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Friday, November 18, 2011

Blessed relief

On Monday, even though it was only a few minutes to Blowing Rock, I just had to stop along the Blue Ridge Parkway to pee. After scrambling back up from the ditch where I'd relieved myself behind an oak tree, I took this photograph, the view across the road as pacific as I now felt.
 
 
I told my wife on the drive over to the mountains that I wanted to learn why Blowing Rock was called that. We wondered whether the main feature of the "blowing rock" might be some musical sound it made. I wondered whether maybe there was a long hole in the rock through which the wind rushed and gained speed according to Bernoulli's Principle or something....
    Of course, nowadays you don't have to go to a place to learn that sort of information. You just need to google it:
How the Blowing Rock Got Its Name...
    The Blowing Rock is an immense cliff 4,000 feet above sea level, overhanging Johns River Gorge 3,000 feet below. The phenomenon is so called because the rocky walls of the gorge form a flume through which the northwest wind sweeps with such force that it returns light objects cast over the void.
    The current of air flowing upward from The Rock prompted the Ripley's "Believe-It-Or-Not" cartoon about "the only place in the world where snow falls upside down." Visible from "The Rock" down the gorge to the southwest are Hawksbill Mountain and Table Rock. To the west are Grandfather Mountain (the highest peak in the Blue Ridge chain) and Mount Mitchell (the highest peak east of the Mississippi).[Found at http://www.theblowingrock.com/name.html]
    Note that this is not the answer to the literal question I asked: How did the town of Blowing Rock get its name? But I guess that part is obvious. Anyway, I had to google for the information about the rock, for I didn't learn it in the town.
    Hmm, I wonder how many people who visit the town also visit the rock? Maybe I'll google it.

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