The storm passes, the trouble stays South.

Thursday morning the storm had passed and the winds abated, an absolutely beautiful day arrived in East Tennessee. Wednesday’s storms had, thankfully, passed overhead leaving lots of rain, wind, a bit of hail and shredded leaves but not much damage here in Tellico Village.




On our morning walk around the neighborhood, Mary carried a trash bag and we began picking up bits of debris along the golf course – pieces of tarpaper, a shingle or two, some broken slats and some disturbing pieces of checks and newspapers with Alabama and Georgia addresses on them. Tuscaloosa and Birmingham were most common but we are over 200 miles from Birmingham and nearly 300 from Tuscaloosa. Our storm Wednesday night had dropped tornado debris about 6 hours after having sucked it up 300 miles away.



Imagine the power and the pain and the suffering of those who were hit by the full force of such a storm.



Send your thoughts, prayers and help, please.

Bluegrass in the park.

The Cox Family

What else does an aspiring banjo picker do on a Saturday but load up the car and head for the nearest music festival.  Today, it was the 3rd Annual Tri County Jamboree Family Fun Day Music and Craft Festival in Old Washington, Tennessee.

If you are looking for Old Washington on a map, it probably isn't there!  Just a few folks along highway 30 between Decatur and Dayton where the highway crosses the Tennessee River.

Roane Ramblers

 We listened to two very different bluegrass bands, the Cox Family from Dayton a group of 5 family members including a 12 year old boy on the banjo and an 11 year old on the mandolin.  (I am shamed in my ineptitude)  The second group was the Roane Ramblers from Roane State college, they are studying bluegrass music there and had a more formal style than the Cox's.  Both were fun and we couldn't decide which we preferred.

Looking for turtles

We strolled around the park and visited the crafts sale and travelled to distant (7 miles) Dayton for and excellent lunch at the Riverside Restaurant.  Overall, an excellent day.  Please excuse the quality of the video of the Ramblers - cell phone,windy, too far away and shaky cameraman but you'll get the idea.

Red Rocker

Mary has been looking for a wood rocking chair to compliment our red front door and the Japanese Maple tree on our porch.

After several unsuccessful trips to flea markets, furniture stores, junk shops and yard sales, we finally found one at an antique store next door to Sweetwater Flea Market.

Our new chair had obviously been neglected and left out in the weather but the wood was sound and the price was right so we chucked it in the back of the truck and brought it home.  Mary sanded the old peeling varnish and cleaned the dust off before we broke out the Fire Engine Red paint for the coup-de-gras!  Three coats of paint and the rocker was ready to assume its rightful place on the front porch along with the Red Door, Japanese Maple Tree and our Welcoming Loon. Ya'll come on in!


Welcome!



Voter confusion, ballot overcrowding, and frivolous candidacies?

In a decision frought with circular logic, the North Carolina Supreme Court has rendered a decision insuring that political minorities will continue to be discriminated against in North Carolina elections.

"Here, the avoidance of 'voter confusion, ballot overcrowding,' and 'frivolous candidacies' is an important regulatory interest," (Justice) Timmons-Goodson wrote in the first constitutional challenge to the ballot-access law the high court has considered.

Isn't it interesting that we live in a country where our governmental bodies supposedly applaud democratic elections in other countries that have dozens of parties and hundreds of candidates but here at home our courts make statements like the one in red above?

In North Carolina, nearly half of the congressional races have only one candidate because a "Major" party has chosen not to run in the race and write-in candidates are not counted without first having been vetted by the local boards of elections. 

That sure reduces "Voter confusion" - give them but a single choice and they will not be confused at all!  Oh, a ballot with only a single choice is certainly not overcrowded,  and, lest we forget, those evil "Frivolous candidates" that might actually bring a fresh idea or a new perspective to the process.

I say shame on the North Carolina Supreme Court and State Legislature for actively working to disenfranchise a very large percentage of voters.  Most of all, I say shame on the citizens of North Carolina who do not demand that their elected officials correct this wrong.

Jim Crow is alive and well in North Carolina, it just wears a better disguise than in years past.

Pirates, gold and mystery.

A Single Deadly Truth by John Urban

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I have a weak spot for independent authors because I have often found their works to be fresh and compelling. John Urban's debut novel was another pleasant discovery recommended by another Indy I like, Mike Jastrzebski. This tale has action, mystery, treasure, betrayal and all the gritty stuff that makes good story. Give this one a read, it is worth your time.



View all my reviews

Delta Queen in Chattanooga

Our cruising club scheduled a two night trip to Chattanooga in January and Mary & I decided to celebrate our 22nd anniversary a week early on the trip.

The Delta Queen is a real stern wheeler built in the 1920's for service on the Sacramento River between Sacramento and Oakland, California.  It was built in Scotland and then disassembled and shipped to Stockton, California where it was reassembled and placed in service.

The Queen served in WWII as a support vessel in San Francisco and eventually was refitted as a cruise ship carrying passengers to most ports on the Mississippi, Ohio and Tennessee Rivers through 2008 when her exemption from some safety regulations was not renewed .

The Delta Queen appeared headed to the scrapping yard when she was rescued and transported to Chattanooga, Tennessee to be used as a floating hotel.  The view from our main deck room was spectacular with Downtown Chattanooga directly across the river, sunsets to our right under the Market Street Bridge and sunrises to the left behind the pedestrian bridge.

If you find yourself planning a trip to Chattanooga, you might want to consider staying on the Delta Queen Hotel: it is a unique experience.  If you like Trains more than ships, try the Chattanooga Choo Choo at the southern end of the free trolley line - stay in a real sleeping car from the heydays of rail travel.  You'll have fun, we certainly did.

Touring the Delta Queen

Tennessee Snow



 

Snow on the roof

Significant snow is somewhat uncommon in our part of East Tennessee.  We are in the Little Tennessee River Valley at about 800 feet of elevation with a large lake to moderate the temperature.   A bit of sleet and a dusting of the white stuff is about normal for winter precipitation in Tellico Village so we were suprised this past weekend when the local weather folks quit hedging their bets and started talking in certainties and inches. 

By noon on Monday, we had over 6 inches on the ground with light snow still falling - a real blizzard by local standards and an opportunity to see our home from a different perspective.

Our driveway retaining wall displays  a beautiful pattern of triangles reaching into the distance as the snow hides the imperfections and every day patterns to present us with a new perspective.


The birdbath takes on the look of a well frosted cake.  All around me are sites and items presented in a beautiful new way and I am pleased to pause a few moments to reflect on my good fortune.

North to Rhode Island.

The mayhem begins!

With all the shuffling of our family this past year, we decided to head to Rhode Island to visit the northern contingent of our clan.  Looking at the weather, a clear week was forecast and long term predictions looked good!  (Remember the boat parade?)

Well, we arrived on the 23rd a beautiful day and spent Kas' birthday (the 24th) with him and Christmas day with the grandkids - fantastic.   I bemoaned the fact that Knoxville (our new home) and Winston-Salem (our old home place) were both having a white Christmas while we were in New England and hadn't seen a flake. 

Sunday morning arrived with a dusting of snow and a Blizzard Warning from the weather folk.  Monday morning brought a foot of new snow and a lesson to be careful what you wish for.

We're safe and warm but now looking for a weather window to head South in.   We may have to hug the coast and cross North Carolina to get home. 

Boat Parade December 2010

Winning Boat

Last year (2009) we practically froze in out first outing with our decorated boat - 25 degrees and high winds put wind chills in the teens as we plodded outr course.

This year, I was overly cautious as decorating day came - forcasts were for cold weather and possible snow on parade day so I decided to pass on this year's parade. 

As you might expect, parade day was warm and sunny with almost no wind!  We ended up watching from the Clear Creek launch ramp as beautifully decorated boars cruised past without us.  Oh well. maybe next year we'll get it right.

Sunday at the Zoo

Ever since we moved to East Tennessee last fall, Mary has been wanting to visit the Knoxville Zoo so we planned to do so on Thanksgiving day.

A call from our Tellico Village friends Kathy and Keith inviting us to feast with them precipated a change of plans so we decided to make our zoo trip on the Sunday before Thanksgiving.

We bought our tickets on-line and on a blustery November morning, we drove to Northeast Knoxville to the zoo.  Now understand that our North Carolina Zoo was huge and the habitats often requires binoculars to study the animals.  The Knoxville Zoo occupies roughly 1/4 of the area of the NC zoo but much to our suprise, the habitats were fairly large and had little of the "Caged animal" look of the zoos of our youth.  We really enjoyed our stroll through the various areas and noticed a significant amount of work on new habitat areas for a number of  animals needing more space to roam.  The turtle bog was a favorite of Mary's as she never met a turtle she didn't like. 

It was chilly and a number of animals were not on exhibit due to the weather but all-in-all, a great day and we'll be back.

Family Reunion - Marion 2010

Scott, Greg, Doug, Paul and Ivolene

After a pass through Marion in July, my Great Aunt Ivolene McCree decided to call for a family get together in Marion on October 16th and 17th.

About 20 of us gathered to renew old ties and explore some new ones.

Ivolene played the regal hostess (That is her and her 4 sons on the left.) and entertained us all with family tales, skeletons and adventures for  several hours and I got a bit of revenge on Mary by forcing her to try to remember the names of MY cousins.



Kurby, Ivolene and Trevor

 We traded old photos, family information and stories.  Ivolene told us of a Great Uncle Otis who died in France in WWI; another who perished in a coal mine and lots of information on extended family members.

We ate too much, talked until we were hoarse and enjoyed a spectacular Fall afternoon in Southern Illinois.  Aunt Ivolene thinks we ought to do it every year. I agree.

Click for more pictures.

First Tellico Lake paddle.

We managed to get our kayaks home from Todd without incident and on Thursday, we took them to the Clear Creek ramp a couple of miles from home for their "Home Waters Christening".

Tellico village is a beautiful place but many of its most appealing features must be viewed from the water.  Going low and slow in our kayaks was the perfect way to look around and see the sights.

From the Clear Creek ramp, we went West and under the Tellico Parkway bridge to explore the coves away from the main body of the lake.  Mary & I really enjoyed the paddling on still water: very different from our river experience a couple of weeks ago. 

We were able to launch and board without getting wet and found that the paddling was easy but we had to stroke for all the distance instead of letting the river push us along.  A gentle breeze pushed us along for part of the journey but had to be overcome on the way back to the ramp.

Cousins, cousins, everywhere cousins



Siblings, cousins and all the rest!

 Saturday the third of October was the annual McGuire homecoming in Todd, North Carolina .

Every year on the first Saturday in October, the clan gathers at the old homeplace for fun and food.  We had 49 people this year and enough food for 100. 

Betsy and John were our hosts and a geat time was had by all.

Haskell, Johnny,Mary, Tom, Estelle and Carolyn

Four of the six children of Raymond and Ruth McGuire are still living and attended the reunion (Estelle Smith, Tom McGuire, Haskell McGuire and Mary Norman).  They are pictured here with first cousins Johnny Williams and Carolyn Holbrook.  Start adding in all the children, grand children and spouses and the numbers climb rapidly.

If you were there, thanks for being a part of this celebration.  If not, please try to make it next year - the first Saturday in October at the homeplace.

Mary meets her mama & other folks.



Mrs. McGuire

 "Hello, I'm Mrs. McGuire and my husband runs this garage." 

Imagine Mary's suprise in meeting her 20 year old mother in a scene from a 1926 Todd reenactment called Timbertown.  There were historic Todd folks dressed in period costume and appearing at most of the historic locations in town.  Annie & Walter Cook, Ruth McGuire, Eleanor Moretz and Leona Worley were just some of the roles played by future elementary school teachers from ASU.  At each station - Depot, garage, post office, bank, general store, bakery and more; a student actor played the part of a local figure and presented a bit of the rich history of Todd as it was in 1926.



Actors and tour guides



Paddlin' on the New



Quiet trip down river.

 Todd wouldn't be Todd without the South fork of the New River.  It kisses the edge of town at its junction with Elk Creek before heading East to Fleetwood and beyond.

On Friday, Mary & I picked up our newly acquired kayaks from the River Girl Fishing Company and headed upriver about 3 miles for our inaugural voyage.  No fishing tackle this trip just a laid back trip on a very low river.  The normally 2 hour trip took almost 3 due to slow current and multiple "Walking" places without enough water to move a kayak along.  Funny how it floated fine when either of us got out - must be a cosmic thing.


Mary enjoying the trip.


Floating slowly downstream reminded us how important it is to just slow down and enjoy the journey.  All too often we get caught in the rush to get to a destination rather than taking time to enjoy the sites along the way.  We saw a heron, numerous other birds and lots of fish.  We were bombed by falling buckeyes and pushed along by gentle breezes.  It was easy to believe, if only for a few hours, that we were travelling far from civilization in a long ago time.

Todd Vacation & Reunion 2010



Tree at Walter & Annie Cook
Memorial Park

 Late September is our time of year to travel to Todd, North Carolina for Mary's family homecoming the first Saturday in October and for some relief from the oppressive heat of the valley. 

Heron on the river

Her family has been holding the reunion on the same weekend since 1974 and every year 50 to over 100 family members show up around noon for food and fellowship.  We learn of all the births, deaths, marriages and other everyday things that make up our lives.  There is rarely and "Big" news, just the regular stuff that seems to get lost in the shuffle of the daily grind.  A new car, a move to a new place, painting the house and taking a vacation are the most common topics around the homeplace that same Saturday in October.  The older folks show up to remember and the children to learn about what and who were here before they were born. 

It is about a family sharing common ancestors and common experiences in a beautiful place that moves a bit slower than the rest of the world.

Good call Mr. President: Did I say that?

I am not a fan of President Obama but in his recent statement about the proposed mosque near ground zero, the president showed courage in speaking the truth instead of politically correct Washington-speak.

In a free society, EVERY person must have ALL the rights guaranteed to ANY person.

There is no room for any political entity, individual or mob to be allowed to infringe the rights of any individual or group of individuals without endangering the rights of all. 

As a society, we seem to have lost site of this fact and those who clamor for government to prohibit the building of a mosque today will wonder what happened when their own house of worship is forced to close it's doors.

Illegal Aliens and the Statue of Liberty

Much has been said in recent weeks about illegal aliens, the immigration reforms being considered by congress and immigration laws proposed by several states.  Lost in the rhetoric however, is the very magic that made the United States great. 

We ALL came here or are descendants of those who came from somewhere else.  Many were seeking something better than they could find in their homeland; others were brought here in chains or were imported as the cheap labor of the day. Many stayed and became ingredients in the ethnic melting pot from which Americans are formed.

Consider the following poem, "The New Collsous" by Emma Lazarus:    

"Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she

With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

 

Do you recognize it?  It is inscribed inside the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty and (at least when I was a child) was memorized by every 5th grader.

 

Today, we pay lip service to the call for immigrants stated there.  They didn't come here to weaken or bankrupt our nation but to become participants in it's success.  Today's immigrants will do the same if we allow them the opportunity to do so instead of clamoring for their expulsion.

 

Enough said.

Terry Fator & Walter

If you haven't seen Terry Fator and his friends, you owe it to yourself to split your sides laughing.  This guy is great.

You can find many of his routines on youtube by searching his name.

Best Reuben in Knoxville!

I like a good Reuben sandwich as much as the next guy but Mary (the light of my life) has a passion for them.   She first discovered them while in college in upstate New York and almost always orders one when they are on the menu of any restaurant that doesn't look like they get their deli meats out of pre-sliced plastic packs.

So, today while we were looking for a late lunch and a brew, we went to the Smokey Mountain Brewery in Knoxville at the Turkey Creek Shopping center.  They have a "Big City Reuben" on their menu for $10.00 and it reminds me of those I had in my New Jersey "Univac" school days.

The local beers were excellent too.  If you like a good sandwich and micro brews, give this place a shot.  We'll go back whenever Mary gets a hankering for her favorite sandwich.