john torrison president
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The ClubPUB  05/21/2018

5/21/2018

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The Club
PUBlication

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Come with us (my son Christopher, granddaughter  Stephannie, and me).  Help us mine precious stones in Franklin, North Carolina.  ​The weather was cool and overcast in the early morning hours, but by noon, it was HOT with a clear sky!
                          Sharon

The Mine

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The mine is located in Franklin, North Carolina, which is in the southwestern part of the state. It is only ten miles from the Appalachian Trail.
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What one does upon arriving at the mine is to, of course, pay at the counter; but then one procedes to the "panning area" which consists of a long trough with running water, long benches on which to sit, and a huge pile of dirt from which one fills his/her pails.
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Christopher was kind enough to fill Stephannie's and my buckets with dirt which we sifted through in hopes of finding "treasures".
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We are almost ready to begin at this point in time. We've staked out where we want to spend the day with our pails, food, water and camera bags!
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The sun gets intense during the day, so everyone greased up!
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We are finally ready to begin! Three happy campers sharing in some family fun: grand-daughter, Stephannie; son, Christopher; and yours truly.


​Now Down to Work!

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Stephannie caught on quickly. I can't believe this little girl could maneuver the heavy wooden strainer--Grandma couldn't! She used a colander.
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After a lot of shaking and dipping into the water, Stephannie found a couple of treasures.
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A couple of hours later and finding nothing, Dad slipped a huge piece of quartz into her bucket!
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Christopher, who has been doing this for several years, is able to fill the strainer, dip, swirl, rinse, repeat and toss in no time. It took me two days to get a pile this high!
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Part of the uniform is a pair of gloves because, not only is the water cold, but the clay-rich soil is very drying.
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Finally it was Grandma's turn to find something other than dirt. It's a good thing because I was getting a little disappointed!

Chris finds something!

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Christopher proclaims, "Hey guys, take a look at this!" To me, it looked like a bunch of clay-coated rocks, but, as it turned out, it definitely was a keeper! It might have been the one of which the final photo was taken.
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You are able to tell from the smile, there's something special in one of the hands, but which hand?
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Stephannie shows off her three sapphires and a garnet. KEEP IN MIND, THESE STONES ARE UNCUT AND UNPOLISHED--THIS IS HOW SAPPHIRES AND OTHER GEMS LOOK IN THEIR RAW STATE.
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I'm all smiles because this MIGHT be a future ring!

That's All Folks!

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When we got to the parking lot at the end of the 2nd day, this is what was waiting for us! After all, this is backwoods country!
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Chris, Stephannie and I sorted out our gems with the use of a black light and Dad's guidance.
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Among the kinds of stones we found were garnets, sapphires and rubies, along with many other semi-precious types. Black lights help to identify rubies which glow a brilliant reddish- pink, as contrasted with the ones adjacent to the ruby.
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This is a picture of one of Christopher's best finds! This 10 Karat ruby and two smaller rubies were all cut and polished from one stone!
I am really hoping I'm invited back for the trip next spring!  This was fun and interesting!

​Sharon


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The Club PUB  05/07/2018

5/7/2018

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The Club
PUBlication

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Harv
      Global Warming 
             Is it Real?


If 97% of the scientific community agree there is global warming and it is caused by humans, why are we all so reluctant to do something while we still can?


​Well, that's a  good question.  Why are'nt we doing something? 

​In fact, we did.  It's called the Paris Agreement (Paris Climate Accord).  The Paris Agreement builds upon the Convention and for the first time brings all nations into a common cause to undertake ambitious efforts to combat climate change and adapt to its effects with enhanced support to assist developing countries to do so. 

Our administrations current stance is "We're getting out."  The US has pulled out of the agreement saying "America First" indicating the accord would be too expensive and limit the use of some natural resources. 

When the president announced his decision, only two countries weren't signatories to the agreement: Syria and Nicaragua. However, Nicaragua signed the agreement in October and, according to 
Climate Tracker, Syria has pledged to sign the agreement as of November 7th, 2017. Thus, the US is the only country in the world (yes, even North Korea has signed) that isn't a signatory.

The question is "do we trust our scientific community"?  If we don't trust them . . . who do we trust?  Is there a group of people with better knowledge about "changing climate conditions" than those who have made it their life work?  Our changing climate is a serious situation that requires action.  It appears the US stands alone  . . .  behind that 3% who deny global warming.  

If this is too scary for you . . . sorry,  its happening.  Think about it.  You hear it every night.  "The worst natural disaster since 2014"  Never so much rain at one time since 2004!  Current big weather events have always been compared to events over 100 years ago.  Now we're having 100 year floods every 8 - 10 years.  Coastal flooding is becoming commonplace.  


    Climate Change Indicators: Coastal Flooding
          This indicator shows how the frequency of coastal flooding has changed over time. ​
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Global Warming is not a political football.  It's real and we seem to be the only country on the planet who denies its existence.  Although it seems to be a comfortable and profitable position for many of those deniers.  

Let's take a look at what the scientific community is telling us.  




Believe it or don't believe it.  It's up to you.  Whatever you believe, make sure your position is built on solid evidence.  I am interested in hearing from anyone in the club who has verifiable opposing information.  . . .   I'm listening!  

Now let's raise a beer and talk gas prices!


Harv
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