April 17 , 2008

I'm just saying . . .
If kids learn from adults then where did we go wrong?
By James Cook, Times Editor

I have to wonder if anyone can recall a time when our young people were out of control as much as they seem to be today. Recent news events have shown a disturbing pattern and it should make all of us a little uneasy when we see what our youth are doing.
Let us start with a group of third grade students from Waycross, Georgia. Apparently, a teacher disciplined a fellow student for standing in a chair. By disciplining I do not mean a paddling, since corporal punishment can not be used in most schools today. No, she just scolded the child about the dangers of standing in a chair. Her class decided to use recess to hatch a devious plot.
The students, ages 8 to 10, plotted to hit the teacher in the head, tie her up and stab her. Sounds far fetched? Children psychiatrist said the same thing. Surely they were not capable of harboring anger long enough to plot this out and carry it through. But then after a child got cold feet, the plot unraveled and the experts became quiet.
The kids, about nine of them, each had a job to do to accomplish their goal. One had the job to cover the windows so people could not see what was going on, while still another had clean up detail when it was over. When police and school administrators stepped in they found a crystal paper weight that was to be used to knock the teacher out. They had duck tape, rope, handcuffs and a steak knife.
Sounds like they were willing, ready and about to, had someone not spilled their guts. I do not care what so-called experts said, these children were in the middle of another mental condition known as the mob mentality. That is when people who normally would not act out, will join a mob of people and become as unruly as the rest of the group.
Several of these children are now facing charges due to bringing weapons to school, while just about all of them was disciplined by the school in some manner.
Let us not stop there. Just look at the eight high school students in Florida last week. You’ve heard about them on the television news. They invited a classmate over to one of their homes. When she arrived, she was jumped and knocked unconscious. When she woke up, six girls took turns beating her and not letting her leave. Two boys stood outside as “lookouts” and to make sure the victim did not get away.
The victim was beaten so bad, she was unrecognizable to her father when he had to go get her at the hospital. The beating was brutal and vicious. If you saw any of it, you would understand.
What, you did not see it? Well, the teens videotaped it and put it on Youtube, a popular video web site, for the whole world to see. In fact, so far the police and the victim’s family say the only motive for the beating was because the teens wanted to put on Youtube. No other reason. No fight over a boy or because they had issues with each other. No, they just beat her and taped it for fun and to be on the web.
Of course, the web sites claim no responsibility, but if they would police their sites better, remove such things and report them to the authorities, maybe this would not have happened to this young lady. But then no one wants to take responsibility for what kids do, even though ultimately it is the job of the family to make sure they grow up with the proper morals and ethics. The Bible clearly states in Proverbs 22:6 that we are to “train up a child in the way it should go and when they are old they will not depart from it.”
But the community needs to step it up too. We need to make sure that the courts know where we stand on juvenile offenses. But more importantly we, as adults need to set the proper example. You can not get mad because something did not go your way and storm out of a meeting or a situation until things are done the way you want it done, like kids on a playground who take their ball away until the rules are in their favor.
If we act that way, then how else do we expect the youth to act? If we fail as adults to lead them, then we must accept responsibility when they go too far.
I’m just saying . . .

View from the Mountain...
The search for the "glow" of the Foxfire
By David G. Griffin, Times Reporter

A few days ago, I was casually walking my new puppy, Shiloh, through the woods near our home on Furnace Mountain looking for mushrooms when I noticed a large rotting log close to the path. Hoping to see the wrinkled tops of morels, I took a closer look and saw a white fungus growing on the end of the log. The experience made me recall the two times I have seen foxfire in my lifetime.
The term foxfire is a name commonly given to a bioluminescent (life that glows) fungus that grows on rotting wood in moist forests. The fungi usually produce a faint green glow that can only be seen in very dark areas. The light is much like a firefly’s light and is an integral part of the decaying process of rotting wood in our forests. The fungi give off no noticeable heat in the course of decomposing.
The first time I witnessed the “eerie glow” of foxfire was when my brother, Al, and his friend Dempsey Ramsey let me accompany them into the woods near the Ramsey property behind our small farm. Dempsey’s great uncle, Dee Ramsey, actually owned the property.
As I am ten years younger than my big brother, I guess I was about 4 or 5 at the time. They had constructed a small fort in the woods, and we were sitting around a fire listening to the sounds of the forest. As I was walked around the area near the fire, I detected a glow on the moist ground. I asked my brother what it was, and he correctly identified it as foxfire. (Al recently told me that our mother, Bee, usually referred to foxfire as “will o’ the wisp” – another common name for the fungus.)
I was totally fascinated with the strange light on the ground in the woods, but it seemed awfully creepy. It was almost “spooky” to a young boy in the dark and scary forest. If my memory serves me correctly, I came back to the fire and sat quite close to big brother Al for the rest of our adventure.
Later, when I was old enough to explore the woods with my own friends, several boys set up a campfire near the property owned by Floyd Carter. As we gathered around it, someone observed that same weird glow near the site we had chosen to build our fire. I do not recall the names of all my friends gathered that night, but I do recollect that Kenneth Hansel, Floyd Carter Jr., and Paul Hansel were there. None of the group had previously experienced the light except me, and I proceeded to tell them what Al had taught me. I think they were shocked to learn that I had already witnessed the strange glow.
Each member of our party carefully surveyed the cool light growing on a log near our campfire. They asked me questions about my previous experience as if I were some sort of expert. I reveled in it – it was awesome to know something about which my friends had no clue.
Ever since I encountered the uncanny “green glow” in my childhood, I have constantly watched for its presence any time I find myself in the woods. On many occasions, I have walked through my own woods carefully checking the ground for a hint of foxfire. My wife and I love to be in the woods at night, which gives us the opportunity to be on the lookout for its cool light.
There was one night of hiking in the woods when I kept an eye out for foxfire. I never saw any – but it was a night to remember. We had walked to the very back of our property, accompanied by our friend, Larry Jefferson. On our way back to our vehicle, we were cautiously walking in single file when we began to hear the sound of a tree falling. (That will get your blood to pumping!)
There was no way to tell where it was or which way it was going to fall – but we could tell that it was close. We all simply stopped in our tracks, waiting to see if the tree was going to mash us into the ground. By the grace of God, the tree fell near the path but did not hit any of us. (I must say that I had never considered this type of hazard when being in a forest at night, but this experience clearly put it on the list.)
I will continue to search for foxfire and will let you know if its presence on Furnace Mountain can be documented. I plan to begin my search for morels soon, so I will be in the woods whether or not I spot any foxfire.
I feel close to the Lord when I am in the woods, surrounded by His wonderful bounty of nature. A friend of mine, Kevin, recently told me that he had found 18 morels near my property, so I guess it is time to begin my yearly search. And should any of you locate any foxfire around here, I sure would like to know about it.

(You can reach me at mtnman@mis.net Or you can drop me a note at P.O. Box 927 – Stanton, KY 40380. I appreciate your responses and answer every one.)