Translations

Sunday, June 02, 2019

6-2-2019: FROM USA TO RUSSIA TO FIJI

This is another article that I'd written yesterday. I'm publishing it today.

I think the year was 1998. The “long-suffering” Mrs. Appalachian Irishman and I were in our 5-year (1994 – 1999) mission work in Russia. While in the USA, on our annual Christmas time visit, we had met the new preacher and his family in my hometown. The daughter took an interest in being a mission intern with us. Other college students and she became summer mission interns. A young man and she “dell in fove,” as Archie Campbell would say, during their time with us in Russia. Well, the two married. They did a bit more mission work in Russia, but they ended up as missionaries in Fiji, where they, with their four sons, still serve today.

On 5/18/2019, her husband e-mailed several, including us, that his father-in-law had passed on to a better world. After a few e-mails back and forth, Mrs. Appalachian Irishman called the daughter, whose father had died. I also talked with this now fine adult, wife, mother, and missionary. Just over two decades have passed. Connection, by e-mail, has been in place, on and off, all these years. It was good to connect by phone, while she is still in the USA. She is heading back to Fiji soon.

At some point, may it be soon, Lord, there will be no sorrow, loss, or separation. Won’t that be grand?


Saturday, June 01, 2019

6-1-2019: LIFE, SUCH AS IT IS, UPDATE

Well, 6/1/2019 is the official start of summer; even though, it’s been hot, dang hot, since 5/19/2019. I follow the Russian way of counting summer starting on 6/1/2019.


First photo: 5/5/2019, Stacy – sister-in-law; wife of Doug, my youngest brother, and fourth son of Earl and Betty (Wood) Ferrell – took a photo of new flowers on Mom and Dad’s gravesite. Good!


Second photo: Ariel Ferrell, oldest daughter of my youngest brother, and his wife, is in this photo of a good middle school basketball team! Urah! Great job!


Third photo: this is my bathroom. The Timex travel clock is the black item on the right. I replaced the AAA battery, to keep it running, on 5/28/2019! It had been so long, for a new battery, that I had figured that I “might as well get a new travel clock!” New battery is installed. The clock still works! Timex takes a lickin’ but keeps on tickin’, like me!

Oh, the other stuff are two of three radios. I can switch between news/talk, classic Rock, and supposed to be classic Rock (with dreaded Disco sometimes), while getting cleaned up, in the morning, for the work-a-day world. The other stuff is Mrs. Appalachian Irishman’s beach or candle stuff that I allow in my bathroom.


Final photo, on 5/30/19, Thursday: this is an example of one of many “fly killin’s” that I’ve done over the decades! That fly is a goner! I remember, over a decade ago, having a “fly killin’” contest with my youngest brother, at the homeplace. I killed 22 flies in one day! I think that was the record!

We go through life the best that we can. I’m still here. My permanent, much better, home awaits me. “Git ‘r done!”


Sunday, April 21, 2019

Good Friday – Passover 4-19-2019

Good Friday was on 4/19/2019. As it happens at times, the date was also the first day of Passover. (See my 4/13/2019 article.)

Well, 4/19/2019 was rainy and windy, so, in wisdom, I did not go to the homeplace, to fire live rounds for target shooting.

Instead, yesterday, 4/20/2019, the “long-suffering” Mrs. Appalachian Irishman and I drove to the home of my youngest brother and family (wife and two daughters), in Rogersville. The four female folk did female folk things.

Doug and I, in his new-to-him Nissan Frontier, went to the homeplace. The weather was cloudy, windy, and off and on rainy, but not as bad as the day before. We stood back upright Granny Wood’s grapevine support that had fallen a few months ago. The grapevine is still living. Doug planted flowers in the flowerbed, near the front porch, in memory of Granny Wood and Mom.

Afterward, as a light rain began to fall, we both did a little target shooting! (That morning, I had predicted that rain would fall as we started to shoot.) I shot my new, replacement Ruger LCP for the first time. We only fired a few rounds, but we shot well. I shot better than I thought that I would, after my over three-year “sabbatical” from target shooting!

Unfortunately, I forget to take any photos. The photos are in my mind. It was a fine day.

I have checked off another goal. I have replaced my Ruger LCP and gone target shooting again! A next goal is to be able to run as I once did, before having the surgically installed metal in my left shoulder, right knee, and right foot. Lord willing, by my shear determination, I WILL do that one day!


Saturday, April 13, 2019

4-13-2019: PAPAW FERRELL'S BIRTHDAY in 1880 & RUGER REPLACED

On 4/13/1880, my paternal grandfather, Marion Ferrell, was born. I wear his first name with honor, knowing the Irish meaning. The Gaelic is Merrion, which means “brave man.”

On 4/13/2019, I – his grandson, first son of his youngest son, my father, Earl Ferrell – purchased a Ruger 380 pocket pistol. (The “long-suffering” Mrs. Appalachian Irishman was with me.) The purchase was to replace the Ruger that I had bought on 7/28/2012.

On 3/29/2016, the TN Highway Patrol held that first pistol, for safe keeping, at their Knoxville location – due to the 18-year-old, uninsured female, who failed to yield to my right of way and almost killed me on that date.

The TN Highway Patrol called me a few times, to remind me that my old Ruger LCP 380 was at their Knoxville location – for me to re-acquire at any time that I wished to do so, up to one year. After one year, the TN Highway Patrol stated that they would destroy my old Ruger.

In early March of 2017, a TN Highway Patrol officer had called me and stated that they would be glad to hold my old Ruger, even over a year, if I wished to call them, before 3/29/2017, to make the proper arrangements. I thanked the very kind and understanding officer for her time. I never called to extend the pick up, due to all the “fun” in life. I had assumed that the TN Highway Patrol had destroyed my old Ruger. Later, I learned that my old Ruger may have become a backup weapon for an officer.

The last time that I had “pulled a trigger” was on 3/25/2016, Good Friday. I was at the homeplace. Steve (a lifelong friend), Monnie (neighbor), and I did some target shooting. We had a great day!

Good Friday is on 4/19/2019. What do you think that I plan to do, for the first time, since 3/25/2016?

Enjoy the photo of my purchase today!


Thursday, March 21, 2019

HOUSE MT. #156, Saint Patrick's Day: 7 Humans and 3 Dogs! (published 3-21-2019; updated 7-21-2022)

Introduction

Well, well, my last article was on 6/14/2017. My how life goes by! Here I sit, plunking away again, finally, on 3/21/2019. Earlier today, my “long-suffering” wife had a medical appointment. It was for a minor problem that is resolved, thankfully. Both of us have a day off work. That's good! It gives me time to write.

My 6/14/2017 article was about my 5/14/2017 Mother’s Day hike on House Mountain (hike #138). As of Sunday, March 17, 2019, St. Patrick’s Day, I have hiked House Mountain 156 times. That is 20 hikes, so far, since I acquired my surgically installed “bionics” – metal pins and screws, in left shoulder, right knee, and right foot!

(I had to pause writing for a few minutes. About 3:30 PM, my “long-suffering” wife came back from visiting her folks, who live about 3.5 miles away. I'm back now!)

House Mountain #156

The following two photographs are from House Mountain hike #156, on 3/17/2019, St. Patrick’s Day Sunday! This was the first time that I have had seven humans plus three dogs hiking with me! The seven humans were my youngest brother, his wife, and their two daughters; our niece; and my wife and me. The three dogs were Molly (our doggy), my brother’s dog, and our niece’s dog. Enjoy the photographs!

By the way, life rolls on, day by day!

Dear Lord, let me die soon and easy, to go Home! My “bionic” joints are aggravating me too much!

What, Lord? Not yet?

Okay. Whatever.

I'll continue to endure my ongoing recovery. Hiking helps.

The photograph below is near the west bluff. Five humans and two dogs made it that far! (My wife, our niece, and our niece’s dog turned back at the first of the six switchbacks on the hike up.) By the way, a goat was on the bluff, as we came near it, on the hike up. My youngest brother, in manful form, chased off the “dangerous” goat!

 

The photograph below is at the parking lot – after the complete hike, by five humans plus two dogs! I see two Nissan Frontier trucks! Mine is the 2006, behind Molly and the information sign. My youngest brother’s is the 2017, on the left side, with tailgate showing.

Conclusion

We “rock ‘n roll” through life, by God’s grace, if He cares! Well, He does care. Sadly, God's providence allows bad things to happen to good people.

If the uninsured chicklet had been a few seconds faster or slower, on 3/29/2016, then she would not have hit my 1995 Nissan pickup and me. Providence allowed the event.

I get mad, at times. I think, “God, if you care, why didn't you prevent the uninsured chicklet from killing my truck and almost killing me? A few seconds earlier or later would have helped!”

God allows bad things to happen to good people, in this temporal realm. He knows that the good folks, who are saved by his grace, will have joy, in heaven, our everlasting home. I continue to endure, with that thought in mind. Hiking helps – especially with family, on St. Patrick's Day!


Wednesday, June 14, 2017

5-14-2017: Mother's Day & House Mt. #138 (published 6-14-2017; updated 7-21-2022)

 
 View from the west bluff, looking southeast.
 
 
 
 The west bluff: the rock that I touch to mark my time is to the left of my trusty ball cap and canteen.


 
 
 View from the upper middle bluff, looking northeast.
  

My faithful '06 Nissan Frontier, awaiting my return, after my hike.

The day was Mother’s Day, 5/14/2017. The day also marked uncle Bobby’s birthday, in 1939. I haven’t met him, yet, as he died in 1941.

I made it up the west bluff, alone as usual, in 37 minutes. Getting over and thru a few downed trees in one spot slowed me down a couple of minutes. I made it faster than I thought, with still damaged right foot and knee. My usual time, on a hot day, is 25 or 26 minutes.

I started the hike at 12:27 PM, by coincidence or providence. 12/27/2000 was the day Mom died. My mother-in-law met my Mom, on 4/30/2017. My cousin, Retha, met Mom and many others, on 4/27/2017. This hike was in their memory and honor.

This 5/14/2017 hike was my first hike (#138) all the way up the ridge (of course, and across and back down) -- since hike #136, on 3/26/2016, Saturday. On 3/29/2016, Tuesday, I almost got to be with Mom, Dad, my Savior, and so many others, when the uninsured chicklet failed to yield to my right of way. (I had hiked the loop trails, at the base, on Thursday, 12/22/16. That was my first hike, since 3/26/2016.)

Every step I take hurts; I take steps. This hike #138 was for my Mom, uncle Bobby, my mother-in-law, and my cousin Retha! Of course, it was for me also. Now that I know that I can hike “My Mountain” – even if I’m not yet a “mountain goat” – by God’s grace and my own strong will – I will keep hiking!


Thursday, December 22, 2016

HOUSE MOUNTAIN, #137 (published 12/22/2016; updated 10/3/2022)

10/3/2022, Monday: I updated by adding section titles only. I did not change a word.

House Mt. #136, 3/16/2016

My House Mountain hike #136 was on Saturday, 3/26/2016 – three days before my world changed for the bad, when the uninsured chicklet failed to yield to my right of way (mentioned in 12/8/2016 article).

House Mt. #137 (#1 “bionic”), 12/22/2016

Instead of hike #150 (which it would have been, by my estimate), I took hike #137 today, 12/22/2016. This was my first time on “my mountain,” since I was almost killed.

I hiked alone on the two little loop trails at the base of the mountain. One trail is 0.2 miles. The other is 0.35 miles, according to the signs. I hiked on uneven paths, down and up a few dips, and over a few fallen logs.

A man has to start somewhere. I cannot yet “mountain goat” up the side of the mountain, but I have taken my first hike. My surgically repaired right knee and foot (which is still swollen and scabbed) took the pounding well enough.

I rejoice that I could take this little hike on “my mountain!” Of course, the rocky bluffs are calling me. How much longer before I answer? Give me time. Today, the weather was sweatshirt warm and sunny, a little too warm for the time of year. Enjoy the photos.






Thursday, December 08, 2016

PEARL HARBOR at HOMEPLACE (published 12-8-2016)

December 7, 1941. The mention of that date is sufficient. I was not yet born, but I have seen the film and photo footage. I have listened to the stories. I have seen the documentaries. I have heard my parents and grandparents talk about it. That date changed this country.

Yesterday was 12/7/2016, 75 years after that “infamous” day. The weather was sunny and seasonally cool. I drove my new, ol’ truck, an ’06 Nissan Frontier, to and from the homeplace, for the first time, since my ol' ’95 Nissan truck died, and I almost did, when chicklet failed to yield to my right of way, on 3/29/2016. That date changed my life, at least for these several months.

Yes, I have improved. I can walk well enough, and I can drive. I am not yet able to hike up a mountain. On 12/5/2016, I was medically “released” to return to work, on 12/19/2016. I will work two weeks part-time; afterward, I will be back to full-time.

Yay, rah. Ho hum. Okay. I am still alive, and I have recovered well enough to drive and to return to work. Don’t get me wrong. I am glad that I am out and about, going toward a normal, active life. I can see a finish line up ahead. The end of the marathon is in sight.

What’s wrong? The prolonged and ongoing recovery has been and is just a gritty process. It’s the reality of life. At least, I am going forward. (My stubborn, strong will has helped in this.) The deeper purpose in life is still missing. Yes, I will be a good husband, brother, uncle, and in-law. I will be a good neighbor. I will be a good coworker. Is there anything else? Pause. . . Wait. . . Oh well, we’ll see. In my 8/26/2016 post, I asked God: “Could you not open a door of complete physical healing and another door of opportunity to serve you, as I once did before you took Mom home? I await your reply and/or action -- as I have been doing since 2000, I do now still.” The long physical healing process, still ongoing, sees a finish line. What about the “door of opportunity?” We will see. Until then, I go back to being a bureaucrat in eleven more days.

To those, if any, reading, I wish you and yours a Merry Christmas. Maybe, I will take my long-suffering wife with me to hunt a tree on Saturday, if I am physically up to it.

Friday, August 26, 2016

I’M STILL ALIVE – WHY? (published 8/26/2016)

I almost died! I should have died. Why am I still alive?

The almost three year silence is now broken. I write on this blog again, to whomever may read it. Life the last two plus years has been the mundane: work, chores, hike, family and friends, eat, sleep, etc. Life was okay, if not wonderful. I lost interest in writing. Life was going through the motions.

Life, however, changed on 3/29/2016. My ol' ’95 Nissan pickup and I were on the way from the office to home. An 18-year-old, with no insurance, decided that I didn’t deserve the right of way, and she hit us. My ol’ truck died. I almost died. Two hospitals had me for 36 days combined. I am still unable to return to work. I am improving to the point that I’m slowly going insane, by not having much to do, being confined at home. So, now I write.

Today, by the way, would have been Granny and Papaw Wood’s anniversary! They married in 1931. How I miss them and the many others who have gone on to a better place.

Why am I not in that better place with them? Why did I not die on 3/29/2016? As the Russians say well, “Только Бог знает!” I still can’t work, drive, walk well, hike, do yard work, check on and do work at the homeplace, etc. I’m still here for my longsuffering and loving bride. (Our 30th wedding anniversary was spent at home, with me still unable to walk.) I’m still around for brothers, some closer than others. If, however, I can’t yet do the things that I need to do or do the things that bring me joy (i.e., hiking, working at the homeplace, etc.), then why did I not die with my ol’ truck?

The above Russian phrase is “only God knows.” God only knows why I am still alive. He has decided to not inform me as to why. I was once an earthen vessel, in whom he had placed the glorious gospel message. I found joy and purpose in serving Him in fulltime ministry and then mission work. Life, however, changed when Mom went to see Jesus, after her yearlong illness and suffering. The “fire in my bones” was extinguished. I didn’t extinguish it. He did. For almost 16 years now, I have been going through the motions of living, with my ministry purpose taken from me.

"So, God, howdy. I’m still here! Since I’m still alive, could you not open a door of complete physical healing and another door of opportunity to serve you, as I once did before you took Mom home? I await your reply and/or action -- as I have been doing since 2000, I do now still."
 

Wednesday, January 01, 2014

House Mountain 97-100th Hikes (published 1-1-2014)

The Appalachian Irishman has hiked House Mountain 100 times! It is official, as of 1/31/2013! Now, it’s time to start working toward the 200th hike! The following are photographs and commentary, on hikes 97 through 100.

Hike 97 was on 11/28/2013, Thanksgiving. The next four photographs are from that hike. The light snow on the ridge was wonderful! It was a good way to work up an appetite!





Hike 98, in the next three photographs, was on Sunday afternoon, on 12/15/2013. I bought a Christmas tree from House Mountain Christmas Tree Farm afterward. This hike is dedicated to our oldest niece, on the Appalachian Irishman’s side of the family, as I hiked on her birthday.




The next photograph is a rock outcropping – a good place to take shelter if it rains.

Hike 99 was on Christmas day, 12/25/2013. The temperature was about 20F, on the ridge, when I hiked. The icicles indicate the cold. The next six photographs are from that hike.




On the ridge trail heading east, I saw my first bobcat track on this mountain.


About the middle of the ridge, near the lower north bluff, someone decorated a Christmas tree.

With cell phone signal, I called the owner of the north side of the mountain, to ask permission to take photographs from the lower north bluff. (He had to restrict access, due to disrespectful hikers, who leave trash.) The next two photographs are from the lower north bluff. The owner told me to watch out for a black mountain lion, which a game warden and he had seen on the ridge not long ago.



The monumental 100th hike was on New Year’s Eve, 12/31/2013. This hike is dedicated to my sister-in-law, whose mother had passed away three days before. There are eleven photographs from this hike. The first three photographs are from the west bluff. The light clouds were sufficient to send snow flurries.




Near the middle of the ridge, looking east, the next two photographs are where the old fire tower used to stand and where the old two-seater out house, filled with buckshot, still stands. The stories that could be told about times at the old fire tower would be interesting! A cell tower is the modern footnote now.



The next three photographs are from the upper north bluff, which a hiker may access without violating owner’s restrictions. The photographs do not do justice to the eye’s view. Come hike with me, if you want to see for yourself!


A man and woman arrived just after I did. I told the woman that this was my 100th hike. She asked, “Are are you the man who wrote the article about your 75th hike?” (She had done an Internet search and read a previous post.) Of course, I am! I had my few minutes of “hiker fame” talking with them. She then took my photograph.


The next two photographs are from the east bluff, looking southwest. The east part of the ridge reminds me, just a little, of Devil’s Nose, in Hawkins County, but much more tame!




The final photograph, from the 100th House Mountain hike, is of my ol’ faithful ’95 Nissan truck. He has 293,860 miles on him, as of the photograph, but he’s still running like new!

Lord willing, in about ten years or less, I will write about my 200th hike on My Mountain!



Devil's Nose, 11-29-2013 Hike (published 1-1-2014)

Devil’s Nose, in Hawkins County, Tennessee, is the highest peak, at its saddle, in the county. How it is named? I have heard two stories. From the east, the mountain looks like a crooked nose coming out of the ground. The other story is that someone got lost on the mountain and never returned. Someone asked, “Where is he?” The answer was, “Only the devil knows.”

This Appalachian Irishman has hiked Devil’s Nose, since his high school days. A friend's uncle owned property, at the southwest base of the mountain. We boys would hike up “the Nose” from his property. Later owners still allow us to hike from the same property. In 2002, I began keeping record, of my usual annual hikes up “the Nose.”

My 10th hike up Devil’s Nose, since 2002, was on 11/29/2013. The weather was cool and clear – almost perfect. If it had been a little cooler, as in 20F or so, the weather would have been perfect.

In recent years, only my youngest brother has been brave enough, to venture up “the Nose” with me. The following are photographs from our 11/29/2013 hike.

The first two are of my brother and me, at what he calls “the Samson Rock.” This is a rock formation, as we hike up the southwest side.


The next photograph is of my youngest brother, climbing in his favorite tree on the ridge, heading east. He likes to have his photograph taken in this tree every year!

It had snowed the day before, on Thanksgiving, and snow was still on the ground, on the ridge and on the north side of the mountain. We found fox and bobcat tracks on the ridge. The next photograph looks like fox tracks.
 

This next photograph looks like a set of bobcat tracks.


The next two photographs are heading east on the ridge. This is the first time that I can remember hiking, with snow on the mountain.


The next three photographs are taken from the east bluff, looking south and southeast. A group of four hikers came up the treacherous east side, using rope and hooks, while we were on the bluff.One was a nine-year-old girl, who is the great granddaughter of my uncle Carson and aunt Hazel Ferrell! (Can you figure out how she and I are related exactly?) This young girl certainly has some Appalachian Irish blood in her!




The next two photographs are the traditional “standing on the bluff” images, of my youngest brother and me.


Lord willing, I want to hike Devil’s Nose every year, the Friday or Saturday after Thanksgiving, as a memorial to my mother, whose birthday was on November 24th, 1932.