Here in the north Georgia piedmont, the plants and the weather are out of phase. Not synchronized. In August, we had a dogwood at the northeast corner of the house bloom for a second time. And now in December 2017, we have a wide variety of summer blooms hanging on, and some winter blooms still coming on. All amongst the falling leaves from oak, hickory, and tulip poplar. Herewith, the December blooms.

In addition to the traditional colors, there are red and white azaleas.

Hydrangeas are way early.

Ginger lilies may normally bloom this time of year, but I'm skeptical.

A lone zinnia among the chestnut oak and Japanese maple leaves.

A great abundance of these, which are frost tolerant to an extreme degree.

In addition, we have winter blooms along side these summer ones.

Fall continues to preview winter. Here are some photographs from around Barbara's garden. The bottom photograph are blooms on a basil plant.

I am taking a break from Face Book for awhile. So be sure to check in here from time to time for updates. Do take a look at Booklocker.com where e-book versions of Dark Are the Steps of Time are still available for the low, low price of $2.99! http://booklocker.com/books/8348.html

Thanks for stopping by.

Photograph by Robert Cetera.

On Saturday September 22, 2017, Barbara and I participated in Pages in the Cave 2.0 at the Convention Center in Cave City, Kentucky. Approximately 30 other authors were there on a hot September day. Kristine Raymond from Brownsville had organized the whole thing with a host of volunteers. Even before the official opening, our old friend Duke Hopper showed up and spent a nice time visiting. I had helped Duke map a couple of Blue Grass caves when we were both in the graduate program at the Department of Geology, University of Kentucky. We had also ventured into a couple of caves in the Mammoth Cave drainage.

This is a shot of our table right after we got set up.

The photograph in the left rear is of Keven Neff standing in water in Pinson's Pass. Photograph by Robert Cetera. Keven and Pinson's Pass both figure in the story in Dark Are the Steps of Time. The small snapshot beneath the photograph is of Robert Cetera loaded with camera gear. The lard-oil lantern on the right is an original lantern that was used to light the cave before whale oil and then kerosene were available. Barbara hacked an LED candle bulb into the flame with a piece of yellow paper. The Snickers are in a torch bucket made by Frank Henry Green. Frank Henry is a well-loved former guide at Mammoth Cave. He made the torch stick along the right side.

This is a dangerous looking group: (L to R) Daran Neff, Keven Neff, Rex Burd, and some random old man who photobombed the shot. Daran has gone on numerous after-hours photography trips with Bob and Zona Cetera. Keven just retired from the Park Service in December. Rex and I guided together during the summers of 1976 and 1977.

Here's the table with Barbara and Duke. Barbara did a great job selling books while I visited with friends. Peggy Goodman also participated in the book event with her wonderful children's books. We know Peggy through Far Off Broadway Players in Glasgow, Kentucky. They are about to open their season with To Kill a Mockingbird. Our host John Yakel, a cave guide at Mammoth Cave National Park, also came by, but eluded the photographer.

After he photobombed the earlier picture, this guy was caught trying to steal one of our books.

I recently bought a copy of The Song of our National Parks and Flowers by Edward A. Clark from a used book store in Carrollton, GA (Underground Books). Copyrighted in 1958,  it was published by Augustana Book Concern out of Rock Island, Illinois, which is still in business. On page 25, the poem for Mammoth Cave appears. On the facing page, there is a black and white photograph from Frozen Niagara. It's upside-down. Photograph credit is the National Park Service.The copy I bought (found by Barbara) with a good dust jacket is in fairly good condition. I can understand someone unfamiliar with caves making a mistake in the layout of the book. I would have thought that someone along the line would have caught it. The picture on page 7 of Carlsbad Caverns is oriented correctly. So is the photograph of Wupatki, but it's not in a cave. Nor are any of the others.

Blue Grass Cave -- A Poem

Blue Grass Cave

By: Lance S. Barron

Ordovician waves pounded shells into sand.

Strophomenids, Rafinesquinas –

Some resupinate; others not.

Laying quiet, squeezed: limestone.

Uplift along the arch: Cincinnati.

Slowly eroding, slowly dissolving,

Younger rocks washed away to sea,

Creating the Blue Grass.

Calcium carbonate in solution.

Carbonic acid in limestone attack,

For eons, ions dissolve away,

Enlarging a small, incipient crack.

Individual holes lined up in passages.

Not tubular, ragged. Fractal.

Not fractured, eroded, corroded,

By the Blue Grass rain.

As a cave, not so much.

Well house over farm sink.

Thesis cave for M.S.

Inner Blue Grass Karst.

Mapping with Silva Ranger.

Wet belly flop: Goes. Small.

Flowstone, fish, fluorite vein.

Has it all: Blue Grass cave.

Knee deep. Knee deep on Who?

That's Whom.

Green leaves in mud on the ceiling.

Roving Blue Grass death storms.

Thirty-foot cable ladder,

On belay: Goldline.

Beer in the cooler up top.

Wouldn't fool an old man,

Would you?

Note: An earlier version of this poem appeared in Illuminations Issue No. 26, June 2017, a publication of the NSS Arts & Letters Section.

Welcome to the resurrection of this blog, long off line. From time to time, posts will appear about Mammoth Cave, writing, flowers, and other interesting things.

On September 23, 2017, we will be at Pages in the Cave at the Cave City Convention Center from 10:30 to 2:30 with Dark Are the Steps of Time along with a bunch of other writers. That Saturday night, we will be at the banquet at the Convention Center. There is no entry fee, and there will be numerous raffles plus swag bags, etc. VIP tickets for the banquet and early entry on Saturday morning cost $25.00 per person.

This is a photograph of the bookshelf in the Eastern National store in the visitor center at Mammoth Cave National Park.

While you're in the area, take a cave tour!