May 2003

If there was one word to describe this Spring it is WET! We have had rain, and rain, and rain, and more rain. We've had 8.37 inches of rain this month! With only a few sunny days.

This is one of the streams going through my property just above where it goes into the National Forest.

Everything is lush and green

Here are some scenes of my creek way down the mountain in the National Forest. My three little creeks have joined up with others to make a beautiful stream.

... waterfalls...

...are everywhere

The rushing water is calming. The air is warm and the mists from the stream is cool.

The stream, rushes on down the mountain on its way to join the Pigeon River.

The woods, scattered with old Chestnut tree stumps, are full of Trilliums.

This is a rare Red Salamander I saw crossing my driveway. I see these guys every once in a while.

The Smoky Mountains have some of the highest biodiversity in the word. We also have the largest number of species of salamanders in the world.

This is the stream on the way to town that I take so many pictures of. On this day it was swollen and muddy from a thunderstorm

The barn up the Hollow after a rain.

Because of all the rain, I've been having a hard time getting my garden tilled this year.

I took some pictures of the beautiful Total Lunar Eclipse we had on May 31. Here the Moon is starting to come out of eclipse.

This was my first attempt to take a picture through my little telescope. The part of the moon coming out from the shadow of the Earth is on the right side and the part still in shadow is in the upper left.