When appreciating the natural world, getting out and seeing it is mostly how it’s done. We go on vacations or road trips to see beautiful things like forests, mountains, rivers, oceans and canyons.
This makes sense, since we are wired to perceive the world mostly through the sense of sight. Thirty percent of the neurons in our brain’s cortex is devoted to vision. For comparison, eight percent is used for smell, and only two percent is used for hearing.

A great deal of childhood early learning occurs through the eyes. Healthy vision is important for children’s early development. Lions Club KidSight’s screenings detect vision problems early. The program helps parents get their children treatment before it’s too late to avoid the permanent vision loss that can result from some eye conditions.

4-H Youth Development Agent Ann Ramsey represented Union County in Middle Tennessee earlier this month when she attended the Agent Showcase and Small Farm Expo on the main campus of Tennessee State University (TSU).

The Union County Senior Outdoor Meat Cookery Team strutted their stuff at the Eastern Region 4-H Grill Master Challenge held on Tuesday, September 19, in Maryville, Tennessee. Sporting new team shirts and armed with aprons and tongs, they fired up their charcoal grills as the competition kicked off midday at the Blount County 4-H office. Teams from counties all across East Tennessee crowded the grounds with their tents and grills and entourages of coaches and sponsors, vying to earn bragging rights as the best grillers in four categories: beef, pork, chicken, and lamb.

Welcome Home to your Tennessee Garden
Join the Union County Extension Office for our new Fall Garden Series every Monday in October from 4-5:30 pm. These classes will take place at our office location: 2721 Maynardville Hwy, Maynardville in the historic Fred Booker Building between Guided by Grace and Union Nutrition.

It’s good, of course, to keep all your muscles strong and limber. But the strength of the body’s core — the muscles in your belly and mid- and lower back — is one of the keys to long term health and stability as you grow older.

The older I become, the more I realize just how much I am like my Papaw E.O. Both of us are awkward, we have the oddest experiences, and we love to tell our stories to others.
There was this one story that made papaw laugh when he told it. It happened to him in the early 1970s. At this time, he and his friend Mr. J were on the board of directors for a local insurance company. They were required to wear suits when they attended the board meetings and they usually rode together.

On most Saturdays I am not obligated to do anything other than mow my yard or “piddle” around the house. One such Saturday I was hauling my trash to throw away. There was a lot of stuff that could only be placed in a “big” dumpster.
It just so happened on that particular day there were two men, each with a truck, also depositing into the “big” dumpsters. It seemed both had already thrown their trash away, but they were in the lot, talking at great length to each other, just exactly in position to block my access to get rid of my own junk.

I like a moist cookie. Crisp ones are good for dunking, but I don't do that. Give me a moist cookie anytime. In mixing bowl, cream shortening and brown sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each one. Beat in vanilla. Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg. Add to creamed mixture. Stir in oatmeal. Chill in fridge for 1 hour.

I’ve heard of water witching all my life and heard many a story about people doing it successfully. I even played around with it some with interesting results that I’ll share later. It perked my curiosity enough to learn more about the topic.
Water witching, also referred to as dowsing or divining, is the art of locating a good underground source of water that is reasonably close to the surface to make digging a well easier and less expensive.