Rotunda in Mammoth Cave

 A view of the Rotunda in Mammoth Cave as seen from the exit of Little Bat Avenue into Audubon Avenue. Image collected with available, low-level lights.

If you have read Dark Goes the Stage, and would like to read more about Walt's nightmare, e-mail me, and I will send you a PDF copy. lancesbarron@gmail.com.

Be careful in the dark.

Dark Goes the Stage proposed cover!

 

Barbara and I participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count every February. The amount of time required is a minimum of 15 minutes. You list the birds you can identify and the maximum number of birds of each species that you see at one time. Easy checklist to fill out at www.birdcount.org. We always enjoy it even if that weekend in February in the Georgia Piedmont is nasty. I encourage you to join in. You can also go to other locations like at national park locations: Kennesaw National Battlefield, Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, Mammoth Cave National Park, and many others.

Here on the eve of 2020, I am looking forward to the new year and a new situation as nearly all retired. There are a few projects that have lurched forward into January and February, but today was the last regular day of going into the office. This past December 2 marked 20 years at one company. My previous longest job was eleven years. Today I spent most of my time filing and packing and throwing out. A number of three-ring binders I brought with me from my previous job. I left today with only the files I will need for those projects lingering into 2020.

I am looking forward to having more time with Barbara and working with her in the yard and in our home. We hope to see friends in the Mammoth Cave area this year at the Cave Guides' Reunion, as well as friends in the St. Louis area.

The western sky is golden, and darkness approaches. Solitary fireworks sound through the neighborhood, a sign of more to come.

Happy New Year, everyone!

20th anniversary of Y2K!

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.