Clarice became very hungry. Richard and I discussed the fact that we had both hiked this trail 45 or more years ago with groups of kids who were choir members in a church we had both attended as college students.  We remembered the director of the choir and how remarkable he was, because he was nearly the same age as our parents were then but was active enough to hike five and a half miles up a mountain to see a water falls. This choir director did this multiple times, because we hiked with him in different years, neither of us knowing the other had hiked with his youth choir members in different years. I remembered too, how he surprised us all when he pulled out a harmonica and played several tunes when it came time to rest a spell. Although my brother’s group did not hike beyond Rainbow Falls, I recalled how my group persuaded him to continue hiking to the summit of Mount Le Conte, a 13.2 mile adventure when you consider the return.  We did, but we were late getting back to the TH. It is a feat I could not do now. To do that then, we left in time to have lunch at the falls.

 

It occurred me that maybe my hike to Rainbow Falls in some way parallels Carl’s efforts to go to a place encountered in my youth. Just maybe. Glad I hadn’t dreamed of returning to Mt. Le Conte via this trail.

 

Our rest breaks and lunch afforded us time to talk about the past, the present and the future.  Hiking with friends and family allows people to think and reflect in ways a telephone conversation, or texting simply cannot allow. We had a great time.

 

Two-thirds of the way up I was able to capture an image of a stream of water tumbling down the mountain. It was time afforded me by my brother’s deliberate pace. Le Conte Creek might be the epitome of the Great Smoky Mountains if there weren’t so many other creeks in this park that look much the same.

 

Shortly after the stream photo opportunity, we walk above Le Conte Creek on a log footbridge (guide books say we are at the 1.7 mile mark of the trail). We have hiked about ¾ of the way.

 

 

At 2.4 or 2.5 miles we “rock walk” across a small tributary of Le Conte Creek. It is just below a small unnamed falls. Again, another photo opportunity.  It was a pretty falls and I take several photos. When I first got to unnamed falls, there were a couple of boys climbing above it. I hoped no one would slip as my medical skills are limited. They didn’t stay long. Someone coming down the trail told us we weren’t far from Rainbow Falls and they scampered on. I remembered none of this from my hike 45 years ago.

 

At 3:10 pm our group arrives at Rainbow Falls. At the falls there is another log footbridge from which to view the falls.  The falls are actually a short distance upstream. Guidebooks say that when the sun is in the right position hikers can see a rainbow. We must have been too late, or maybe we were too early. The sight of the 80-foot falls was worth the hike, even without the rainbow. They say it is the highest falls within the park. We spent our time there eating snacks, taking photos and resting sore feet. A good many people came and left while we were there.

 

After 30 or so minutes we depart the falls.  My brother’s plantar fasciitis had slowed him down, but he doesn’t take it laying down. He uses his trekking poles like a seasoned hiker. We stop and rest several times, and because everyone is a bit sore, we wonder why anyone would wear flip-flops (people were wearing them) on a rocky mountain trail.  How could their feet take it? Many were hiking without water and no snacks; each of us had four bottles of water and snacks. And as we approached the TH we encounter folks just beginning their hike to Rainbow Falls. I calculate that if they made the falls in half the time it took us, it would still be impossible for them to make it back before dark.  We arrive back at the TH in about two hours.

 

 

 

Although you can’t plan for every possible event that might happen, just as in the movie “Up!” we can, as Carl did, plan for future events. We didn’t plan to encounter a yellow jacket nest (a hole to one side of the trail), but when we came to it we were careful not to aggravate any of them. We did plan for the journey, make pictures and enjoy one another’s company.

 

Scripture:

Jesus tells a parable about the wise maidens who took extra flasks of oil for their lamps so they would not run out in the night. Matthew 25:4

Jesus tells a parable about counting the entire cost before building a tower. Luke 14.28

Wisdom is open to reason, and full of good works. James 3.17

If it is appropriate and within God’s will, take money and a knapsack. Luke 22.36