Moving Into Autumn Themes

created per my instructions to Chatgpt

Today I am responding to Joyce's Hodgepodge questions, concluding with more photos from our recent road trip to Kentucky and also a few words about dinosaurs. (!!) If you want to link your blog to Joyce's Hodgepodge questions, click here.

1. When you think of autumn what sounds come to mind? 

Autumn always reminds me of Roger Williams' piano version of the song, The Autumn Leaves.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kH0d7lgO0Js

2.  Is a trip to the mountains something you enjoy? What's your favorite mountain? 

I-70 heading west into the Rocky Mountains
outside of Denver, Colorado

Mountains will always hold a high place (😉 pun intended) in my heart since I've lived alongside Colorado's Rocky Mountains more years than any of the many other places in my life.

3. What's something that once felt like a mountain, but is now just a molehill? 

Taking on the financial bookkeeping after my first husband died was a mountain for me. My daughter and my second husband have been a big help to me, but the reality is that I've had to take on the responsibility myself. While I now (almost 6 years later) won't go so far as to label that responsibility as a "molehill," I am handling it with relative ease. I literally thank the Lord every day for getting me through that, one of the most intimidating, scary experiences of my life. God has been faithful to me!

click here  to listen to the song

4. Let's play this or that-fall foods edition. Yes, you have to choose. 

• pumpkin spice latte or chai latte 
• apple cider or hot chocolate  
• stew or chili
• sweet potato casserole or green bean casserole 
• butternut squash soup or creamy mushroom soup 
• cranberry sauce or gravy 

5. Sum up your September in a sentence or two. 

Weary of our summer's heat and humidity, we escaped to Kentucky and grabbed some cooler weather to bring down to Florida as we drove home. (My last post addressed part of that trip; #6 below will tell more.)

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

After we spent time at The Ark Encounter in Williamstown, Kentucky (40 miles south of Cincinnati), we drove Southwest to Hodgenville to visit the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln, his boyhood home, and the Lincoln Museum. Pictures follow:

This is a reproduction of Abraham Lincoln's birthplace and boyhood home in Hodgenville. I say that this is a "reproduction" because the real birthplace house was physically moved to the Abraham Lincoln Visitor Center, a few miles away. See the next picture .....

This photo was taken at the Lincoln Visitor Center. The actual house in which he was born was moved to the inside of this awesome building. You see all of the steps required to see it -- we chose to observe from afar. 

The area is beautiful with lots of trees, manicured grass, and benches positioned periodically along that staircase.

Also at this location is a Visitors Center (with restrooms) and a gift shop area. Here Gary is closely examining one of the display cases.

We then drove a little farther into Hodgenville to visit the Lincoln Museum. It's located in a couple of store fronts on the downtown traffic circle ("roundabout"). We were easily able to park right in front of the main door. This picture was taken from the outside, looking into some of the several windows from the sidewalk.

My sister has a rich history with miniatures. Because of her, I know that here we are looking at "room boxes", one-room scenes depicting some of President Lincoln's life. The one on the far right is his deathbed.

Inside the museum, which is absolutely full of Lincoln-era memorabilia, this is a life-size scene of young Lincoln working as a store clerk. You may have heard the story of how at one day's end, he realized he had not given the correct change to a customer. He sought her out to make it right, validating the saying, "Honest Abe," as he was called.

A quote by Mr. Lincoln. The picture is dark and hard to read, but the quote is worth repeating:

"Better to remain silent

and be thought a fool 

than to speak out and

remove all doubt."

There were several life-size scenes from his life, but I captured only two of them. This is Robert E. Lee on the left with Ulysses S. Grant on the right at the McLean home at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, where they met on April 9, 1865 for the surrender of the Civil War.

My souvenir purchases: 3 refrigerator magnets, a book about Lincoln's four sons, and a bookmark.

Our last stop during this Kentucky trip was to Mammoth Cave National Park.

Unhappily, upon our arrival we were told the power had gone out. They did not know the cause yet, nor how long it would take to restore the power. They could not even allow us into the visitor center, and certainly not into the caves. 

After giving the matter some serious thought, we decided to head for home. While on the road we shared with each other our experiences of visiting other caves: (Gary) Luray Caverns in Virginia , (me) Cave of the Winds in Colorado Springs, some mines in the Rockies, and Carlsbad in New Mexico. We have no plans to return to Mammoth but the pictures on the internet are very impressive.

The question was brought up in the comments on my last post about dinosaurs not being mentioned in the Bible and/or on the ark. Perhaps this explanation will help:

The Bible does not explicitly use the word "dinosaur" because the term was not invented until 1841. However, some Christians and creationist groups interpret certain massive creatures described in scripture—such as the Behemoth and Leviathan in the Book of Job (Job 40–41)—as descriptions of dinosaur-like animals. 

Job 40:15–24 (The Behemoth): God describes a powerful plant-eating land creature "which [He] made along with you". The text notes that "its tail sways like a cedar," leading some to suggest a large sauropod, though mainstream scholars and other commentators often identify it as a hippopotamus or an elephant. 

Job 41:1–34 (The Leviathan): A formidable, fearsome sea creature described with great strength and armor, which some connect to marine reptiles, though others view it as a crocodile or symbolic imagery. 

Genesis 1:21 (Great Sea Creatures): Mentions that God created great sea monsters (tanin in Hebrew, sometimes translated as "dragons" or "serpents"), which some believe encompasses large aquatic reptiles.

Until next time, grace and peace.

Barbara