#county highpoint

[jbuffyangel]

Best Friends: Arrow 1x19 Review (Unfinished Business)

“Unfinished Business” takes a hard look at Oliver’s friendships with Tommy and Diggle, as one relationship crumbles and the other finds stronger footing – after a few missteps.

Prepare yourselves. I might write about the flashbacks this week because Shado provided an information download which was sorely needed.

Let’s dig in…

Oliver and Tommy

Oliver revealed his true identity to Tommy three episodes ago and it feels like their friendship has been a bomb waiting to explode ever since. A girl who partied at Verdant dies from a Vertigo overdose, which puts Quentin hot on Tommy’s trail and Oliver hot on The Count’s. This poor girl sadly is the catalyst for the explosion between Tommy and Oliver we’ve been waiting for.

The “evidence” that convinces Quentin Tommy is dealing Vertigo isn’t exactly irrefutable. The girl texted Tommy before she died, which Tommy easily explains because he receives texts from hundreds of people every night trying to get into the club. Her request for a “hook up” is not for Vertigo as Quentin believes.

The second piece of evidence raises the eyebrows, but Tommy has an explanation – albeit a shady one. There is ten thousand dollars missing from Verdant’s operating budget. Quentin believes Tommy used it to buy Vertigo, but he used it to bribe the zoning commissioner into skipping their inspection. Bribery isn’t great, but it’s a far lesser crime than dealing a deadly drug. L*urel could drive a truck through all that room for reasonable doubt.

This episode is another Merlance highpoint. L*urel believed in Tommy one hundred percent and he called her baby. Just leave me to my grave to die a happy woman.

After Tommy refuses Quentin entry into Verdant without a warrant, the detective comes back with one and it leads to a heart stopping moment. He wants to specifically look at the sub level not listed on the inspection’s floor plans. Ever the dutiful detective, Lance pulled the county records and knows it exists.

In my mind, I know this is not the way Oliver’s vigilante hideaway is getting discovered, but the panic in Oliver’s eyes always sends me to Stressville USA. Especially when he types the code!!! He’s shooting those panicked looks at Tommy who is as cool as a cucumber.

Quentin enters the The Hood's bunker and there’s no bunker! How Tommy moved all that equipment and replaced it with bottles of booze I will never understand. We simply have to believe in the magic of television y’all. Tommy is not going to rat Oliver out and he quite literally saves his ass.

Something Oliver should have known, but his lack of faith in Tommy is evident. It’s something Tommy cannot tolerate, not after everything that’s happened between them. He cannot believe Oliver thought he was dealing drugs out of the club.

Oliver doesn’t understand why Tommy wasn’t honest about the bribe. Oliver loses me right off the bat. Team Tommy all the way. Let’s list out the things you have not told Tommy, Oliver and we’ll see who has the longer list. YOU HID YOUR SECRET SUPERHERO LAIR IN THE CLUB YOU OPENED WITH TOMMY AND NEVER TOLD HIM ABOUT IT. A bribe is chump change in comparison to that lie.

Tommy: Let me ask you a question, pal. What have I done in the last six months since you’ve been home that would lead you to believe that I would sell drugs?

Oliver:  In the last six months? Nothing. But before I left you played hard. You played with bad people who were into bad stuff.

Tommy: So, did you Oliver. But I changed just like you did. Now you put arrows in people who do bad things.

Oliver gets owned in this argument, because Tommy is right. He refuses to see that Tommy has truly changed, but still expects Tommy to understand he has.

Source: @htbthomas

Oliver’s changes are a tougher pill to swallow. Tommy cannot understand how Oliver can kill people so easily and, quite frankly, wasn’t one hundred percent sure he wouldn’t end up with an arrow in him if he told Oliver about the bribe.

Is this insane for Tommy to be wondering? No, I don’t think so. We know Oliver doesn’t kill easily. We know he’s fighting a nightly war and there is a steep cost to this mission.

However, Oliver has not opened up to Tommy about what happened the five years he was away and he’s not Mr. Joe Here’s What I’m Thinking about being The Hood today. Killing is something Tommy cannot understand, but Oliver expects him to accept it with little to no explanation. Then he has the nerve not to trust Tommy? Seriously?

Source: @htbthomas

What Tommy thinks of him is a verbal gut punch to Oliver, but he deserved it. Unfortunately, this fight is not one Oliver can fix with a simple apology. Tommy has reached his limit and who can blame him.

Tommy: This club is important to me, but to you it’s just a front. You want me to keep your secret, help you be this thing you’ve become, but you refuse to see me for what I’ve become. I’ve got just a bit too much self-respect for that. I quit.

BOOM. YASSS MY SON!!! Way to stand up for yourself Thomas. I was so proud of him telling Oliver where to stick it.

Tommy: I’d prefer we skip the I-told-you-so’s, but the nightclub wasn’t really working out. I guess I need something more boring, stable… I guess what I’m saying is - I need a job.

TOMMY WHAT ARE YOU DOING??!!! WORST. DECISION. EVER.

Tommy is back in the arms of the Big Bad Malcom Merlyn. For one brief shining moment, Tommy stood tall on the moral high ground, but not five seconds later comes plummeting back down to work with the sludge of the earth.

Source: @fogsblue

Tommy has every right to be pissed at Oliver, but his father is not the answer. That man is a hellscape. Whatever positive changes Tommy has made he is in real danger of a serious backslide. Now that Tommy is on the outs with Oliver, Merlyn can lead his son right to his very own villain origin story. And Tommy may lose sight of who he really is.

Oliver and Diggle (Felicity)

Oliver is firing on all cylinders tonight with his bros. After accusing his best friend of being a drug dealer, Oliver pitches a hissy fit over Diggle not being available the second he’s needed.

John is distracted because he’s consumed with avenging his brother’s death and killing Deadshot. While Oliver was trying to stop a hostage situation with a man high on Vertigo, Diggle was handing over information on Deadshot to a friend from ARGUS.

Hello Lyla! This is her very first Arrow appearance. These two had more chemistry in this single scene than any scene with Diggle and Carly.  I don’t know what obsession this show has about siblings dating the same people, but it’s enough already. I have to deal with this crap on The Vampire Diaries.

Oliver is furious Diggle ignored Felicity’s phone call. John hilariously tells Oliver not to get his panties in a twist. He’s completely fine. Oliver pretty much puts his hands on his hips and says, “You couldn’t have known that!” They sound like an old married couple.

John is a little put out Oliver is not more understanding. He thought Oliver would understand his vendetta against Deadshot, since Oliver is walking around with a whole damn list of names from his father! But that’s right. It’s a mission. Not a vendetta. Where’s Helena? We need her around if we’re debating this again.

Diggle chooses to be more specific and reminds Oliver The Count almost killed Thea, so his fervor over getting this drug and criminal off the streets may be a little personal too. Oliver says nothing because it’s true.

Diggle: I can’t move on with my life knowing that he’s still out there. I thought if anybody got that it’d be you.

Oliver doesn’t say anything here either because that’s true too. #TeamDiggle.

Felicity and Oliver discover there’s a new antipsychotic drug added to Vertigo, which makes Oliver believe The Count didn’t break out of the asylum like he thought. Maybe he faked his escape like he faked the crazy.

Close, but no. The Count really is three paper plates short of a picnic. It’s his DOCTOR and a very burly orderly who are manufacturing Vertigo. Honestly, I did not see that one coming.

It’s a Vertigo episode, so Oliver is getting drugged, but this time Diggle does show up to save him. He takes out the horse sized orderly, and Oliver kills the doctor with three arrows. It’s not often The Hood requires more than one to get the job done, but his vision was a bit wonky, so he used three just to be on the safe side.

Both the orderly and the doctor had to die because they knew Oliver Queen was The Hood. Those are the rules. The interesting choice Oliver made was not to kill the Count, who is babbling like a toddler on a telephone.

Arrow uses this moment to draw a very important distinction between Diggle and Tommy. After the boys return home, Oliver wants to know if Diggle is ok. He’s the killer in this family, not John.

Diggle: I’ve killed before Oliver. It’s just been a while.

There is no judgment from either man. It’s just quiet acknowledgement that killing is necessary sometimes. But that doesn’t make it easy.

Tommy’s anger towards Oliver makes him blind to his humanity. Oliver is not a psychopath. He does not kill for the enjoyment of it. He is doing what is necessary to save the city from some really bad people. Tommy takes it too far believing killing is easy for Oliver. He’s furious Oliver doesn’t see the change in him, but the truth is Tommy doesn’t see the change in Oliver either.

This is something Oliver never had to explain to Diggle. John does see the change in Oliver. He stood by quietly as Oliver grappled with killing The Count. Diggle didn’t make any speeches. He simply left space for Oliver to make that decision on his own.

If Oliver chose to kill The Count, John would’ve understood that choice as well. He wouldn’t call him a murderer. John encourages Oliver to make different choices, but he also meets Oliver where he’s at. Maybe Oliver would open up more to Tommy if he offered less judgment like John Diggle.

Diggle is curious why Oliver didn’t kill The Count and he tells him the truth. There just didn’t seem to be a point with the Count chained up and lost to madness.

There are two things Oliver is not saying. He was convinced earlier in the episode that he made the wrong decision allowing The Count to live and was just a teensy bit mad.

Source: @lucyyh

But he couldn’t fire the arrow in the end.

Felicity’s gentle reassurance that locking The Count up was the right call hit her intended mark. If killing is truly a last resort, then Oliver has to utilize other methods of dealing with criminals. Oliver has shown more restraint ever since Felicity joined the team. He hasn’t stopped killing, but he does listen to her.

Source: @lucyyh

The second is Oliver believes killing an unarmed man in that condition would be wrong – like stabbing someone in the back. He’s not a threat in that condition and The Count truly didn’t have anything to do with the Vertigo being unleashed on the city again. There are rules to war and those rules keep his humanity intact.

John Diggle has Oliver’s back, so in return Oliver will have his and is making Deadshot a top priority. Couldn’t we have just done that from the beginning and skipped their couples fight?

Neither Oliver or Tommy can see the other for who they truly are. Yet, people Oliver met barely a year ago have more faith in him than his childhood best friend and vice versus. Sometimes history stops us from allowing change in the people we love.

You can see why Oliver is keeping his identity secret from his family and L*urel. It's not just about their safety. He's afraid they will all react like Tommy.

But there's no baggage with Diggle and Felicity, so Oliver has a clean slate. They can see Oliver for who he truly is. It's becoming clearer with every episode that Diggle (and Felicity) are Oliver's best friends.

Shado

Like Felicity, Shado is a breath of fresh air to Team Island. She is beautiful, kicks ass and knows a thing or two about a bow. Oliver has been helpless majority of the time. I am not expecting him to become a super secret agent man like Slade Wilson in a couple of months, but he does need to perform a function on this team other than dead weight.

Shado takes it upon herself to teach Oliver how to shoot, but she does not start with the bow. She begins by telling Oliver to slap a bowl of water. Like the idiotic American he is, Oliver is annoyed, but doesn’t really have anything better to do, so he slaps the water in the bowl. By episode end, his hand is strong enough to pull the bow string. This woman accomplished more in a day than Slade Wilson did in months.

She also provides some much-needed Yao Fei backstory. He was general in the People’s Liberation Army (the Chinese communist army).  The military committed a massacre and chose Yao Fei to take the blame. They sent him to Lian Yu for the rest of his life. Fryers knows this and wants Yao Fei to take the fall for whatever he’s going to do.

And we thought The Count was nuts.

Source: thearrowgifs

As for Shado, she spent years searching for her father. A man told her he knew where Yao Fei was, but kidnapped her instead and brought her to Lian Yu as leverage over Yao Fei. It took nineteen episodes to get that information. Yeesh.

Shado: I’m worried, this island, what he must have had to do to survive. That it changed him.

If this sounds ominous it’s supposed to. Not all change is good. That’s true for all of us - even Oliver Queen.

Stray Thoughts

“You could’ve just said he was nuts.” I like sassy Quentin.

Maybe it’s my whole Buffy history, but Shado and Slade sparring felt very sexually charged.

Budget cuts and the CAMERAS are the first to go in jail?!!!

This will always be one of Diggle's best lines.

TOMMY HAS FELICITY’S PHONE NUMBER. Oh, the fics this detail launched.

What did we ever do in the bunker without this perfect gumdrop of a human being?

“What’s happening now isn’t your fault.” Felicity should’ve tattooed this on Oliver’s arm. It would save a whole lot of time.

“My mom does yoga.” Ollie is just so… Ollie.

1141 is the passcode to the bunker. The Green Arrow was created November 1941 (11/41).

Listen to the Watchover podcast reaction to 1x19!!!

If you’d like to support the blog, please buy me a cup of tea!

Disclaimer: Any gifs on the blog are not mine. If you would like a gif removed from my reviews, please message me

[larryselectric]

West Seattle Electrician Electrical Contractor - Larry's Electric of West Seattle and King County, Washington

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[3upadventures]

Goat Mountain and Mt. St. Helens ... kinda

Goat Mountain and Mt. St. Helens … kinda

Although I’d really been looking forward to climbing Mt. St. Helens, with the renovation at my mom’s house ever growing in scope, I didn’t prepare for this trip anywhere near as well as I should have. I ended up working with the plumbers the day that I’d planned to leave and things just got a little nuts. About the time I reached Centralia, I realized that I’d left my ice axe and crampons in…

[valhikes]

Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, Nevada

The second day of this overnight in the Ruby Mountains, I headed for the Ruby Dome, high point of Elko County. There was a slight hiccup as I took a poor route and scared myself. Had to have a little sit before settling into one of the nice safer routes instead.

[humanismtoday]

A NC State court rules that NC Republicans must stop blocking the will of the people in their Gerrymandered maps.

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/dispatches/2019/09/04/nc-court-overturns-partisan-electoral-maps/

[docarefound]

Every person, stakeholder, and resident in our community must step up now to help make our communities thriving, equitable places with opportunity for all. #guifordcounty #greensboro #highpoint #endhunger #endhomelessness #alleviatepoverty #idareyoutocare (at Guilford County Government) https://www.instagram.com/p/CNGVviCnPIp/?igshid=1pdbm1c6t0fu5

[princewheels]

North Carolina Mobile Repair Technicians available at your business or residence for cosmetic and bent wheel repair. Call or text with photos of your wheels for a quote and to schedule directly with technicians in your area. Raleigh/Durham & Surrounding Metro area: 919-539-6857  Michelle Raleigh/Durham, Clayton & Smithfield: 919-538-1457 Devon ( cosmetic only) Winston-Salem,Greensboro & High Point: 336-254-7901  Blair Charlotte/Mecklenburg & Union County: ​ 704-577-6412  Keith Charlotte/Mecklenburg & Surrounding Areas 980-239-2820 Jeremy Se Habla Espanol Bent wheel repair: tire must be removed for the wheel/rim before technician arrives. #PrinceWheels #PrinceWheelServices #wheelrepairspecialists #ncwheelrepair #mobilewheelrepair #charlotte #monroe #concord #buzzcity #greensboro #highpoint #winstonsalem #burlington #cary #chapelhill #durham #bullcity #raleigh #apex #clayton #smithfield #alloys #alloywheels #professionalwheelrepair #scratchedwheel #bentrim #bentwheelrepair #dentedwheel #curbdamage #potholedamage (at Prince Wheel Services) https://www.instagram.com/p/CM5hcs9Ja-_/?igshid=dbrekork1wr6

[official-michael-afton]

Me please!

THANK U FOR ENTERTAINING ME

so I was just doodling and editing my Vanny's design(I blame Gnome) and like I doodled this

So then I thought "huh, this outfit is pretty tomboyish, I wonder if I should make her an outdoorsy type"

And then I went full self-projection

My Vanny is a highpointer

A highpointer is a term for someone who likes to climb to the highest points of things! It's most commonly associated to those who climb to the highest point of all 50 U.S. states(I've only got 8 so far!!!), but can apply to all sorts of things, including but not limited to: highest points in countries, provinces, counties, even continents! There's all sorts of neat challenges!

But my Vanny is so a U.S. state highpointer because I miss being able to go outside

[911parrotalert]

LOST - SUN CONURE, 'Terri', 2/18/19, Near Highpoint Golf Community, HIGH POINT, BROOKSVILLE, HERNANDO COUNTY, FL 34613

[mwrenhero]

Cuyamaca Peak West, West, North, East, and South views. The second highest point in San Diego County. I guess I should get back to life for a few days but I’m very tempted to come back to the state forest here and hike the rest of the trails it has to offer. Has anybody swam in the El Capitan reservoir? Looks like the closest clean body of water. Maybe a future backpack trip from camp to there?! Had to climb on top of a storage building roof for that East view btw 😂 Continued to develop my trail running abilities by jogging the 2.5 miles back down. A huge thanks to @myyitaa_ for guiding me to this magical place 😍 . . . . . . . . . #sandiegocounty #cuyamacapeak #cuyamacaranchostatepark #highpointers #peaks #highpointhiking #weatheredwren #trailrunning #trailrunning #funemployment (at Cuyamaca Peak) https://www.instagram.com/p/B0yk9MIhH_1/?igshid=qsqamxmd99nf

[xtruss]

Ireland's Priceless Treasure Hidden By Monks

One of the most exciting archaeological finds in the history of Irish art was unearthed on Tipperary's Derrynaflan Island by a man and his son using metal detectors.

— By Tracey Croke | 1st August 2022

"Go up there and dip your finger in the holy water – it's always full," insisted the farmer on the way to Derrynaflan Island. I was lucky to bump into him as there was no sign to direct me along a stony track to this sacred spot, mostly known only to locals.

Derrynaflan is not a typical island. This tiny 44-acre, privately owned mound, in Ireland's biggest inland county, isn't surrounded by an ocean or a lake. Unusually, it pops from the Bog of Lurgoe in Tipperary's vast brown swampy peatlands like a vibrant green mirage. Nevertheless, by dictionary standards, an island it categorically is.

I'd come to this remote bogland to see where Ireland's earliest hermetic monks found solitude from the 6th Century. While most of Europe was reeling in the post-Roman disarray of the Dark Ages, the land of saints and scholars (as Ireland widely became known) bucked the trend by entering a remarkable golden age of scholasticism and artistic achievement, characterised by monastic settlements like Derrynaflan.

But what's especially interesting about Derrynaflan is the priceless buried treasure likely left here by the monks. Discovered just a few decades ago, it changed Irish law and turned out to be one of the most exciting archaeological finds in the history of Irish art.

Careful not to disturb the munching bullocks, I gently climbed a short 200m to the ethereal ruins that still crown the island today. At the top, I wandered into what was left of a 12th-Century abbey that replaced an earlier monastery. A soft apricot evening glow poured through pane-less windows on to a long-departed altar. Two stumpy stone vessels were all that remained. One – a medieval bullaun (bowl) stone – was indeed hollowed enough to collect the farmer's promised "holy" (rain) water. I agnostically blessed myself as instructed.

An information sign at the abbey revealed there's much more to Derrynaflan than first meets the ecclesiastical eye. Controversially, the little-known mystical landmass shot to international archaeology fame in 1980 when a father and son from the town of Clonmel, about 25km away, unearthed an intricately decorated cup and plate using hobby metal detectors.

Uncovered in 1980, the Derrynaflan Hoard is one of the most exciting archaeological finds in the history of Irish art (Credit: National Museum of Ireland)

The "cup" was, in fact, a 9th-Century chalice. And the "plate", an 8th-Century paten used for holding the bread during the eucharist of Ireland's medieval church, confirmed Nessa O'Connor, curator and archaeologist at the National Museum of Ireland. "They are elite objects with a very, very high standard of craftmanship created at the highpoint in the early Irish church," she said.

The silver chalice and paten are decorated with outstanding examples of ancient Celtic goldsmithing, O'Connor explained. Fine interlaced gold-wire work called "filigree", illustrated on postage stamp-sized intricate art scenes around the edge of the paten, is in a style distinctive to Ireland. The paten is also the only example of its type to survive from early medieval Western Europe.

The combination of the objects is unique… it's a complete altar set

A wine strainer and stand (for the paten) completed a priceless hoard of Insular Art (shared art style in Ireland and Britain around 600 to 900 CE, heavily influenced by the expansion of the Irish monastic tradition). "The combination of the objects is unique… it's a complete altar set," O'Connor said, explaining that burying valuables was common during Viking raids and the dynastic turmoil of the 10th to 12th Centuries. "It looks like it was deposited deliberately [by the monks] at a time of high risk." Archaeologists have since meticulously surveyed the island and nothing else was found, she added.

The silver chalice and paten (pictured) are decorated with outstanding examples of ancient Celtic goldsmithing (Credit: National Museum of Ireland)

Today, the Derrynaflan Hoard can be admired at the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin, along with other exceptional finds from the Insular Art period, such as the Ardagh Chalice, found in 1868 by a young man digging up potatoes near Ardagh, County Limerick. O'Connor noted that its artistry and style is comparable to the elaborately illustrated Book of Kells, which is "Ireland's greatest cultural treasure", according to Trinity College Dublin, where it is on display.

The natural conditions of boglands have proved to be freakishly good at preserving ancient artefacts. The low temperature, lack of oxygen and high acidity of the soil mean even organic matter can survive for thousands of years. A 3,000-year-old keg of butter was pulled out of an Irish peat bog. Bodies more than 2,000 years old have been found with hair and nails intact. However, before any get-rich-quick treasure-hunting thoughts rush in, Ireland has among the most stringent laws in Europe around metal detecting and excavation – and it was the Derrynaflan treasure discovery that tightened them, explained Sharon Greene, archaeologist and editor of Archaeology Magazine.

It means there isn't a legal hobbyist treasure-hunting scene in Ireland the way there is in other countries

A seven-year legal battle between the Derrynaflan detectorists, the landowner and the government, which went all the way to the Supreme Court, eventually determined that the treasure hoard belonged to the state. "It means there isn't a legal hobbyist treasure-hunting scene in Ireland the way there is in other countries," Greene explained. In the UK, specialist tour operators arrange treasure-hunting trips. "This is never going to happen in Ireland," she said.

The wrangling over ownership and monetary value of the Derrynaflan treasure resulted in practically a blanket metal-detecting ban in Ireland. Penalties for both unlicensed searching and digging are harsh. And any archaeological objects found by accident (ploughing for example) automatically belong to the state. However, Greene continued, nowadays, archaeological interest is less about personal financial gain and more about pride of place and finding that special connection with your past.

Derrynaflan Island is surrounded by the Bog of Lurgoe's swampy peatlands (Credit: Tracey Croke)

In this spirit, I'd ambled to Derrynaflan following a newly waymarked 9km loop from the Horse and Jockey Hotel in the tiny townland of the same name. The first 2km was on twisty backroads, where I met with one car, which, judging from its speed, wasn't expecting to meet me. But soon enough, I crossed a bridge onto new stony pathways created by a group of passionate locals during the pandemic to make the perilous boglands more accessible. The island, which can be reached via an informal path, 200m or so off the main route, came into view after a couple of more kilometres.

After decades of industrial peat-cutting to fuel Ireland's stoves, the bog was no longer nature's healthy blanket of saturated spongy moss it once was. But, several years since harvesting ended (due to green policies), it was encouraging to see flora gaining confidence over a largely drab landscape.

"Nature will take it back very quickly," said Eoin O’Connell, an agricultural science and biology teacher at a nearby secondary school whom I met en route. O'Connell often walks to Derrynaflan from his family farm in Lurgoe, a townland several kilometres away that the route passes through on the way back to the Horse and Jockey.

Grasses, heather and rows of gorse – a thorny shrub with bright yellow, vanilla-scented flowers – had taken root. Fingers of water, which will one day expand to become a flood plain, beckoned with soft reflections. "Slowly it will go from being a carbon releaser to a carbon sponge," O'Connell said. Wetland birds, now gathering in bigger numbers, pierced an eerie silence. "I've heard a cuckoo, he added. "That's rare."

Liam Fleming, another local who is interested in finding hidden heritage, started Tipperary community walking group Siul Eile (meaning "another walk") with a few people in 2016. It has since grown to 5,000 participants. Visitors can join regular walks (including the Derrynaflan Loop) free of charge. Fleming, who recently received a county honour for his sustainable social enterprise, said, "We take pride in looking after monuments and trails, but we also bring people together and share stories with each other."

Getting There:

The 9km route, which passes close to Derrynaflan island, isn't clearly signposted yet. Landowner permission is needed to visit the island, so it's best to go with a local walking group or enquire at the Horse and Jockey Hotel.

Derrynaflan Island is also part of The Derrynaflan Trail, a self-guided driving tour that explores the sacred places of Tipperary's Slieveardagh Hills. The accompanying audio guide tells stories of saints, scholars, sinners, Norman warlords, Viking battles and powerful nobles through heritage sites spanning 15 centuries.

The island can be accessed via a newly waymarked 9km loop from the Horse and Jockey Hotel in Derrynaflan (Credit: Tracey Croke)

The Irish countryside has one of the densest concentrations of surviving archaeological monuments in Western Europe. "There are other bog islands and ancient monastic sites peppered all over the place," said Greene, who believes heritage sites should be accessible to everybody. While the vast majority of Ireland's 150,000 or so recorded archaeological monuments are on private land (needing permission from the landowner to visit), communities are successfully accessing their local ancient sites, such as megalithic tombs, monasteries, castles, stone circles and battlefields, through the Heritage Council's Adopt a Monument programme.

Visitors will never be far from a community's special pride of place that links it to the past. Since many of these hidden nuggets are often beyond even Google's search prowess, Greene and Fleming both recommend relying on the more traditional way of "enquiring locally" about ancient sites of interest. This means "asking what the go is" at a hotel, a shop or a pub in the area.

In Killenaule, a small town about 9km from Derrynaflan, where you can still get your groceries and a pint of draught Guinness in the same store, people will happily tell you everything you need to know about their beloved treasure island and how you can get there. Expect the lowdown to be wrapped in legendary banter and generations of folklore. But that's another cherished story for locals to tell.

[3upadventures]

Sevier County Highpoint: Fish Lake Hightop

Sevier County Highpoint: Fish Lake Hightop

This hike kicked my butt. I don’t think it should have been that hard but it was.

Sprocket and I started hiking at Pelican Overlook (where we could totally have stealth camped for free, but, alas).

I tried to stick to my heart rate goals for training and it was taking us a realllllyyyy long time. The canyon wasn’t particularly interesting and just headed up through trees. Somehow, I had missed…

[nickclarkeconservative]

I met with Matt Hancock MP and Bobby Bennett, our County Councillor, today to discuss the Highpoint expansion planning application and the state of the ring road and the estate roads. We met in Cafe 33 for a great cup of coffee before going to the Highpoint prison. We were all in agreement that the proposed East Carpark needs relocating and that both the ring road and estate roads are…

[thehikingviking]

East Sister & Middle Sister, Sweetwater Mountains

After some autumn snowfall, a stint of dry weather passed over the American West, providing an opportunity to get back into higher country. Hiking in the Sierra Nevada still posed a bit of a challenge, but the drier Great Basin ranges provided an opportunity. I had been meaning to get back into the Sweetwater Range since climbing South Sister earlier that summer, and this appeared like the perfect weekend. From studying the daily satellite images, snow levels had receded enough to make it a mostly snow free hike. I felt this would be a good weekend to get Asaka out for a day. I didn’t realize it at the time, but this was the first hike Asaka and I would do by ourselves since before Leif was born.

The logistics of the outing would be key. We put Leif to bed at 7pm then began the long drive over Carson Pass and down Smith Valley. We left Highway 338 at the northern end of Sweetwater Flat and followed dirt roads to an abandoned coral at just under 7,600 ft. It was past midnight when we arrived, so I quickly set up the car where we slept in the back. We woke up before sunrise and were hiking by 7am. We started by following an overgrown dirt road through a Juniper forest.

We had a goal to be done by 1pm so that we could be back home in time for Leif’s dinner. Asaka’s motherly instincts had her hiking at a faster pace than I could maintain.

We followed the dirt road for about 1.5 miles until reaching a sage brush covered flat at the northeastern end of Little Smith Valley. We left the road here, aiming for East Sister which stood directly above us.

The sage brush was about knee high, but spaced out enough so as not to be too much of a hindrance.

I really would have liked to explore some of the peaks on the other side of the valley, but we were on a tight schedule and would not have the time that day.

We decided to pick a direct route up the peak. We stayed in the shade of the mountain the whole way up, and didn’t see direct sunlight until we reached the summit.

I found a protruding rib of granite that stuck out alongside our ascent route. To make things more interesting, I decided to climb this instead of the sage covered talus. This was a nice class 3 variation of what would have been an otherwise boring slog.

We reached the summit of East Sister at 9:15am, only 2 hours and 15 minutes after starting out. This was much quicker than I expected, and gave me hope that we would make it back in time for Leif’s dinner. To the north was Desert Creek Peak.

To the east were Bald Mountain in the foreground and Mt Grant in the background.

To the southeast were Boundary Peak and White Mountain.

To the south was our next objective, Middle Sister.

To the west was the Sierra Nevada.

We kept our break short and left after signing the register. We followed the top of the ridge southwest towards the saddle between East Sister and Middle Sister. I had read of brush in the upcoming section, but using satellite views and other’s GPS tracks, I was able to pick a way through that did little to slow us down. Once at the saddle, we had a little over a thousand feet remaining.

Patches of snow appeared but we could avoid most of them. Rather than head directly to Middle Sister, we took a short detour and climbed the Lyon County highpoint of Nevada.

This "liner" at least had a little bit of a rock pile that stuck out from the slope. We found a register here which was full of many familiar names.

We then continued up the ridgeline, crossing the California-Nevada border where we found another register. I signed this just in case, but I wasn’t quite sure what it represented.

A short patch of unavoidable snow stood ahead of us, but it was soft and not very steep.

After a few more minutes, we both reached the summit. It was only 11 am, which meant it took us only 4 hours to climb Middle Sister via East Sister. We were a happy couple that day.

To the north was South Sister.

To the west was the Sierra Nevada.

To the northwest was the Lake Tahoe area.

To the north were Desert Creek Peak and East Sister.

To the east were Bald Mountain and Mt Grant.

To the southeast were the White Mountains.

We both felt pretty good about our schedule now, so we allowed ourselves to take a rest and enjoy the scenery. It was a perfect weather day. Our descent down the northwestern slopes of Middle Sister was made very easy with soft sand underfoot. We had some nice boot skiing and generally easy, clear downhill hiking. We even picked up a trail that I hadn’t expected, which we followed all the way back to Little Smith Valley.

We powerwalked the rest of the way back to the car, only stopping shortly to try and identify some mysterious animal that Asaka spotted. In the end we both decided it was either a horse or a cow, even though I never saw the thing, which was allegedly hiding behind a bush. Once back at the car, I began the long drive back, and we made it back home in time for Leif’s dinner. Everything went to plan, and I don’t even think Leif even realized his parents were gone. Success!

[orbemnews]

14 months after COVID-19 , Prichard parks still closed PRICHARD, Ala. (WALA) – Friday was a gorgeous day, perfect for youth sports or just hanging out in the park. Just one problem in Prichard – they’re all closed. Even as other cities long ago reopened their parks and Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has lifted all COVID-19 restrictions, city officials here say the virus still poses too great a risk to allow people in the parks or to participate in youth recreation programs. “The numbers are still spiking,” city spokesman TJ Pettway said. The prolonged shutdown has drawn increasingly loud voices of protest among youth sports advocates and others. Community activist Quinn Austin-Pugh noted that COVID-19 transmission is dramatically lower and that health experts say outdoor activities are a low risk. He questioned why Prichard can’t reopen when other cities have long ago. “My kids live in the city of Prichard. We have to go over to Africatown, which is in Plateau to even be able to play Tee-ball right now,” he said. “You know, it’s ridiculous that I have to go outside my city with my kids to be able to, you know, give them a piece of a piece of joy in their life.” Austin-Pugh criticized city officials for not maintaining the parks during the shutdown. “Right now, the grass is literally up to my knees,” he said, traipsing through the football field at Fagerstrom Municipal Park, commonly known as Eight Mile Park. “The grass is literally up to my knees as we walk through now. I mean, it’s disgusting, you know what I’m saying? It’s repulsive to see how the City Council neglects its people.” Prichard Mayor Jimmie Gardner denied that the city has failed to maintain the parks during the shutdown. “That’s not correct,” he told FOX10 News. “They cut those parks regularly. As you know, when it rains, it grows.” Before COVID-19, the park was alive with the sounds of kids playing football. Austin-Pugh has fond memories of generations of football games here. Now, he said, the city risks its youth getting into trouble. And it’s not just sports, Austin-Pugh said. He noted that Highpoint Park has a brand-new splash pad built with a grant from the Mobile County Commission. He it never has been used. Since COVID, a lock has kept the gate closed. Bryon Gill, of the Mobile Youth Football League, said Prichard’s policy is bad for youths. “It’s having a very bad impact,” he said. Gill added that he has pleaded with the City Council to no avail. “I’ve given them the paperwork on the COVID situation, as well as the governor lifting the mask mandate,” he said. James Roberson, assistant athletic director of Eight Mile Park, said the policy is “giving our kids nothing to do” and that Prichard should reopen. “The park belongs to the people,” he said. Roberson also is CEO of the Alabama Youth State Championships, which hosted 5,600 athletes at Sage Park in November. “Not one person caught COVID, because we followed all the safety measures,” he said. City Council President Ossia Edwards said the council would revisit the issue next month. But the mayor said the time is not yet right. “We still need to be concerned about the coronavirus, COVID-19. And, from my position as the mayor of the city, I weigh more to the life of those who are living here than I do to whether or not someone is going to get into a park,” Gardner said. “And I think we should be very careful of wanting to rush right into the parks and bring our young kids and gathering with football.” All content © 2021, WALA; Mobile, AL. (A Meredith Corporation Station). All Rights Reserved. !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s) if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function()n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments); if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0'; n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0; t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)(window, document,'script', 'https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js'); fbq('init', '799069027340147'); fbq('track', 'PageView'); Source link Orbem News #citycouncil #Closed #covid-19 #Covid19 #jimmiegardner #kayivey #months #Park #parks #Politics #prichard #quinnaustin-pugh #sport

[bbabushkajusofonii]

BB only goes out in the sun for causes she believes in and with gente she cares for, thus el milagro. Street #cleanup for kwcb.org with @palavertreetheater . What was your highpoint of the day Beautifuls? #keepwakullacountybeautiful #hometown #keepitclean #earthdayeveryday #keepamericaclean (at Wakulla County, Florida) https://www.instagram.com/p/CNOdj3fMD73/?igshid=lbqzxkrsvma0