The Silurian is a geologic period and system that extends from the end of the Ordovician Period, about 443.7 ± 1.5 million years ago (mya), to the beginning of the Devonian Period, about 416.0 ± 2.8 mya (ICS, 2004). As with other geologic periods, the rock beds that define the period's start and end are well identified, but the exact dates are uncertain by several million years. The base of the Silurian is set at a major extinction event when 60% of marine species were wiped out. See Ordovician-Silurian extinction events.
A significant evolutionary milestone during the Silurian was the appearance of jawed and bony fish. Life also began to appear on land in the form of small, moss-like, vascular plants which grew beside lakes, streams, and coastlines. However, terrestrial life would not greatly diversify and impact the landscape until the Devonian.
The Silurian system was first identified by British geologist Sir Roderick Impey Murchison, who was examining fossil-bearing sedimentary rock strata in south Wales in the early 1830s. He named the sequences for a Celtic tribe of Wales, the Silures, following the convention his friend Adam Sedgwick had established for the Cambrian. In 1835 the two men presented a joint paper, under the title On the Silurian and Cambrian Systems, Exhibiting the Order in which the Older Sedimentary Strata Succeed each other in England and Wales, which was the germ of the modern geological time scale. As it was first identified, the "Silurian" series when traced farther afield quickly came to overlap Sedgwick's "Cambrian" sequence, however, provoking furious disagreements that ended the friendship. Charles Lapworth resolved the conflict by defining a new Ordovician system including the contested beds. An early alternative name for the Silurian was "Gotlandian" after the strata of the Baltic island of Gotland.
"Sissy Sing That Song"
An old upright piano never quite in tune
A hymn book from the Pentecostal church
Three generations gathered in Grandma's living room
Sister played and we all sang for all we's worth
Now gone are those days when Sissy played Grandma's piano
That piece of history has come and gone
I've forgotten most songs we sang together, all but one
The one that I remember was my Grandpa's favorite song.. He'd say
(Chorus # 1)
Sissy sing that song about when Jesus takes us home
When life's old weary road comes to an end
Sing about those streets of gold, where we never will grow old
Sissy want you sing that song again
Days turn into years but we never think of it
Til a phone rings in the middle of the night
Grandpa's taken sick and they're callin' in the kids
You wipe a million memories from your eyes
Then you drive all night cause Grandpa he's a fighter
And that old man's hangin' on to buy you time
When all his family's gathered round his bedside, then he smiles
Then he whispers Sissy, won't you sing that song of mine
(Chors # 2)
And we all sing along as Jesus came to take him home
As his ol weary road came to an end
We sang about those streets of gold where he never will grow old
We all sang it one last time for him ...... He'd say
(Repeat First Chorus)
Lonnie Ratliff / Pete Parrish
Copr. Okie Acres Music (BMI)
Contact: LonnieRatliff@gmail.com
Mirror, Mirror (On the Wall)
Mirror, mirror on the wall
You and I’ve been through it all
I know that I can turn to you
And you will always tell the truth
Mirror, mirror on the wall
You’ve seen me proud
You’ve seen me crawl
You seem to read between the lines
Should we trust my heart this time
Mirror, mirror on the wall
I think that we’re about to fall
Mirror, mirror tell me true
Is he the one for me and you
Mirror, mirror on the wall
He’s not the fairest of them all
But he’s got something they can’t see
One look at him and you’ll agree
(Break)
Mirror, mirror on the wall
I think that we’re about to fall
Mirror, mirror tell me true
Is he the one for me and you
Mirror, mirror on the wall
He’s not the fairest of them all
Mirror, mirror tell me true
That he’s the one for me and you
Mirror, mirror yes it’s true
The Circle
Standing backstage at the Opry looking out across the crowd
I close my eyes in silent prayer and wonder if he sees me now
After all these years of dreaming tonight I feel it's coming true
It won't be long until I'm standing where ol Hank sang "Lovesick Blues"
(Chorus)
Til I'm standing in that circle where ol Hank sang "Lovesick Blues"
I'll know my journey isn't over, I'll know my journey isn't through
Mother church of country music, this country girl has paid her dues
I'm standing just outside the circle where ol Hank sang "Lovesick Blues"
To all of those who've come before me, I lift my eyes and take this vow
Pass the torch I'm Ryman ready and I'll make ol Roy proud
I come to honor your traditions not to take one thing from you
I'm standing just outside the circle where ol Hank sang "Lovesick Blues"
(Repeat Chorus)
(Repeat Chorus)
(Tag:) I'm standing just outside the circle where ol Hank sang "Lovesick Blues"
Writer: Lonnie C. Ratliff