Validity Magazine August 2015

Validit y

Art

Of South Central Tennessee

Complimentary August 2015

Vol. 5, Issue 8

G Mt Pleasant

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At the Maury Regional Cancer Center, we offer advanced technologies to deliver precise treatments– but we don’t stop there. In addition to radiation therapy and chemotherapy, we offer educational, emotional and financial support for patients and their families in one convenient location designed with patient needs in mind.

We don’t just treat the cancer.

We treat the person.

Mark your calendar!

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Inside this issue of

Validity

Table of Contents

NEW t his mont h:

August 2015

Maker Camp

Regional leaders make STEM learning leap.

Page 10

A Tribute honoring Mitchell Mielnik

By DeeGee Lester Quality of life is not in length of days, but in truly living our moments.

Page 12

Minecraft

Vol. 5, Issue 8

By Cody Crawford Meet Steve the pixelated man.

Page 14

Amish Homesteads in Lawrence County

By Nancy Brewer Learn about the history of the Amish communities.

Artists We Have Met

Page 16

Artist features

Anthony Scarlati and his passion for street photography.

Quilters - Painters Photographers - Sketch Artists

Page 20 Hickman County Quilt Guild prepares for their October show.

Page 22 Pencil Art of Karen Hinson - Sketching the Stars.

Page 24

Starting on Page 18

A shoe shine shop in Nashville.

Cover and above photo Anthony Scarlati

Find Validity in 11 Tennessee Counties!

In Every Issue:

www.ValidityMag.com

www.validitymag.com/find-validity

Validity Recipes

Ornithology Report

Don’t Play In The Street

By Katie Hayes

By Bill Pulliam

By Charles Newbold

Dig out the slow cooker for a cooler kitchen this summer.

Life zones.

Punitive versus protective.

Page 6

One Attorney’s Opinion

Page 27

Same sex marriage laws bring to mind other controversial court cases.

Validity Magazine is published monthly in Hohenwald, Tennessee. Validity Magazine reserves the right to edit editorial and advertising submissions for appropriateness of the publication. Reproduction of any part of Validity Magazine without permission of the publisher is prohibited. Distribution of this magazine does not constitute an endorsement of information, products or services. Views expressed in Validity Magazine do not necessarily represent those of the publisher. Every effort has been made to insure accuracy of the publication contents. However, we do not guarantee the accuracy of all information nor the absence of errors and omissions.

Validity Magazine, Published 12 times per year, monthly, Vol. 5, Issue 8 POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Validity Magazine, P. O. Box 516, Hohenwald, TN 38462-0516. Address Service Requested.

Subscriptions are available on an annual basis at $20 per year.

Mail check or money order to: Validity Subscriptions, P.O. Box 516, Hohenwald, Tennessee 38462.

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From The Publisher, Page 5 Reality Perspective, Page 5 Lookin’ Back, Page 33

Enjoying blooms and using herbs to balance life and garden.

Page 26

Also in this Issue:

Page 33

August Gardens

By Cassandra Warner

By Landis Turner

Page 18

Dream-like images of Tom Geckle.

Cerebral Meanderings, Page 34 Page 28

Publisher Becky Jane Newbold, info@validitymag.com, 931-628-6039 Managing Editor Shane Newbold, info@ValidityMag.com, 931-628-6039 Director of Digital Innovation Cody Crawford, cody@validitymag.com, 615-768-9479 Contributing Writers, Bill Pulliam, Cassandra Warner, Charles Newbold Jr., DeeGee Lester, Justin Crawford, Katie Taylor, Landis Turner Contributing Photographers, Cassandra Warner, Katie Taylor

Our Mission Validity Magazine exists to reflect rural lifestyles of rural communities along the Natchez Trace Parkway in both storytelling and photo journalism. This local publication is designed to promote positive life experiences by delivering authentic, relevant content on healthy living, nature, outdoors, technology, gardening, entertainment and travel to the people who enjoy the small town experience.

From The Publisher

Joyful, Peaceful Summertime

P

erhaps you tire of my exuberant expressions of joy at the simplicity of life. Joy, for me, is found in living in rural Tennessee.

One does not have to look far to find the beautiful greens

By Becky Jane of nature, abundant wildlife Newbold and sparkling water. A gentle people share this part of the south. Wildflowers grow on the sides of the roads en masse, often creeping through rocky crags. Beautiful country, folks.

If you live in the city, you may long for the tranquility I sometimes take for granted. If you

live in a small, sleepy town, you may fantasize about life in the fast lane of a bustling, big city.

Me? Simplicity is what I crave.

In my car too much, I often think, but the upside? I treasure those mornings when I can sip my coffee while listening to the intricate song of the house wren who nests in our backyard.

Every time I ride across a bridge over the Buffalo River or the Duck, especially when a canoe, kayak or paddle board is floating past, I yearn to be in their place. But a smile crosses my face. Not so many native rivers left in this world and we live right on top of two really cool ones.

In the heat of late, the urge to hibernate beneath the air conditioner sometimes trumps my evening walks with Shane. When we are out, I

Reality Perspective

Where Are The Colorful Rocks?

C

reek stomping as of late has me worried. Looking down into the clear water, the rocks on the creek beds all look the same, green and brown. Picking up a stone and scrubbing away the tenaciously clinging algae reveals the splendid

By Shane Newbold and multifaceted coloration I have been accustomed to seeing my whole life.

Becky Jane and I visited a favorite creek of my youth near Cades Cove in the Smoky Mountains a few years ago. I

noticed then and remarked to her how silty the bottom was.

I could not recall a cloud of silt surrounding me most everywhere I went from those days long ago.

Even now, we explore spring creeks in our south central middle Tennessee region and find silt and thick algae covering the stream beds. No construction or agriculture zones seem to be in close proximity to many of these pristine areas. Those cannot be blamed, because the smaller spring creeks are too far upstream.

However, the stream fauna still exists. Whether or not they are thriving I cannot say.

I am no biologist.

Pursuing native brook

trout in the high Appalachians with flyrod, spinfishing for stocked rainbows in the lower elevations and tubing and canoeing the creeks and flowing tributaries for fun has taken me on numerous, memorable adventures. And I always have and continue to scrutinize the rocks and the critters under them.

Kinda wish I did not have to scrape the algae from them to appreciate their true character. Didn’t used to have to.

Father to four and best friend to Becky Jane for 27 years, Shane Newbold lives life to the fullest motorcycling, birdwatching, fishing and enjoying his family.

am reminded of the peace in our small town of Hohenwald. Our neighborhoods and parks are amazingly quiet, for the most part, and inhabited by friendly people who are all participating in their own versions of life in a small town.

I would venture to guess your town is much like mine. Actually, your town feels like mine.

When I visit communities in our Validity region I am grateful you make me feel at home.

Random Quotes I Have Been Pondering:

Vision without action is daydream.

Action without vision is nightmare.

- Japanese Proverb “and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands...”

1 Thessalonians 4:11

Find More

Validity

Online! www.ValidityMag.com Be Social! Look Us Up!

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Complete Automotive Repair Since 1942

129 West end • Centerville, tn 37033 David Bates, owner

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680 East Main St. Hohenwald, TN 38462 Validitymag.com

5 .

Slow Cooking

Katie Taylor

Validity Recipes

By Katie Taylor

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broth 2 (28 oz.) cans whole tomatoes (with their juices) 1 (14 oz.) can cannellini beans 1 lb. raw boneless, skinless chicken breasts ¼ cup roughly chopped, fresh basil ½ teaspoon salt ½ teaspoon black pepper Instructions: 1. Heat olive oil over medium heat in large pan. Add onion and carrots and sauté for 7 minutes until soft.

Add garlic and continue sautéing for an additional minute until fragrant.

2. In slow cooker, add sautéed vegetables and remaining ingredients.

Stir and cook on low for 6 hours or until chicken is easily shredded.

3. Stir, shred chicken with fork, add any additional seasonings and serve.

Recipe adapted from gimmesomeoven.com

Slow Cooker Vanilla-Maple Oatmeal

Serves 4 Ingredients: 1 cup dry, steel cut oats 2 cups unsweetened vanilla almond milk 2 cups water 1 vanilla bean pod, seeds scraped 2 tablespoons grade A maple syrup 2 teaspoons cinnamon Sea salt, to taste 2 tablespoons ground flaxseed Instructions: 1. Grease the inside of your slow cooker with coconut oil or a tea-

Katie Taylor

Serves 6 Ingredients: ½ tablespoon olive oil 1 small onion, chopped 2 carrots, peeled and chopped 4 cloves garlic, minced 2 cups chicken or vegetable

Katie Taylor

Slow Cooker Tomato-Basil Chicken Stew

Katie Taylor

I

s it just me, or does this summer seem hotter than previous years?

The idea of turning on the oven when it is nearly triple digits outside is the last thing I want to do!

If your house is anything like mine, keeping it cool inside is almost an impossible task without running up the electric bill. I have taken to the slow cooker during especially hot days, and I don’t even bother turning the oven or stove on. By using the slow cooker, your house stays cool, you cut down on time spent in the kitchen and with a little planning, you can easily make a week’s worth of meals in one day.

Katie Taylor

Validity Recipes

Katie Taylor

Banana Blueberries Fruit of your choice Shaved Almonds Peanut Butter Walnuts Greek Yogurt Shaved Chocolate

Summer’s freshest vegetables make for a delicious Summer Slow Cooker Lasagna (recipe page 9).

Famous Since 1977

Wayne County’s Original Pizzeria

Katie Taylor

Recipe slightly adapted from thenutritiouskitchen.com

Additional Topping Ideas!

Katie Taylor

spoon of butter.

2. Pour milk and water into slow cooker along with the steel cut oats. Scrape the vanilla bean pod beans with a knife, and discard the pods. Add maple syrup, sea salt, cinnamon and flax.

3. Turn slow cooker on low, and cook for 8 hours or overnight.

Wake up to a house smelling of maple goodness! Separate into bowls, top with desired toppings and enjoy.

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Ingredients: 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 small onion, chopped 1 large zucchini, chopped 1 small eggplant, chopped 2 ears of corn, kernels removed 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning ½ teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes Small handful fresh basil, chopped

2 ½ cups canned tomato sauce 12 uncooked lasagna noodles 1 ⅓ cup shredded mozzarella cheese ⅓ cup shredded Parmesan

Katie Taylor

soft. Season with additional salt or seasoning if desired.

2. Oil the inside of your slow cooker with olive oil or cooking spray. Spread ½ cup of sauce, and begin layering with lasagna noodles, vegetables and cheeses.

Continue layering until there are no more ingredients to use. The top layer should be cheese.

3. Cover and cook on low for 3-4 hours or until noodles are cooked throughout. Turn off slow cooker and let sit uncovered for 15-20 minutes.

Instructions: 1. Add olive oil to a large skillet over medium heat. Once piping hot, add onion, and sauté until soft, 2-3 minutes. Add the zucchini, eggplant, corn, tomatoes, garlic, Italian seasoning, salt, red pepper flakes and fresh basil.

Cook over medium heat for 7-10 minutes until veggies have re- Recipe adapted from ohmyveggies. leased some of their juices and are com

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Katie Taylor

Summer Slow Cooker Lasagna

Katie Taylor

Katie Taylor

Validity Recipes

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Radio controller and assembled quadcopter

Courtesy Photo

Maker Camp

M

Gaps Through Partnerships” LEAP Grant, which was supplied by the Gattis Leadership group. Also sponsoring the camp were Giles County Economic Development Commission, Giles County School Board, M&M Staffing, Rost Jewelers, Shawn Promotions, Sundrop and The Butcher Shopp.

The camp was open to youths from Bedford, Giles, Franklin, Lawrence, Lewis, Marshall and Wayne counties. Eighteen campers attended from Giles, Lawrence, Marshall and Wayne counties.

The camp was planned by a group consisting of Dr. Cheri Thomas (chair, Martin Methodist College), Cindy Young (Giles County School System); Justin Jolly (South Central Tennessee Workforce Alliance); Lynn Dotson (TN Department of Education); and Tonja Garrett (South Central Tennessee Workforce Alliance and Project Manager of LEAP Grant).

The camp was run by volunteers Matt Crane (Giles County Small Business Development Center); Jim Greene (CEO Richland LLC); Robin Jones (VP Columbia Fire Equipment); Kim Ketchum (Man-

Camp Director Dr. Cheri Thomas to leave.”

The camp was provided at in a recent interview. “Not only did they get to 3D print their quad no cost to the students. Funding frames, but they also wired the was contributed by the “Closing flight controller circuit boards to the frames, soldered wiring points to the circuit boards, attached the batteries, programmed the cirOF APPLIED TECHNOLOGY cuit boards and paired the circuit HOHENwALD boards with the radio controllers.

Then they assembled the rest of the quads (motors, batterstination e D ies and rotors).” e ! l tab Thomas described Eat Pizza. howDr. the design for the quadcopters had not yet been tested, so the kids had to work through several design obstacles. “We held a ‘campfire’ to discuss what went wrong and how to fix it. The kids had an amazingly intelligent 931-388-7770 and engaged discussion about 1144 Riverside Dr. problem diagnosis and posC olumbia , TN sible fixes,” she stated.

Wednesday-Thursday 11 am - 8 pm “They were so excited Friday-Saturday 11 am - 9 pm about their ideas that they Sunday 11 am - 7 pm begged us to let them go to Closed Monday-Tuesday the computer lab and get some 3D design software so they could learn how to design their concepts...when 813 West Main Street • Hohenwald, TN 38462 parents started showing up to 931-796-5351 • www.tcathohenwald.edu take them home they pleaded Main caMpus & off caMpus sites www.TruelovesPizza.com for more time before they had technical prograMs

artin Methodist College in Pulaski, Tennessee recently hosted a summer event called Maker Camp. The two day camp had rising 9th and 10th grade students creating and assembling 3D printed quadcopters and learning to fly them.

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“He didn’t play video games last night,” commented a mom of one of the campers. “He got out his old remote control cars and worked on them. He also asked me to wash his camp t-shirt so he could wear it again today.”

A counselor demonstrates how the components of the quad are assembled and how the circuit board controls the motors via the radio controller.

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aging Partner, Bamberg Company); Ron Kramedjian (CEO Enterprise Energy); and Dr. Thomas.

“Having gotten our ‘beta test’ camp under our belts, we aspire to three camps next summer,” stated Dr. Thomas. “We may do another 3D printing camp next year, but also under consideration are bio-technology, electronics and robotics.”

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11 .

Courtesy Photo

Mitchell Mielnik

T

he word spread rapidly, and for three weeks during the month of June, people across the mid-state and around the world followed the story of Hume-Fogg student Mitchell Mielnik’s struggle for life. Through social media and online sites

By DeeGee such as CarLester ingBridge.com, people could read updates and daily postings filled with hope and faith, with tiny steps of progress or frightening setbacks.

At 5:12 on June 30, 2015, the 16-year-old was released into the glory of the next life. But if we only focus on those last three weeks, if we only dwell on the four

heart surgeries, the dialysis machine, the ventilator and the teams of caring doctors and nurses, we miss the full impact of Mitchell’s life and his place in the flow of the human story.

Whether a life is 90 years or 16 years, living, and not merely observing, is the secret of a full life.

Packing our moments with activity and adventure, wonder and reflection, friendship, family and faith brings quality and fulfillment to life.

Mitchell Mielnik packed his life.

His first word was “ball,” launching him into a lifelong love of sports. He skipped traditional Tball and at age four began baseball in a Lakewood coach-pitch league.

Over the years, he added basketball and soccer (7th/8th grade teams at John Early and JV-team as a freshman at Hume-Fogg), but hockey

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“He especially loved telling people that his Jr. Preds team held the first ever team practice on Ford Ice,” says Tara.

He and his teammate and best friend, Kyle Bartels, were named High School All Stars during his sophomore year, and his Jr. Preds team represented Tennessee in the USA Hockey National Championships in 2013-14 and again in 2014-15. A hip injury prevented him from participating in the Southeastern Conference hockey skate, where he had been invited to play in front of hockey coaches from all SEC colleges.

Mitchell balanced the physical

Embassy Inn

You Work Hard

At

Courtesy Photo

Tribute:

was his passion.

Hume-Fogg student, Karissa Wheeler, recalls Mitchell’s height (6’2”), contagious smile and laughter and the impact of an introduction exercise during the first days of a theater class: “Mitchell stepped up to the front of our classroom. He was confident in an unusually humble way [and] immediately began sharing with the class his passion for hockey.”

“Mitchell was always interested in hockey, even before he began to play,” says his mom, Tara Mielnik. The family moved to Nashville in 2000. Mitchell’s dad, Mike, worked for Gaylord Entertainment, and the family began attending Predator games. “Even at a very young age, you could ask Mitchell a number and he could tell you which Predator wore that number,” she remarked.

By age seven, he was participating in inline/roller hockey and taking ice skating lessons at Centennial Sportsplex. Four seasons of hockey at the Sportsplex led to an invitation to play for the A-Game Storm in Cool Springs and later to opportunities to play for the Jr. Preds and the Hume-Fogg hockey teams at the new Ford Ice Center.

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a result of his creativity and pro- internship – shows us all that quality fessionalism as an intern, he was of life is not in length of days, but in named the Parthenon Student of truly living our moments. the Year as a 7th grader. In the future, that award will be presented A 1968 graduate of Lewis Counannually as The Mitchell Mielnik ty High School, DeeGee Lester Award for the Parthenon Student serves as Director of Education at the Parthenon. Her articles have of the Year. been published in children’s magaThroughout his illness, zines and journals. She is author Mitchell managed to unite people of three books and co-authored around the world and across re- a two-volume pictorial history of ligions (Christian, Jewish, Mus- Sumner County. lim, Hindu and Baha’i) for three weeks in faith, prayer and concern for one life. Whether through the memories of teammates and school Mon - Sat, friends, his gift of mu9-5, seum educational maClosed terials that both teach and delight or the Sunday award that will bear his name, Mitchell continues to impact the world.

One life touches so many others, and his joy of living, his devotion to doing his best – whether on the ice, creating proj4001 Hwy. 43 N., Ethridge, TN 38456 ects that brought history to life, or rising to a level of professionalism for an www.AmishWelcomeCenter.com

activity of sports with interests theater and social studies. in travel to historic sites, reading, He was an enthusiastic participant in National History Day competitions. As a 6th grader, his project on the Parthenon placed second in the State, and he traveled to Washington, DC and the University of Maryland for the national competition.

He also advanced from district to the state competition in 7th, 8th and 9th grades. In 2014, he and project partner, Noah Hickman cOUnTY FaRm BUREaU Rutherford, placed third for Alan Potts • Agency Manager their performance about John Chris Ducharme, Agent Muir and Theodore Roosevelt.

825 Hwy 100 • Centerville, TN 37033 His love of history led to Phone: (931) 729-2292 three internships at the ParFax: (931) 729-9921 thenon while a middle school PERRY cOUnTY FaRm BUREaU student at John Early Museum Magnet, resulting in the Mitchell Rhodes • Agency Manager creation and development of 106 Polk Street, Linden, TN 37096 three exciting educational tools Phone: (931) 589--2528 that are still in use, including a Fax: (931) 589-2410 popular family activity sheet, Claims: 1-800-836-6327 The Quest for the Pearl, based www.fbitn.com on the Percy Jackson movie. As

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13 .

Minecraft Y

ou are a pixel man, and your name is Steve. You wake up in an unfamiliar world, an intricate habitat with hills and trees made out of blocks. You walk around and see animals—sheep, cows, pigs, rabbits. You explore and come upon water, beaches and maybe a cave. After a while, it starts to get dark.

You hear growling and turn

By Cody Crawford around to find a zombie overtaking you. You punch it with your pixelated fist and manage to kill it before it kills you. That’s when you know you’re in trouble. You have to find shelter, so you camp with your back to a hill and wait out the darkness.

When morning comes, you know you need to find weapons to protect yourself.

Punching a tree gives you wood, and with wood you can make planks and sticks. Creating a crafting table allows you to make wooden pickaxes and swords. You can mine deep into the ground to find stone and iron to make better weapons. You make shears and get wool from a sheep, which allows you to make a wooden bed with a blanket. You must kill animals to eat. You must sleep at night to .

14

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avoid monsters. be played on a PC or Mac computYou become a monsterer, iOS, Android or Xbox. fighting expert, slaying The game mainly zombies, skeletons, involves placing and rehuge spiders and movcreepers with ease. i n g You build a prop(miner house.

You ing) start a farm and blocks. plant seeds in Other the ground to than cregrow wheat, ating and pumpkins destroying and melons. things in the Eventually, world, there you mine to isn’t a set goal to the bedrock, which is the game, which allows the lowest you can go in player limitless creativthis world. Down ity. “Minecraft’s open there, you find gold world of 3-D blocks and diamonds. The resembles a Lego more resources you world, with Lego behave, the more you can do. The ing the paragon of the possibilities are endless. virtuous toy,” a New Yorker Anyone who has ever played article stated, “…the foundational Minecraft in survival mode can relate with this story. Minecraft is a game where infinite block worlds can be created. Players can enter one world at a time in creative or survival mode. In creative mode, you can’t die and have infinite resources to mold your surroundings.

In survival mode, you must find or create all resources yourself, and you are at risk of getting killed by monsters.

Every Minecraft world is different. Some have a lot of sand, some dirt. Some are icy, and some have volcanoes with lava. Minecraft can

experience is wholesome—shredded wheat for the mind.”

Minecraft is tremendously popular with young children. MineMum.com is a site dedicated to helping parents help their kids play Minecraft. For younger kids, it is essential that the game be played with supervision and support. Although the worlds in Minecraft are unrealistic, with square chunks of dirt, blocky trees and water that surges inexplicably from the side of a wall, Minecraft can be scary. The first person perspective of the game encompasses the player fully into the environment. You are a pixel man, and your name is Steve. That growling noise is a zombie behind you.

According to MineMum, “Minecraft is not just another video game, where players sit passively staring at a screen as they run around trying to collect points or shoot bad guys. It’s an immersive and interactive playground, where the constant challenges require the brain to work really hard during every moment of the game.”

While some parents may not want their children to play a computer game for long periods of time, as some children are prone to do, Minecraft can be educational.

It can teach kids creativity as well as real world skills like patience, perseverance and cost-benefit analysis.

TeachHub.com discussed how Minecraft might be used like Legos in the classroom. “If the teacher wants to use games to learn history, using Minecraft in the classroom won’t throw students into a fully fleshed simulation of the American Revolution. It will start with a plot of land and students will write

for teachers,” she remarked. “The world has different areas - the future, fairy tale forest, Sparta Island, Ancient Egypt, etc. that correlate to those times in history...This activity was most successful because there were several options - some students could build in the free build areas, some students could explore, while others worked on getting as many badges as possible.”

In September of 2014, after being owned by the company Mojang for years, Minecraft was bought by

the story, cast the characters, create the entire 1776 world.” Minecraft is a lot cheaper to play than Legos, plus, as one parent points out, “You’ll never step on a loose piece barefoot in the dark.”

Caitlin McLemore, a teacher in Nashville, described how she used Minecraft in an after-school program for 7th and 8th graders.

“The activity we found most successful was ‘World of Humanities,’ a modification of MinecraftEdu created by a world history teacher

Microsoft. The Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella mentioned that Minecraft could help with STEM education.

Minecraft can give children an introduction to technology with a Minecraft feature called mods, or modifications. Mods allow players to write code to change or add aspects of the game. Mods are written in Java and they are used on the computer version of Minecraft.

Minecraft is a video game, and all video games can be abused by

playing them too long or playing with players that have malicious intent. Minecraft, however, has great potential for learning, since it is a flexible, creative game that is so popular already. Some teachers are starting to use it in the classroom, and parents can use it at home as a family activity. With a little supervision, Minecraft can be enjoyed by children of all ages. I can vouch that it is fun for adults, too. Oh no, what’s that behind me? Ahh!

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15 .

D

tell about the one-day house raising “frolic” Amish neighbors held for her grandfather, namesake for the nearby Brooks Hughes Road.

She has worked in businesses catering to Amish country visitors more than 20 years, first at a restaurant that served family-style meals to as many as 200 at lunchtime.

Today she rents space to vendors, sells Amish-made goods on consignment and is the step-on guide for charter bus tour companies that schedule visits in the fall.

Dozens of small businesses serve the tourists that visit northern Lawrence County, including restaurants and vendors that offer merchandise on both sides of High-

way 43. Many Amish families sell directly to visitors, who can get free maps showing where to find fresh produce, handmade furniture and baskets, canned and baked goods, even tack and livestock.

“If the Amish have a sign up they’re open for business,” Diann tells a woman from Alabaster, Alabama who is accompanied by her parents, visiting from Vietnam.

“They stop selling at dark.”

She often sees international visitors. “They say when they come to Tennessee, they want to see the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Graceland in Memphis and the Amish in Ethridge.” She recently answered questions from a group of young American and Australian

Hojo

amp tourists still stood in line for a 90-minute wagon ride that featured stops at three Amish farms, even though it was a slow day.

On sunny, summer weekends, Diann has four wagons constantly on the

By Nancy Brewer road, full of one group of visitors after another.

Diann Pollock knows more than most about the 250 Old Order Amish families that live in northern Lawrence County. She can even

polocrosse players taking a break from tournament play in Harvest, Alabama.

“If you live in this area you know about the Amish,” says a woman on a return visit from Ardmore, Alabama. Another couple from Arkansas drove four hours one way on a “day trip” to Amish country. An unofficial audit of license plates on this rainy day also shows visitors from Mississippi, Texas, Florida, Michigan and eight Tennessee counties.

Many have questions about the religious customs of the families they’ve come to see. They are Swartzentruber and Miller Amish, Diann says, the latter slightly less conservative than the former, but none use electricity, telephones or motorized vehicles.

“I can’t imagine living that way, but oh, what a simple life they lead... not like us,” said one Independence Day visitor from Corinth, Mississippi.

Whether they were seeking inspiration or fresh produce, about 40,000 tourists came to Ethridge last year, and Heritage Campground & RV Park owner Carlos Wilhite hopes for 50,000 in 2015.

“Tourism in this area is only going to grow,” he says. “As people get

Amish Heritage Farm guests can tour the first Amish homestead in Lawrence County, seeing inside the home furnished as it was originally.

.

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Hojo

Hojo

Hojo

Amish Country

Hojo

Visitors can take a wagon or stage coach ride through Amish country.

older, they long to get back to a simpler way of life, and seeing this takes them back to those days.”

Wilhite recently opened Amish Heritage Farm, which features an Amish home furnished according to the advice of its former inhabitants.

“It’s not a tour, it’s an experience,” he says. Now, visitors can get a closer look at how the Amish really live, a wish that many of them have, according to Beth Keaton of the Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce.

“We get thousands of calls a year about the Amish, and many of them want to go into an Amish

Nancy Brewer is a Lawrence County native and graduate of the University of North Alabama, where she earned a B.S. in Journalism and English. She worked as an editor and writer for the Lawrence County Advocate for many years, and continues to write.

REAT Outd G r u o y South Central TN oo o j r n Has Something Fun For The Entire Family

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home to see how they live and even eat a meal with them,” Mrs. Keaton commented.

Mr. Wilhite can’t offer that experience at Amish Heritage Farm, but visitors can take photos - something the Amish do not allow - and enjoy their tour in airconditioned comfort.

Visit Www.Sctta.Net To Plan Your Family Adventure Validitymag.com

17 .

The Photography Of

Anthony Scarlati

On assignment with Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee.

the official photographer for the lati remarked.

And Scar- Americana Music Triangle project, lati’s work defi- a job which fed his greatest passion: nitely gets at- street photography.

If one follows Scarlati online, it tention. During his career he has is sometimes easy to see his heart in traveled exten- the salmagundi of images he posts. sively with cam- It may be a group of boys playing era in hand. In street ball, laundry flapping in the Photographer Anthony Scarlati in his favorite studio: the street.

“I just had to have my picture taken on that couch,” he said. early days, cow- breeze, flowers in the rain or the boy photos out west and horse our recent interview.

By Becky Jane Newbold As a youngster growing up in photography in several locations, both portraits and commercial, e remembers his first pho- the Chicago area, Anthony Scar- paid the way for his habit. Then a to, taken with a Kodak In- lati was always drawing, duplicat- move to the Nashville area in 2006 stamatic, of his family on ing Christmas cards or painting. A introduced him to the music scene their back porch. Coming full cir- venture into furniture design and and legends such as Marty Stuart. cle from chasing cowboys to com- woodworking later in life contin- Scarlati’s images have documented mercial photography, from street ued his creative passion but, “I was the behind the scenes musical lives photography to onstage photos of unhappy, something was missing,” of The Turtles, Steve Winwood, musical greats fills photographer he explained.

A friend showing off a new Keb Mo, Doobie Brothers, the Anthony Scarlati with gratitude. band Chicago and B. B. King, to “I’ll be honest with you. There Nikon camera reignited a passion name a few. Anthony Scarlati was Mark Volman of The Turtles are so many different things I’ve for photography. He quickly discarded the vintage Minolta his dad been able to do, and I am grateful for all of it,” Scarlati said during had purchased when Anthony was young and since that time has rarely viewed the world without a lens.

“I photograph things they way I might be feeling at that time. I project my emotions into the photograph. The purpose of a photograph is to tell a story and to project what the person saw at that moment. It may be technically incorrect but will tell exactly what the photographer wanted it to.

This is not a science A Memphis street project, it is art,” ScarMarty Stuart with Merle Haggard . 18 Validitymag.com

H

Seadog

He was vacationing in Florida and walked into a local bar where he met “an old man with a really long beard like an old wrinkles of age barely masking the pirate,” Scarlati related. deep eyes of a wandering soul.

“He was barely moving, had a A most memorable shot, he cane, it was 9 a.m., his girlfriend explained, started in a bar, early in was with him and he was already the morning. drunk.” Seadog, as the man was known, was a fisherman. “Rumors were he had always lived on the island,” Scarlati said.

“I wanted to get his picture, but he would agree only if I bought him a drink.

I bought him several,” Scarlati reflected. Scarlati finally was able to help him outside for the picture and promised to mail a copy back to the bar.

Warren Haynes (Allman Brothers) “A year later, I backstage with Steve Winwood went back. I had never heard from him. The owner had framed it and hung it on the wall.” Then Scarlati was told the story. Seadog had come in one day to drink. He waited for high tide then walked out on the pier and drowned himself. He had been sick and no one knew. “ Fa s t - f o r ward: They had a memorial for him and a woman came in, saw the picture and started crying. ‘I heard about this A waiter at Cafe Du Monde in New Orleans

place,’ she said.”

The woman was Seadog’s daughter and she had not seen his face for 40 years. The bar owner gave Shopping for tomatoes at Nashville Farmer’s Market. her the photo. tled, but you know, at the end of “You can’t predict, can’t plan. You walk down the the day, it’s people being creative. road and take pictures. You never Who are we to say its wrong?

“I take the image for myself, know when it will affect someone,” keeping the client’s requests in Scarlati noted. “Street photogramind.

Otherwise, we become a phy is my favorite.

“Taking photos is like life. bunch of button pushers.

“The pictures that are imporSometimes you have to go through a tant are the ones that get seen or lot of crap to get what you want.” found and affect someone in a posWhen cell phone photos first started taking over, “I was disgrun- itive way. That’s why I do it.”

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19 .

The Art Of

Tom Geckle the world of symbols. Before our use of words was our consciousness of symbols. It is in this realm of symbols and universal communicaou either possess art or it tions that we find the work of Tom possesses you. The human Geckle. Dreamlike images of the ability to create, admire and deer, dog, spiral and linear elements process allows us to have a personal are used in most of his pieces. First relationship with iconography and

By Karen Armacost & Jane Buchanan

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y m S p t h e s o n n u Saturday September 12, 2015

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appearing childlike and familiar, they are deeply rooted in the unconscious a n t h ro p o l ogy of our social reference. Tom’s painting technique radiates simplicity in a deeply multilayered style where he finds peace in the actual creation of the music and art. He has stated that because 95 percent of his work is created for his own pleasure, no one sees the full potential, only fragments.

Tom Geckle is a competent painter. Starting with his childhood in Maryland he received special recognition. One of his teachers said he would be famous before he was 21. He gave up on being famous, saying, “Anybody can do this. I never thought about how to do this, I just do it.” One of his paintings hung in the Baltimore Museum of Art. At the end of a fine arts path in high school, with the help of influential teachers, he was awarded a scholarship to Parsons School of Design to study illustration. Examples of his work from that time reveal a level of detail, depth and draftsmanship sometimes never achieved by artists. Because of a full class load, a full work schedule and broadening interests with NYC film school students sharing his dorm assignment, something happened: The city took over.

Tom dove in and became, in his own capacity, a participant in the contemporary New York art scene.

These were critically important developmental years in the city. In spite of being immersed in conversations with influential artists like Keith Herring and Kenny Sharp, Tom eventually dropped school and worked

in the Parsons print shop as a courier and at other odd jobs that allowed him to stay in New York.

After a time, he returned to Baltimore and pursued regular work, using that time to think about his art and develop his musical style.

Guitar, singing and writing led him to Nashville. Tom describes his style of music as Americana.

He landed in this area after a long drift. His family and his musical and art interests draw him back to

middle Tennessee where he continues to paint and pursue his music.

Tom has stated he plays for the pure love of playing, and sometimes a lone session at his cabin will last eight hours. It is most difficult for the multitalented, not wanting to be Maryland at times. Tom Geckso involved in making money, le lives in the countryside of but for Tom it is a controversial

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subject.

“In the end it’s political and comes right back to survival in an unsustainable system not based on sharing the available resources. We are all related, and when we take care of every person on this planet, that’s when we will have peace,” Tom remarked.

Tom Geckle’s work may be seen on YouTube and at the Gallimaufry at 207 East Public Square in Centerville, Tennessee.

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Hickman County’s

Quilt Guild Photos by Asha Fuller

J

ohnnie Ruth Elrod attended a Chamber of Commerce meeting in Hickman County in early fall of 2006. When a discussion started about what ladies could do while their husbands attended the annual car show, Johnnie, with her love of quilts, suggested a quilt show.

She was given the task of planning and conducting it. The Quilt Show Committee, as they called themselves, decided to make a booklet with photographs of the quilts from the show. They hoped to have 50 quilts at the first event.

More than three times that amount, 189 quilts, were brought to be displayed that day.

The quilt show has grown each year. “Our quilt show is set apart because we accept all quilts, no matter how old or new,” remarked

David Dansby, President of Hickman County Quilt Guild. “Each quilt has a story to tell, and we want to be the ones to tell that story.”

“It’s great that all these stories are being archived for the future,” stated Mary Beth Pruett.

“Also that people are seeing what a rich heritage we have.” “ G o o d show!” said Nancy Hall.

“I’ve got some ideas for my next quilt.”

Members of the Hickman County Quilt Guild

Hohenwald Municipal Golf Course

“One of the best shows I’ve ever seen,” commented Pam Hale. “Love, love, love it!”

The Quilt Show Committee wanted to show 1,000 quilts in five years. That goal was met and surpassed. At the end of the fifth year, the committee had documented 1,041 quilts. A mission statement and by-laws for the group were developed and the name was changed to the Hickman County Quilt

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The Guild wanted to build upon the foundation that the Quilt Show Committee had developed.

For their sixth annual show, they decided to open the show to quilts outside the committee.

“The thing I find most interesting about the quilt show each year,” stated Dansby, “is that we never know what quilts are going to show up, and there are always several with great historical interest.”

In 2011, Grinders Switch Foundation was approved as a non-profit, and Hickman County Quilt Guild partnered with them to write grants to hire a professional photographer and graphic editor to develop the quilt books after each show.

Over 1700 quilts have been displayed in the nine years of the Hickman County Quilt Show.

Each year, what is called an Opportunity Quilt has been given away to one lucky ticket holder. The funds

raised from these quilts have supported the shows and also allow for participation in other community functions.

The Guild’s community involvement includes Hickman County Fair, Arts & Ag Weekend, Harvest Market, Festival of Trees,

Duck River Music & Arts Festival, Meriwether Lewis Electric Cooperative Quilts and membership in the Hickman County Chamber of Commerce. The Guild designed and made a quilt honoring the 75th birthday of Hickman County Hospital, promoted local tourism, held quilting classes and sponsored and conducted a week of the Summer Reading Program at Hickman County Public Library.

The 2015 Hickman County Quilts Show “The Quilters Voice” will be held Friday, October 2, 2015, 12 noon to 6 p.m., and Saturday, October 3, 2015, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., at First Baptist Church in Centerville located at 123 Church Street.

Validitymag.com

23 .

Stop by for a visit with your friends at Sloan Ford-Lincoln!

Karen Hinson:

Sketching the Stars A

s far back as I can remember, I have always loved to draw. However, when my sister introduced me to Star Wars at about age six, it forever changed the direction of my artwork. I suppose it was something about the strange planets, cool costumes and great characters that caught

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Jim Caviezel as Jesus

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In addition to Star Wars, I also

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Hermione, 2011

.

24

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Scarlett O’Hara

like to draw fan art from Indiana Jones, Marvel, DC, Pirates of the Caribbean, Lord of the Rings and other such movies. I still consider myself as a hobby artist as I spend most of my day hours doing accounting and payroll work.

I’ve never had any formal artistic training, but have had many kind people along the way share some of their artistic tips

Thor, 2012

Princess Leia, 2009

with me. Whatever talent I might have, I give God all the credit. My primary tools of the trade are smooth Bristol board by Strathmore with Kimberly or Staedtler graphite pencils.

Most of my artwork can be found at khinson.deviantart.com or Karen Hinson Artwork on Facebook.

Natalie Portman as Padme

Christian Bale as Dan Evans

Validitymag.com

25 .

One Lawyer’s Opinion

Same SEx Marriage A

married couple is driving down the interstate going 55 mph. The husband is behind the wheel. His wife looks over at him and says, “Honey, I know we’ve been married for 15 years, but I want a divorce.” The husband says nothing but slowly increases speed to 60 mph. “I don’t want you to try to talk me out of it. I’ve been having an affair with your best friend, and I like

By Landis him better than Turner you.” Again the husband stays quiet but clenches the wheel with his hands and goes faster. “I want the car and the house.” Again he speeds up, now to 70 mph. “I want the kids too.” He just keeps driving faster until he’s up to 80 mph. She says, “I want the checking account and three-fourths of our savings and your retirement fund.” The husband slowly starts to veer over toward a bridge overpass piling, as she says, “Is there anything you want?” “No. I’ve got everything I need right here.” “What’s that?” He replies just before they hit the wall at 90 mph, “I’ve got the airbag.” *****

Marriages, especially same sex ones, have been all over the news since SCOTUS (Supreme Court of the United States) issued its opinion that such marriages are protected under the United States Constitution and all states must recognize their legality. Locally, the opinion has been discussed with even more disapproval than the recent agreement with the Iranians about their nuclear program.

One local politician, obviously not a lawyer, has been quoted as saying, in substance, “The Supreme Court has just given their opinion.

We don’t have to follow it.” In my eighth grade civics class, I learned that in the United States, “our law is whatever SCOTUS says it is.”

And it stays that way until the law is changed. And if the decision interprets the Constitution, the opin. 26 Validitymag.com

ion of SCOTUS is law unless our founding document is amended to change it or SCOTUS changes its mind and decides the issue differently in a later case.

A state legislator has just written that Tennessee might confront the issue by acting to nullify the offending decision or secede from the union. Of course, during the administration of President Andrew Jackson, it was decided that states cannot “nullify” federal law. And the Civil War settled the question of secession.

Another legislator has stated that our governor should be impeached because he has determined that Tennessee will accept and follow the decision of the high court.

(I remember similar statements being said about Tennessee Governor Frank G. Clement when, unlike Alabama’s George Wallace and Mississippi’s Ross Barnett, he said Tennessee would follow the law by desegregating our public schools.)

In Decatur County the county clerk and her staff have resigned rather than issue marriage licenses to same sex couples. I am certain that among our 95 counties there are scores of officials and their employees who find homosexuality and giving it recognition as acceptable under law highly offensive and against their religious beliefs.

A large number of local officials in Tennessee have given notice that they will no longer officiate marriage ceremonies for anyone. But I doubt many county employees will take the drastic action of quitting good jobs to avoid doing what is just an administrative act not requiring any indication of approval of the marriage. *****

County Commissioners may conduct marriage ceremonies. During my five years in that office, I have never been asked to perform one. I decided long ago that if asked I would probably respectfully decline. During my 40+ years of practicing law, I have participated in so many divorces, vows given before me might not stick. *****

While I was there, Vanderbilt

Law School began requiring every senior student to write a lengthy thesis or dissertation similar to what is required of candidates for a PhD degree. I wrote mine on “State Laws Against Interracial Marriages.”

In 1967, 16 states had such laws. In my paper, written in 1965, I predicted that it was inevitable that SCOTUS would declare such laws unconstitutional. In Loving v. Virginia, it did exactly that.

The Lovings argued that Virginia’s anti-miscegenation statute violated their rights under the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment, and interracial marriages celebrated in states where they were legal should be accepted by every state under the Full Faith and Credit provision of the Constitution. Virginia argued that marriage laws were matters which must be left to the states under the Tenth Amendment which reads: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States, respectively, or to the people.”

The court in Loving found no legitimate state purpose that could justify the racial classifications. Virginia’s anti-miscegenation statute was held unconstitutional. “There can be no doubt that restricting the freedom to marry solely because of racial classifications violates the central meaning of [equal protection].”

These arguments and judicial statements should be very familar to those who have read about the same sex case or actually read the opinion, which says: “The right to marry is a fundamental right inherent in the liberty of the person. Under the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment couples of the same sex may not be deprived of that liberty.”

I write about the Loving case just to put some things in perspective. Although you cannot tell it from talk around here, the decision on same sex marriage is not nearly as controversial as was Loving in 1967 or the Brown case in 1954, which led to desegregating public schools.

In both cases public opinion was strongly against those decisions, especially throughout the South. Actually, making interracial marriage legal was strongly disapproved by most Americans everywhere. Then, as now, opponents of SCOTUS re-

ferred to the Holy Bible to support their positions.

In 1965 when I applied for a marriage license in Atlanta, I had to sign an affidavit stating that I did not have blood that was as much as one-eighth “colored.” I never saw my grandfathers who died before my birth, but I just took a chance and signed it anyway.

The marriage case just decided, Obergefell v. Hodges, makes national what was already legal in twothirds of our states. Polls show that 60 percent of Americans support making same sex marriage legal.

Looking at our country as a whole, Obergefell hasn’t set everyone’s hair on fire. Years from now, when people look back at that case, as we now look at Loving, a much more controversial marriage case, they’ll see that the world has not stopped turning. *****

As soon as there were same sex marriages, same sex divorces were sure to follow. In 2014 in Roane County, Tennessee, Mr. Borman sued his spouse, another Mr. Borman, for divorce. The couple married in Iowa where such unions are valid. The state entered the case to argue against it on the grounds that Tennessee did not recognize same sex marriage and granting a divorce would violate our law. The circuit judge agreed. On appeal, the case was put on hold to see what SCOTUS would do with Obergefell.

Now the Court of Appeals has ordered the parties to file briefs on the effect of Obergefell on this divorce case. A representative of the office of the State Attorney General has said they will no longer oppose the divorce. So it seems certain that the case will proceed to be handled like other divorce cases. But I’ll bet it gets a lot more publicity. *****

As you can see from the beginning of this column, I couldn’t find a joke about same sex marriage, but eventually, as with everything else, there will be some.

This column discusses legal issues of general interest and does not give legal advice on any reader’s personal situation.

The law is not a one-size-fits-all hat. Consult a lawyer of your choice.

Landis Turner is a graduate of the University of the South-Sewanee and Vanderbilt University School of Law. He is a former president of the Tennessee Bar Association.

Ornithology Report

E

Longs Peak, Colorado

arlier last month when my wife and I were on a short hike in the Colorado high country, I heard a distinctive finchy-sort of bird call. The source was fairly nearby on a small rock formation – a little reddish brown bird known as the Browncapped RosyFinch. I had not seen one of these uniquely alpine birds since we moved to Tennessee 13

By Bill Pulliam years ago. In the summer they are found only on the alpine tundra, where it is too cold for trees to grow, in the highest reaches of the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and New Mexico. In the winter they migrate a short ways down slope to the adjoining foothills.

We and the little chirping bird were in a rolling, green highland dotted with lingering, July snow fields and carpeted with riotouslyblooming wildflowers only a few inches tall. Around us were sheer cliffs, ravines and mountain summits reaching to elevations above 14,000 feet. Some of the clouds floated by below us, drifting upslope to envelope us in cold fog.

Other than the Rosy-Finch, the bird life was sparse. American Pipits sang and did courtship acrobatics overhead, an occasional Horned Lark flew by and Northern Ravens croaked in the distance. This is a hard place to make a living, frigid

Peggy Anderson

East and West

and snow-bound most of the year, and few species of plants or animals succeed. A bleak winter outing in Tennessee would probably turn up about 10 times as many bird species as I saw on the tundra at the height of summer.

Most of western North America shows a similar pattern to this. In any given patch of forest, desert, prairie, chaparral or tundra, you will find fewer species than you likely would find in a similarly-sized patch in the southeastern states.

The West is a land of extremes. In the era of modern conveniences, the West can seem like an idyllic place to live with sunshine, fresh air, no mildew and few bugs. But for wild plants and animals (as well as the original human inhabitants) it is different and challenging. The warmth and the water are rarely in the same place, so you may find yourself either buried in winter snows or desiccating in the desert.

These climate extremes are also packed right next to each other.

Moving a few miles up the mountain can change your world as much as if you moved from Tennessee to Greenland. If you are a bird or a bug or a tree, one lifestyle strategy might work for you across the entire length and breadth of Tennessee. In much of the West, it will only work within narrow belts of elevation and climate, sandwiched in by places that are much less hospitable.

But there is a paradox here. If you flip through your North Amer-

ican bird book, you might get the impression that there are actually more species of birds in the West than in the East. And you would be correct. The total bird list for Colorado is considerably longer than the list for Tennessee. The top birder in the Colorado county in which our Rosy-Finch was chirping has seen more bird species in just that one single county than the top birder in Tennessee has ever seen in this entire state.

How can this be? How can the West have more birds and fewer birds at the same time? It is the flip side of the Land of Extremes. Each one of those narrow belts of elevation and climate (often called a “life zone”) has its own distinctive flora and fauna. At any given spot on the mountain you will find fewer birds than you would at a random spot in Tennessee. But if you travel all the way from the bottom of the mountain to its top, you will pass though many different life zones, each with its own characteristic plants and animals. So when you tally up your entire list for the whole mountain, you might have a pretty good final total. Now do the same thing on a different mountain a few hundred miles away, and you will add even more.

That one Colorado county I mentioned ranges by more than 9000 feet in elevation and spans (by one way to count them) seven life zones from prairie to forest to tundra. On the plains you might see Blue Jays and Black-capped Chickadees. In the foothills there are Western Scrub-Jays and Rock Wrens. Higher up you will almost surely encounter Steller’s Jays and Mountain Chickadees. In the subalpine forests a Gray Jay might squawk at you while the Hermit

Thrushes sing. And above tree line you can search for a White-tailed Ptarmigan; but be aware that they look almost exactly like rocks in summer and snow in winter!

You’ll never find a Gray Jay on the prairie or a Blue Jay on the tundra. But you can find them all within a few miles of each other; though it may take you a couple of hours on steep winding roads to cover those “few miles.”

So, ironically, since the West is such a hard place to live and filled with environmental extremes, many more species of plants and animals live there in the region as a whole. Each one is adapted to a fairly narrow life zone, but there are many different life zones all jumbled across the rugged landscape.

Biologists use the term “biodiversity” to describe how varied the plant and animal life in an area is.

A while back, I wrote about the importance of the “habitat mosaic” in Tennessee in creating the high biodiversity here. An intricate and complex pattern of ponds, streams, fields, forests and edges here gives us the highest biodiversity, whether this is created by human hands or by windstorms, fires and beavers.

In the West, this landscape mosaic is on a much larger scale. It’s not the beaver pond and the woodlot, it’s the mountain range and the desert basin.

Bill Pulliam got started in birdwatching by his junior high science teacher in 1974, and has been an avid birder ever since in 48 U.S. states and 7 foreign countries.

He is currently the Tennessee editor for eBird, a online project that compiles millions of observations from tens of thousands of birders around the world.

f Validitymag.com

27 .

August’s Garden

Savor the Summer

Cassandra Warner

Planting

the bees will love its pretty white flowers, and when you mow it down later, let it lay for a few days then incorporate it into your soil. *Continue to sow seeds for arugula, beets, bush beans, carrots, cabbage, collards, cilantro, chard, chives, parsley, dill, kale, kohlrabi, lettuce, peas, spinach, turnips and radishes until August 15th. Set out transplants of broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, collards and onions. *Plant fall blooming crocus and colchicum bulbs. *For some fall fragrance to enjoy, plant autumn clematis (clematis paniculata), annual stock and flowering tobacco.

Any vacant areas in the garden Harvest that you don’t have plans for in the August is a busy month for harfall can be planted with a cover vesting. All the summer crops are crop such as buckwheat. You and producing and need to be picked .

28

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when they are young and tender such as green beans, okra, cucumber, squash and eggplant. Crops like tomatoes and melons let ripen on the vine for best flavor. *Dig potatoes after tops have

died down. *Harvest herbs regularly to keep them pretty and producing. *If you have let green beans over-mature, let them ripen on the vine.

Cassandra Warner

F

rom apples, blueberries, cucumbers, hollyhock, hydrangea, hot peppers, melons, marigolds, monarchs, ‘maters, sweet ‘taters to zinnias, everywhere I look there’s something tasty, something beautiful and something with a delightful smell. What

By Cassandra Warner a blessing it is, and there is so much to be thankful for as we are surrounded by all these summer pleasures.

Terrific Tomatoes

Well I would have to say my all time favorite and best performer this year was the pineapple tomato. Big beautiful color and markings, meaty, juicy and delicious.

The San Marzano was not quite what I expected. It’s a little smaller than I thought they would be but WOW were they ever prolific. They were everywhere and then they were everywhere else. I have yet to make a sauce from them, for which they supposed to be prized, but they are good in a salad.

Maintenance

*Let some vegetables and herbs go to seed to self sow or so you can save their seed. *Prune summer blooming shrubs after their flowers finish.

Cassandra Warner

Cassandra Warner

*Remove and discard any diseased foliage and destroy.

DO NOT add this to compost. *Start preparing cold frames. *Prune old flowering canes after last raspberry harvest, leaving 3-4 young canes per row foot. Do not prune shoot tips until spring. *Add mulch to beds where needed. *Feed all blooming perennials, cut back if straggly, and keep spent blooms removed to *Add compost, worm cast- encourage their last show of ings or well composted manure the season. to available beds to ready them for planting another crop now Herbs in the Garden Herbs are so wonderful to or planting a fall crop. *Begin dividing perennials, have in the garden for culinary uses, teas, medicinal uses, lostarting with bearded iris. *Deadhead flowers to en- tions, potions, tinctures, decocourage more blooms and keep rations, crafts, a food source for pollinators and as dynamic them looking nice. *Chop up weeds you pull accumulators (plants that con(without seeds) to go into the centrate micro and macro nucompost. Surely you must trients from the soil into their leaves, stems and roots). have some, if not, I’ll share.

If you want to give the soil *Keep compost pile moist, in your organic garden a boost, like a damp sponge and turn herbs can help you do that in often to hasten decomposition. several ways. Some herbs have *Fertilize roses. *Fertilize new plantings of large tap roots which go down into deeper layers of the soil to June bearing strawberries. *So far this year, the need reach nutrients not available to water has been very little. to plants with shallower root We have had some high heat systems. They also help in the with which to contend, so if process of breaking heavy clay the heat continues and there is or compacted soil. Many herbs a lack of rain, can be used as green manures. water deeply After the growing season you at the base of harvest and chop them into your plants. small pieces or mow over and Just spraying incorporate them into the soil.

The leaves of some herbs things lightly can also be used as a green or surface mulch.

This is a great way water just e n c o u r a g e s to use a perennial herb if you plant roots to don’t want to harvest the whole come to the plant. To use the plants in this surface, and way, remove no more than onethis will make third of the leaves and layer them more them no more than two inches vulnerable to thick. The essential minerals will be released into the soil as drying out. * C h e c k they decay. If you are harvestplants for in- ing a whole plant for use as a sects often to green mulch, chop up everykeep them thing to use.

The compost pile is anfrom getting other way to benefit from these out of hand. dynamic accumulators. They

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Summer Flower Power from Flowering Shrubs and Trees

A favorite, summer, blooming shrub of mine are hydrangeas. They give a big, long-lasting, carefree performance. Who doesn’t

Cassandra Warner Cassandra Warner

love those white, blue or pink blossoms of the H. macrophylla? WOW! They are so gorgeous. The oak leaf hydrangea starts out with big, six-inch or more, conical clusters of tiny, white blooms that gradually change to a cream and slightly pink color, then to a tan. It actually offers big, beautiful, sweet, fragrant blooms in the spring and summer, and the foliage color in the fall is spectacular. The lime light hydran-

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can help to activate decomposition and give a nutritional boost to your finished product.

Comfrey and yarrow are accumulators of nitrogen, so these are great to chop up and combine into the compost pile.

Here are some herbs to consider to boost soil nutrition.

These are just a few herbs that can do double duty and more in your garden. *Caraway absorbs phosphorus. *German chamomile accumulates calcium, phosphorus and potassium. *Comfrey is an accumulator of nitrogen, potassium, magnesium, calcium and iron.

This great green manure and compost accelerator can be used in compost tea or ground into a meal and incorporated into the soil. *Chives accumulate sodium and calcium. *Borage’s large tap root breaks up compacted soils, stores up potassium and attracts pollinators. *Lemon balm’s thick, fibrous roots accumulate phosphorus and is good to add in compost pile. *Parsley stores up calcium, magnesium, iron and potassium and has sizeable tap roots. *Peppermint accumulates potassium and magnesium. It is a good companion plant for cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower to help deter the white cabbage moth. *Summer savory accumulates potassium. *Valerian accumulates silicon and attracts pollinators. *Yarrow accumulates nitrogen, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, calcium and copper.

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gea lights up its place in the garden and is easy care. If you want happy butterflies, a must-have is the butterfly bush. The Monarchs are having a feast on mine.

And for flowering trees, I love crepe myrtles. I have them in white, red, pink and fuchsia. The blooms are so beautiful and the bark of those trees also adds great fall and winter interest in the garden. Then there is the Rose of Sharon. Other common names include shrub althea and Chinese hibiscus. They have large, cupshaped flowers in beautiful colors and there are varieties with double blooms. Also, they are oh, so pretty.

So if you’re starting to think about adding some flowering shrubs or trees to plant this fall in your garden or landscape, these will definitely give you some great flower power.

Summer Pleasures

Food is one of life’s necessities, but it is also a great pleasure when it is good, of course. There is great joy and pleasure in growing and preserving your own food, knowing what’s in and on it and most importantly, what’s not. Family and friend time is often enjoyed together with food.

What joy can be found in sharing an ice cold watermelon or cantaloupe with juice dripping down your chin, your arm and elbow on a summer day under a shade tree or maybe by the creek, so you can jump in and de-juice afterwards. So yes, it is a little work to pick blueberries, but those plump little blueberries bursting with sweet taste and wonderful antioxidants go popping in my mouth almost as fast as I can pick them. However, I MUST make it to the house with some for my mom to make one of her delicious pies and her blueberry jam. Now that’s definitely a pleasure!

What a splendid time can be had with family and friends sharing and savoring the food, flowers, smells and the beauty of the summer pleasures in the August garden.

Originally from Texas, Cassandra Warner is a transplant to the garden of Tennessee. Gardening has been one of her passions for forty years. “Gardening connects you to the miracle of life and provides healthy exercise and stress relief.”

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Don’t Play in the Street!

H

ere we go again—making up God to be according to our likeness rather than trusting God to transform us into His likeness. Romans 12:2; 8:29.

In recent years, the Holy Spirit has revealed to many how incredible is the love of God. Indeed, His love is measureless.

Ho w e v e r, typical of worldly mindedness, we often carry those revelations further than the Holy Spirit intended. Many

By Charles E. high profile minNewbold, Jr. isters are increasingly teaching that we can do most anything we please and it will be ok with God because He still loves us.

God by His very nature is love.

His love is everlasting. He is merciful, forgiving, patient and kind, but to think we can live like hell and still go heaven is a gross misunderstanding, misrepresentation and abuse of God’s love.

We must know: God’s love is not permissive. It is protective. He protects us by prohibiting in advance those things that are not right for us.

“Don’t play in the street!” Is that a punitive or loving command?

His commandments express His love. That is why Jesus summed up all the commandments into two: love God and others. Matthew 22:37-40.

Moreover, God’s nature, laws and love do not change over time to comply with shifts in our moral, social and politically correct notions.

What was good for mankind in the beginning is now and ever shall be the same. God made us to have fellowship with Him and to enjoy Him forever. God is altogether righteous. In order for us to have fellowship with Him, we too have to be altogether righteous.

We cannot be righteous in our

own strength and according to our own wills. Therefore, out of His profound love for us, He sent His son, Jesus the Messiah, the perfect Lamb of God, the holy and righteous One to die for us that we might live for Him—that He might live His life through us.

We enter into this relationship of righteousness with God our Father by grace through faith. Grace, as with God’s love, is not permissive.

We cannot say, “Oh I can do as I please because I am covered by the love and grace of God.” The grace of God, extended to us through faith, is the power of God to live a righteous life.

To think otherwise is to make up God to be the way we want Him. Regardless what we make up God to be, what politically correct laws we pass, or whatever we think is fair or not fair, God does not change. Malachi 3:6.

Nevertheless, what can we expect society to believe when there is a lessened consciousness of God’s will and word? Doing what we think is right in our own sight is lawlessness. “I will play in the street if I want to.” Then, play in the street if you insist we have the power and the audacity to make up God according to our own likeness.

Let me know how that works out in the end.

If we really love people and want what is best for them and for ourselves, we must be unabashed advocates of a holy and righteous life. God’s way is the best way. So, don’t play in the street!

Charles Elliott Newbold, Jr. has served as pastor, teacher and is an author calling forth Christians to live the laid-down life for Jesus Christ. He and his wife, Nancy McDonald Newbold, live in Knoxville, Tennessee, where Charles continues his writing.

Validitymag.com

33 .

Cerebral Meanderings

The Towel

U

nappreciated and unobtrusive, towels, large and small rectangles of soft cotton, play humble, significant roles in our existence. If it’s not cotton, however, then it cannot be called a towel. My opinion, but the truth

By Shane Newbold nevertheless.

Interestingly, no good synonyms exist for the word “towel.”

Forgive the redundancy of the term throughout this article.

How many times have I thrown in the towel? Symbolically, of course. I have never actually thrown one. But, I am an expert quitter. If it ain’t working, let it go. However, there is good reason to see things through.

My dear wife works diligently at reaching difficult goals. And I have learned that lesson well from her. Throwing in the towel is a concept she has gleaned from me. A good balance of knowing when to stay in or get out can be a blessing Allow me to continue to explore more noble notions of the common towels inhabiting your

closets.

According to the Gospel Of John, chapter 13:5, “Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.”

(NASB) Gosh, if a towel is mentioned in the New Testament, then who are you or I to question Jesus and his girded stuff?

How wondrous the memories in making when the grandbabies with blue, shivering lips scamper up the bank of the icy creek. Mimi Jane and Papa wrap them in the big, soft towels just long enough to gulp a few bites of watermelon and get their blood flowing so they can jump back in.

Swimming almost always trumps “it’s too cold.”

In my possession is the mother of all towels. I shall fight to the death to keep it. I worship it.

I fear not the sin of idolatry set before my creator who can and probably will sentence me to eternal punishment.

And you ask, “What towel possibly could cause such extremism in an individual?”

Behold, the Snap-on towel!

My audacious wife asked the same questions you probably have:

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“Are you crazy? Actually that really wasn’t a question. It was more like, ‘you are weirdly insane.’

What is so special about a Snap-on towel?

I actually don’t care or want to know, but you are going to tell me anyway, aren’t you?”

Firstly, it is pertinent to understand that the obtainability of the moderately unobtainable from the obtainer to the current obtainee for the pleasurable obtainment of the obtainee should not be questioned with regard to the legality of said obtention as to how the obtainee obtained the moderately unobtainable from the original obtainer. I really, really wanted it, so I manipulated it from my son-in-law through my daughter because he wasn’t around to stop me.

Anyway, why is it so special?

Snap-on makes the best tools and they are pricey. Everyone knows that. And no, this is not an ad or paid endorsement. But I’ll take the money if they send it.

Snap-on marketing products

are also typically high quality.

The towel is no exception. The wife quickly changed her negative opinion when she felt the softness against her face.

Plus, it has cool stuff on it: “Snap-on Tough Tools” with a fist grasping a 19mm ratcheting wrench. Yep, bona fide OFFICIAL LICENSED PRODUCT made in El Salvador (wherever the hell that is). Oh, I forgot. We sent the textile industry out of the states a while back. Silly me.

But, it is mine. The obtainee is now the obtainer.

Don’t ask to borrow it, unless you are good at handling rejection.

Lest you take the lowly towel for granted, repeat as needed: The towel is my friend, the towel is my friend, the towel is my friend.

Father to four and best friend to Becky Jane for 27 years, Shane Newbold lives life to the fullest birdwatching, fishing, motorcycling and enjoying his family.

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