Books by Clay Sherrod

The investment in our love of space and skygazing can be high. All too often, we are led to believe that we did not have enough equipment, or have the wrong equipment or we are not doing things right. Telescope Rx is intended to provide solid and practical advice on everything from setting up a telescope, eyepieces, important accessories and even computer or smart phone programs to run the telescope, then turning that telescope into a nightly research tool with projects for every night you wish to pursue. This is your directory to properly outfit your telescope without spending lots of money; what the functions of astronomical telescope are, pitfalls to avoid in purchasing, and ultimately your guide to pursue some serious scientific studies with your telescope after you have had your long look around. The sky is out there for all of us to study and enjoy. Through your proper understanding of how to set up a telescope and do those studies, you mind, spirit and enthusiasm will grow.

Massive country-sized glaciers fall magnificently into the polar waters around them, one by one, eroding the great masses of ice that we have come to know as ?polar caps? of Earth. Great shelves of prehistory in frozen state are finally giving way to the warming blanket of air surrounding our planet, the results of which are going to be catastrophic for future generations of all living things. The cause of the glacial erosion is very simple: human population explosion and the results of human demand and consumption.Today it is likely to be unstopped. The nonsensical ?going green? movement should have begun in the early 1960?s when scientists first sounded the alarm about this potential global disaster; suggesting even more ludicrous plans such as ?The Green New Deal? is nothing but political rhetoric?it is not a solution, only diversion from a solution.In fact, the problem is so large that possibly no effort short of the elimination of the human specie will stop the cycle.

Many changes in one's lifetime are for the better; some are glaringly not. Progress of our modern world has led to the shadow of ""Political Correctness"" - every word written and spoken must be weighed lest someone will be insulted. No longer can we have a candid conversation for fear of banishment if we so much as use the wrong word, wrong idea, or thought that will offend someone. In this little book, is a very curious selection of tales and thoughts - philosophies perhaps - that are true stories that should offend no one. Yet in the course of these writings, when presented as opinion in newspapers around the United States, each of these has found someone who has been overwhelmed with my careless use of my imagination or choice of words. Hopefully you will find value, fun and humor in this ""Curious Collection of Politically Incorrect Opinions and Thoughts. If you do not find value, fun and humor in your readings, then you might want to change political parties. Or stay in bed.

I firmly believe that all people are poets; also I think that most poets never write for anyone but themselves. Writing poetry will save a bright mind a fortune, for you will never need a therapist when you write from your heart. The work is highly personal, emotional, and sinks deep into the very essence of the soul of the writer.That being said, I hope that you read and enjoy Fireflies From Orion, this being a selection composed of over fifty years of my writing prose. There are sad poems, happy poems, spiritual writings, emotion-evoking words...as all poetry should be.Fireflies is poetry truly from the heart, not written to appease the strictest school of composition, not please those with whom iambic pentameter is a requirement along with every line to rhyme....you will not find that in Fireflies.You will find raw poetry, prose of both regular and irregular rhythm, words that hopefully will paint pictures and evoke memories in your mind from times long ago, now gone

Bound Edition!An intriguing side-effect of having a great sense of smell is the ability to figure out "what's in" various meals that others have cooked. Likewise, it makes it easier to figure out how to make those dishes BETTER than the ones found in most cookbooks by changing ingredients or cooking methods. "Cookin' In The Woods" is a simple compilation of many very easy-to-make, last-minute, recipes that will have your friends and family begging for the recipe. In fact, that is exactly how this little cookbook came about: Never using any written guide, I have always had the knack to repeat excellent meals that all enjoy. Once finished, I usually get asked for the recipe and have never had such a thing - until now. You will notice that there are NO desserts here...only filling, satisfying and wholesome meals for all appetites. "Nothing Sweet....."These are my favorites and I hope that you enjoy them as much as thousands of my taste-testers have over the past 50 years!

Footprints is about an evolution revolution, the non-living world to the living tiny organisms of earliest Earth. each striving to have enough precious time to evolve so they might survive long enough to resist the effects of a changing world. And, yes - it is a story about Dinosaurs. But the story - being about evolution - has an unhappy ending for the great Dinosaurs of the Cretaceous. For what is surely natural reasons, as well as self-imposed doom by the creatures themselves, they fell fate to Extinction - just had many plants and animals had almost 200 million years earlier. This is not just the story of Dinosaurs and their extinction: all of the biological world is subject to - and ultimately succumbs to - demise through the processes of environment and nature. Today the possibilities of extinction are greatest because of the introduction of the newest form of life on Earth - humans - who have the capability of altering an otherwise natural progression of this world we live on.

Among the most unusual of all Arkansas rock shelters - homes for our aboriginal residents - is the Gumlog Creek Rockshelter. Occupied for thousands of years, this site demonstrates prehistoric ethnology from the end of the last ice age to the time of first contact by European explorers. The Arkansas River Valley Indian Rock Art Project began for the author in 1980. It resulted in the cataloging of nearly 700 rock shelters throughout Arkansas which demonstrate some form of aboriginal rock art and/or evidence of prehistoric occupation. Analysis of its artifacts reveal a very long span of occupation, from Archaic through Woodland Periods of cultural influence. This association suggests that the glyphs of these shelters were contemporaneous. In addition, the impressive shelter atop Carrion Crow Mountain in Arkansas, along Gumlog Creek, a feeder creek into the Arkansas River, is associated to one of the most unusual and intricate rock carvings in North America, the Gumlog Creek Petroglyph.

The Genesis Project from P. Clay Sherrod is a series of multimedia flat artworks of many simple notations from the Biblical book of Genesis. Whether you are an atheist, agnostic or believe in God does not matter, because we must admit that Creation DID happen. The very fact that you are reading this proves that "creation" took place. The Project is intended to take simple and self-explanatory phrases and impressions that are given in Genesis, and expose the visually so that they can be interpreted in the complexity in which these acts of creation were rendered. The Genesis Project presents visual perception intended to provoke thought and personal insight by the person viewing the piece. It should stimulate the appreciation for the fact that Creation, the Bible, and Science can all co-exist and in fact agree with one-another. This presentation is intended to PROVOKE thought, insight and discussion through the artist's extensive background in many disciplines of science.

Only traces of ancient civilizations and cultures remain from the prehistoric record, and only through small pieces - stories, images and fragments - do we feel the lives of the Native Americans who called this land 'Home' for thousands of years, and then forced away from that homeland. As cultures merged, efforts continued by solitary ethnic populations to maintain their ancient ways. But scattered, diluted and confused many of the ancient sacred ways became legend and myth. The story seemingly ends with most of these people and their heritage either driven away or finally scattered into mixed cultures. At some time around 1898, the last time any of these people returned to a mysterious annual quest - a link to their past - was the time at which they would never return. This is a tale of a "double-peaked mountain", a vision quest and the Shaman who perhaps ritualistically preserved markers of heritage important to those people who passed through the river valleys of Arkansas.

This reference Catalog of Cometary Orbits represents the orbital parameters of hundreds of comets from over 100,000 observations at the Arkansas Sky Observatories (ASO) since 2002, when digital recording of data began at the observatory. Over 250 individual comets are presented with orbital parameters derived from observations solely obtained at ASO, using the three privately owned robotic observatories. Orbital elements are given for 118 periodic comets and 116 non-designated (un-numbered) comets observed by the Observatories during the past fifteen years. Accompanying some of the orbital pages are original photographs from the robotic telescopes at ASO, many times demonstrating the morphology of unusual or in some cases highly common comet types. Established in 1971, Arkansas Sky Observatories is one of the nation's oldest independent non-publicly funded observatories still in operation, providing daily research into asteroids, comets and cataclysmic stars throughout the Heavens.

Finally, here is YOUR blueprint to discovery in astronomy.Today's non-professional astronomers with well-equipped observatories - advanced amateurs, colleges, institutions - are now contributing more than ever to fascinating discoveries throughout space. These private facilities now contribute thousands of observations and discoveries yearly into the scientific database.One such endeavor is that of supernovae searches, exploring distant galaxies in wait for these rare stellar explosions seen from millions of light years away.But where do we look? Current sources were lacking to detail the process of discovering and reporting these events, as was a study plan with suggested objects for monitoring.SUPERNOVA Search Atlas and Guide fills this void with over 300 carefully selected galaxies, photographed from the Arkansas Sky Observatories over a three year period. This study guide takes the guesswork out of discovery and provides the ultimate blueprint for your next discovery.

Computerized GO TO telescopes, affordable, portable and efficient, now provide an escape for all stargazers from the harsh day-to-day environment, stress and light pollution, by allowing urban users to take their portable, computerized instrument into the darkness of night and away from the cities. Technology today allows these affordable telescopes to automatically - with the touch of a button - GO TO any object in the sky, centering it up in the telescope for immediate viewing and satisfaction. But the user must know where to look - finding very faint objects, and knowing which ones are appropriate for each particular telescope is a difficult undertaking. The Constellations provides a two-volume hands-on tour of most of the most prominent constellations, their stars and the mysterious celestial objects within the boundaries. Explore history, science, and mythology of the Night Sky like you never thought possible with this simple guide and your choice of computerized telescope.

Computerized GO TO telescopes - affordable, portable and efficient - now provide an escape for all stargazers from the harsh day-to-day environment, stress and light pollution, by allowing urban users to take their portable, computerized instrument into the darkness of night and away from the cities. Technology today allows these affordable telescopes to automatically - with the touch of a button - GO TO any object in the sky, centering it up in the telescope for immediate viewing and satisfaction. But the user must know where to look - finding very faint objects, and knowing which ones are appropriate for each particular telescope is a difficult undertaking. The Constellations provides a two-volume hands-on tour of most of the most prominent constellations, their stars and the mysterious celestial objects within the boundaries. Explore history, science, and mythology of the Night Sky like you never thought possible with this simple guide and your choice of computerized telescope.