Petrified Forest National Park
Over 600,000 tourists visit the Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona every year. They find the amazing sight of trees that lived long ago turned to stone. Not a normal forest When we think of a forest, we usually think of a variety of tall trees growing close together. Trees in the Petrified Forest lay on the ground, often in clumps. The trees lived long ago beside a river. After the trees died and toppled over, the flooded river took them downstream where mud buried them. Over time the wood became stone, mostly quartz. Rainbow Forest Most petrified wood is brown or black. The Rainbow Forest, one of the six forests in the park, contains pink, orange, or red petrified wood. Tourists may find almost every color of the rainbow. Rock Shops Though the...
Read MorePassenger Pigeons
by Sandra Merville Hart Passenger pigeons were once so numerous in the United States that they made up 25% to 40% of all the birds in our country. There are estimates that between 3 billion and 5 billion passenger pigeons were here around the time of Christopher Columbus. Sadly, these birds have all died and are now extinct. Darkened the Sky These birds flew in huge flocks. There were so many pigeons flying overhead that they darkened the sky for hours. With a great cloud of birds about a mile wide and up to 300 miles long, they sometimes blocked the sun from morning to evening for several days. Very fast Passenger pigeons flew very fast. It is estimated they flew about sixty miles an hour, which is around the speed limit on the highway. Searched for...
Read MoreYosemite National Park
President Abraham Lincoln signed a bill to preserve Yosemite Valley and a grove of sequoia trees that he had never seen on June 10, 1864. The first tourists to Yosemite Valley traveled four to five days by carriage, horse, and foot from San Francisco. Yosemite known for beautiful waterfalls and sequoias Yosemite National Park was established in 1890 and has 3,700,000 visitors every year. The park is best known for its waterfalls, but also has ancient giant sequoias, vast wilderness, meadows, and valleys. Yosemite Falls is North America’s tallest waterfall At 2,425 feet, Yosemite Falls is the tallest waterfall in North America. Melting snow feeds Yosemite Falls and it usually reaches its peak in late May. Giant Staircase The Merced River drops over...
Read MoreA Persuasive Writer Inspires a Nation
by Sandra Merville Hart Thomas Paine wrote an important pamphlet called Common Sense which was published on January 10, 1776. Written in clear, easy-to-read language, it became an overnight best-seller. About 500,000 copies sold shortly after publication. Many newspapers around the country reprinted quotes from Common Sense. Paine lived in England until 1774 when he came to America. He got a job writing articles for the Pennsylvania Magazine. He wrote about issues such as slavery and women’s rights. After the Battle of Lexington and Concord in April of 1775, George Washington was appointed as commander-in-chief of the Continental army. We were already at war with England and still many hesitated to split from England. In Common Sense, Paine wrote about the need...
Read MoreIndependence Day
The United States celebrates Independence Day on July 4th. Declaration of Independence The Fourth of July is a very important date for citizens of the United States. The Declaration of Independence which called for freedom from England. Our Continental Congress decided to follow the words of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. Written by Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson, the man who became our nation’s third president, wrote the Declaration of Independence. He was one of five people given the task to write the important document. The others were Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, Robert R. Livingston, and the man who became our second president, John Adams. The committee gave the document to the Continental Congress, who made some...
Read MoreCuyahoga Valley National Park
Cuyahoga Valley National Park, established in 2000, is one of our newest national parks. Just a short drive from Akron or Cleveland in Ohio, 2,500,000 people visit the park each year. The winding Cuyahoga River is a U-shaped river. (Cuyahoga means “crooked” in the Iroquois language.) The unique part about this river is that, for twenty-two miles, it flows both north and south. The river winds past farmland, forests, and rolling hills. One of the most popular tourist attractions at the park is the Ohio & Erie Canal that runs through it. Built in the early 1800s by German and Irish immigrants, twenty miles of the canal are within the park. Hike or bike along the Towpath Trail where mules used to pull the canal boats over a century ago. Parts of the...
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If it’s in the Bible, The Pirate Preacher knows the story. Monday nights he leads a “Jesus Study” in Moore Square, Raleigh, NC. Each Sunday you will find him in the park and at the bus station helping others enjoy the abundant life Jesus promised.
The Pirate Preacher helped launch Christian Devotions Ministries and is the former CEO of Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas, a Christian book publishing company. He’s also a “Blessed Selling” author and Writers’ Coach.
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Jehovah Jireh: The Incredible Provider — A super Hero Graphic Novel
