Will Matter be Utterly Destroyed?

Mary Magdalene

Chapter 2: 1-4

. . . Will matter then be utterly destroyed or not?” The Savior replied, “Every nature, every modeled form, every creature, exists in and with each other. They will dissolve again into their own proper root. For the nature of matter is dissolved into what belongs to its nature.

~~The Gospel of Mary Magdalene

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A Diversion

I took a short break from working on my book to drive up to Pinehurst, North Carolina, with my mother to attend the 20th anniversary meeting of the Temperance Smith Alston chapter of the D.A.R.

Why, you ask ( or maybe you don’t)?

My certificate

Because I am the 6th great granddaughter of Temperance and my mother is the 5th and we were the honored guests at their meeting. What did Temperance do to warrant an entire DAR chapter named for her?

Well, during the Revolutionary War (obviously), Temperance negotiated a surrender with Colonel David Fanning when he was involved in a skirmish at her house (now known as “The House in the Horsehoe,” an historic site in North Carolina.

The House in the Horseshoe

As the bullets were flying back and forth between her husband, Philip, and his comrades, and the Colonel and his “troops,” Temperance was trying to protect her children and see to the wounded men. As a matter of fact, you can still see the bullet holes in the house.

Anyway, I like to think that my 6 times great grandmother was worried about her 6 children–two of her sons old enough to be fighting and the youngest not even six months old. Several of the kids she had were standing in the chimney to block the bullets. As a mother, I know I would have done anything to save my child (or, in this case, children) and so–the surrender–to save her children and her beloved husband.

And thus she becomes a woman worthy of Revolutionary recognition by saving her family. And, for her very great granddaughter, it is really cool to have a female ancestor who was willing to face off with a notorious Englishman and win.

A Tranquil Mind

A clear and tranquil mind results from cultivating friendliness towards those who are happy, compassion towards those who suffer, joy towards the virtuous, and impartiality towards wrong-doers.

~~Patañjali’s Yoga Sutras, 1.33

Falling back . . .

. . . in more ways than one.

I used the time change to my advantage Sunday and got out early. I arrived at Big Hill Pond State Park at 8 a.m. and not a soul was at the Visitors’ Center. Fortunately, they had a large topographic map of the park in a small kiosk next to the parking area and I decided to peruse it. The map I had printed from the internet was really confusing and I hadn’t been able to figure out where trails began and/or ended.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have a chance to look at the map for long because, in addition to the mounds of dead Daddy Long-legs that littered the concrete floor of the kiosk and were just generally creepy, about a dozen yellow jackets were buzzing around my ankles. I did see, after a quick look, that one of the trails started just behind the Visitors’ Center and I decided to hike it first. Besides, I liked the name: The Fox Hollow Trail.

As with most of the park’s trails, it was a one-way trail, but it took me past a footbridge that crossed the lake to provide access, believe it or not, to an access trail. Anyway, I took advantage of the detour to view the lake from the footbridge.

Fall foliage from the footbridge.

The trail ended at the boat ramp and dock, and I used the road to make a loop back to the Visitors’ Center. Once I returned, I was able to view the map because the yellow jackets were gone, and I opted for the Rocky Knob Trail, which began in the campground. I was a little over a quarter mile into that trail when I realized that following it was going  to be impossible (in that short distance I had to maneuver around a hornet’s nest, cross several barely crossable streams, climb over multiple blow downs and struggle to determine what was trail and what was hillside because the leaf litter was so deep). Trail Fail. Back to the kiosk.

I then decided to drive the two miles down a dirt road to the trailhead that led to the half-mile boardwalk through Dismal Swamp. And that was well worth it. The swamp was hardly dismal and the walk along the boardwalk quite peaceful.

The not-so-dismal boardwalk.

So, with two trails completed, and wanting to leave the park while I was no longer frustrated with it, I headed to Pickwick Landing State Park to hike its one trail. That was another lovely hike ambling through the woods along the lakeshore.

Pickwick picnic with Rémy before the hike.

I was finished by 3 p.m., so I decided to see how far southeast I could get before it got dark. I miscalculated the fact that it gets dark in Alabama at 5 p.m., so I had to drive through Birmingham in the dark (and I hate headlights in my eyes), but I made it as far as Pell City before stopping for the night.

So falling back, time-wise, made for a productive day. Now, I will be falling back for the winter and waiting for the warmer temperatures of spring before I start hiking again. And meanwhile, I’ll write up the first ten parks and start planning a possible itinerary for 2014.

Yawping

I too am not a bit tamed, I too am untranslatable, /I sound my barbaric YAWP over the roofs of the world. ~~Walt Whitman

That is to say, I am hiking again. After a nine-hour drive to Henderson, Tennessee, which put me squarely between Pinson Mounds State Archaeological Park and Chickasaw State Park, I spent the night at the only motel in the town to re-charge before hiking both parks today.

And I couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful Autumn day: blue skies in the morning, which turned a bit cloudier in the afternoon, and though it was brisk, it was warm enough that I didn’t need my gloves.

I’ll admit to a bias towards this morning’s park. Pinson Mounds features the second highest prehistoric Native American mound in the United States at 72 feet. Another 16 mounds are scattered around the park and the museum features plenty of artifacts. Fascinating. I truly enjoyed both hikes even though the second hike had me maneuvering around blowdowns while balancing on 2-plank bog bridge.

A view of the museum from the 72-foot Sauls Mound.

The afternoon found me ambling around Lake Placid at Chickasaw State Park. Fortunately, the footbridge that no longer quite crossed the lake wasn’t essential to my journey. A second hike, which was closer to half a mile than the .8 mile it promised, took me past an old cabin, an old water tower and the remains of something I couldn’t quite make out–there were lots of concrete posts barely sticking out the ground. A remnant of the former New Deal-era park that preceded it, perhaps?

Rémy thinks he’d rather stay at Brewer cabin than keep driving around.

I imagine I’ll be wearing my gloves tomorrow when I head to Big Hill Pond State Park. It’s supposed to get down to 39 degrees. That’s why I’m back at the Americana Inn in Henderson. Hopefully by Spring, I’ll have acquired the appropriate gear to keep me warm until the temperatures are back in the 50s and above again.