Smoky Mountain Melody

2:13 ET, Tuesday September 18, 2012

I'm sitting on the deck of the cabin in the Smoky Mountains listing to the rushing of a creek somewhere below me. The woods are thick just below us and off up the mountain to the right. To the left are rolling hills with green pastures and trees.

We got here on Sunday evening and it began to rain that evening and has not stopped until a few hours ago.  The cabin is very nice and rustic on the inside and while it doesn't have a “mountain view” I'm quite content with the quiet green of the woods that we have.

My uncle and I have played pool almost continuously. I've never played except video pool and so it is a lot of fun to actually play the real game. I wouldn't mind a pool table at home. I've read and gotten in the hot tub, too. It really feels good to get in that hot water. I wouldn't mind one of those either.

Tonight we are supposed to go to the Dixie Stampede, a dinner show. I think tomorrow we're going to the Old Mill Village and walk around. The weather is supposed to clear off in the next few hours.

I have a very bad night last night. My back flared up and I had awful pain. It woke me up at 3 a.m. And I've had very little sleep.  I forgot to bring my Flector patches that help keep the inflammation under control. I called my home pharmacy and they told me I could go to the CVS here and get my prescription. I thought I was getting one pack of the patches but it was my usual prescription. But I'm good with it. I'll have them for tonight. I can wear on during the day and one at night. I can already tell it is a bit better. Honestly, the nights are the worse. I simply can't lie down. I still forgot to get ice packs. Ice helps, too. Fortunately the emergency med kit in the cabin had a pack in it and I put it in the freezer. I was able to get it out after a few hours and use it but the night was nearly over so it wasn't a tremendous help that way.

I haven't written any so far. I've just played pool, read very little, played games on my computer and done the hot tub. The nice thing is that the deck is covered and I can sit out here. Someone with kids took the cabin next door and they've become loud so not sure how long the peace and quiet will last.

I have a some writing I'm going to try and do so I'll stop this entry here. I plan to publish these to the blog once I get back.


September 19, 2012

We went to a dinner theater last night. The Dixie Stampede and it was hilarious and the food was absolutely wonderful. Most wonderful cream of vegetable soup, small roasted game hen, ham, herbed baked potato, corn on the cob, and a biscuit that was to die for, unsweetened iced tea and an apple turnover for dessert. We couldn't eat it all!

This morning, the rains stopped so we left the cabin and headed Pigeon Forge, shopping in the Old Town and lunch at The Old Mill. Again, absolutely wonderful food and great atmosphere in an old restored mill. An elderly man was on the porch of the Mill store, picking a guitar and singing old hymns. He had the most wonderful voice and we sat down to listen to him. We did some shopping and took more photos.

After our shopping trip we headed for Clingman's Dome. We passed through Gatlinburg. Just before I left for this trip, Mike said, “Mom, you're going to be near Cooter's place.” I told him I didn't know who Cooter was and he said, “Dukes of Hazzard?” I told him I didn't know the guy and that I doubt he'd be interested in seeing me. As we passed through Gatlinburg, I yelled, “There's Cooter's Place! I have to get a picture!” Photo taken, we moved on.

The mountains are simply breathtaking. My aunt asked if we'd ever seen mountains this tall. My sister had not but I've walked in the Alps and they're a good bit bigger. Still, there is something very mystical about the Smoky Mtns. The drive up was just really wonderful. We took lots of photos, which will be posted on Youtube later. I'll come back and put a link in here.

Once you reach the end of the road for Clingman's Dome, you are at roughly 5,000 feet. There is still a half mile walk to the top, and the incline is probably 45 degrees  at which point you have to climb another couple of hundred feet to reach the observation point. You do this by way of a circular bridge that ends at a round covered deck. All this is constructed of cement and I'm sure is quite secure. However... if you've read my blogs for a long time you know …. I.... don't.... do..... bridges. Of any kind. On the ground I'm o.k. but even looking at a bridge suspended over anything simply paralyzes me. This one nearly did me in. However, from the base of the tower, you can't see anything but trees.

So, I climbed it, walking behind my aunt and watching her feet, one foot in front of the other. Once on the deck I was able to look out at the amazing view. It is worth the huge effort it takes to get there. My aunt and uncle made this walk, barely breaking a sweat or breathing heavy. My sister and I had to stop at every park provided bench and then some. You think your going do die of a heart attack. If you have a heart condition it isn't the walk for you. If you're overweight... probably not the walk for you. My sister and I are both overweight, she more than I, and this was rough on us. Still, we made it and coming down isn't hard at all. But it is a mile round trip so not a little jaunt.

We stopped in Gatlinburg on our return trip to really visit Cooter's Place. It is a shop with items associated with the television show. Ben Jones is apparently the sponsor or owner. I'm not sure but there was everything Dukes of Hazzard right down to the General Lee. Another photo shoot, some purchases for Mike's birthday on the 22nd and we headed off.



September 20, 2012

We take our time in the mornings. We get up around 8 a.m and have breakfast. I was, by now, having a bad time with the back and leg. The prescription I was able to get from CVS and the ice packs I bought helped but not nearly enough. Walking was not a problem. Sleeping was.

Today we headed for a ride into the Smoky Mtn National Park. We stopped at a trail head that lead to Laural Falls. 1.3 miles up the trail is a lovely waterfall. Yes, up. 1.3 miles. It is heavily wooded and there were flowers along the way, lots of tilted stones that were totally unsuitable for seating and no Park provided benches. This was roughing it. We walked. We rested. We walked some more. A mile on a level fields is not a long walk. A mile on another angle is not a piece of cake. Oddly, enough, I didn't find it nearly as hard as Clingman's. Maybe it wasn't as steep but it was twice the distance. You reach a point where you begin to wonder if you're ever going to get there. Everyone you mean says, “You're almost there. It's worth it.” And it is. And on the way back you find yourself repeating the same phrase. Because it was.

We continued our journey through the Park, stopping at a small cafe to eat lunch. Another really good lunch. From there we went to Cades Cove. This is an historical community with log cabins and churches from two centuries ago. It was my kind of sight to see and took us all afternoon. I could have spent longer but the day was nearly over. We headed back to the cabin for time in the hot tub and a game or three of pool. I'm improving.

I took a last look around the dark woods and the sky that always seems to have clouds wreathing the mountains. I'd miss it.


September 21, 2012

Phyllis and I said good by to our aunt and uncle and headed back to Evansville today. It is a six hour drive and I would normally have driven it with no trouble. I'm simply exhausted. I had some upsetting news last night and didn't sleep much. The real world intruded and reminded me I have to come back.

We stopped somewhere east of Nashville and just had a drink, used the WiFi for an hour and continued. We lunched at Taco Bell just outside of Clarksville, TN and from there, we came on to Evansville, about a two hour drive. We were thrilled to be home. She took her stuff and left me.

Dave came by and I had Sarah for a few hours. She was in fine form, entertaining me and acting silly. She is changing so much. I'm amazed and frightened by it.  Tomorrow is Mike's birthday and we are all going to lunch to celebrate with him. I have gifts for everyone.

Pre-Vacation

I have to admit that it feels as if my vacation has already started. I don't want to do a thing, not even pack... and I have to pack or I can't go anywhere.

I spent the morning messing with blogs. Yes, yes, yes. Blogs. Mine. I got all my old site posts exported over as I said and stored in a backup blog that is closed to everyone. They're not even published really. Just in a storage mode. Nice.

What I have been doing is sorting out of that mess, my "writings" that aren't actually like my usual, boring posts about the craziness of my life. No, these are something much loftier.... so... I titled the blog Sudden Inspirations. It contains writings that were done spontaneously and tend to be of a introspective bent and generally spiritual in nature. There are also pieces of fiction and some autobiographical stories. I may add to it but who knows.

The link to Sudden Inspirations is in the menu bar above.

It is now right at 10 p.m. and I'm planning on pulling out around 9 a.m. in the morning. I've still got stuff to pack up. I was going to travel light but honestly, I realized I don't have a lot of casual clothes. Most of my stuff is office wear. So, I've got to go reevaluate my packing.

Once I loved traveling and even the prep time was a bit exciting. I've done quite a bit since Jerry died and no matter what I do, I still don't feel excited about traveling. I like the thought but honestly, I feel like I just want to stay home where I want really be happy either.

I'm headed off to bed anyway. Nothing happening here either.

All In the Numbers

I like statistics. Not calculating them but I like reading things that tell me what percentage of something did something, does something, was something and as a result something happened. You can write a story with statistics.

For example, I was looking at my dashboard and they have a lot of statistics there. They haven't always had the setup they have now but gradually it has been improved upon. Anyway, I can remember for several years not much happened on my stat board. The  numbers would slide up one by one. Telling me someone or something came by. I was up around 10,000 as of 2010, I think. They don't have a long term record that I can see but I think that's right.

Last year I changed my NaNoWriMo profile and pointed people here. Honestly, I didn't think people read my NaNo profile. Really. Why would they? But suddenly, those numbers were moving up in double digit segments. By the end of the year it was in excess of 11,000. 

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know bots make the numbers rise. I've been doing this awhile, thanks. But they're not the only thing that raise the count. If I  delve below the surface, I can see where people and things are coming from and they were coming from my profile on NaNo. Every entry that says NaNoWriMo in the link is from that profile. And there were a several.

Today I looked and in two years I've had more hits than in at least three years before 2010! I'm now on my way to 17,000. I expect to hit that number before the end of next week.

Let's see. I changed my bio on NaNo. The numbers went up. I began linking to my FB page. The numbers moved faster. I linked my posts to my G+ stream. The numbers really started to click. And now, Multiply is closing and I've directed people from there with a link. The numbers moved a bit faster AND I went from 4 followers to 20, most of those all new people. I placed a link on Blogster and gained a couple more. 

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know some are still bots. I don't care. Those bots are feeding themselves on  my posts and carrying them elsewhere to distribute to potential people  who, one hopes, will in turn come to enjoy my blog.  Someone doing a search on something will get a hit on my blog...they might come by. I might make a new acquaintance, gain a new follower, start a new conversation.

That's a good story. 

Fried Day

Coming up with witty titles is half the battle of getting  a blog written. I like it when I title a post at the beginning and when I finish it still has the same title. More often, however, by the time I finish a post I have a totally different title in mind. Sometimes I leave it blank until I finish so I can save time.

I'm thinking that today's title won't change. That is pretty much how I feel. I've hit the files hard this week and I'm simply exhausted. I still have to go home, clean house, pay bills and pack in time to leave on Sunday morning. It doesn't sound like much but it is. I really should never have hired someone to clean for me, even for a few weeks. Now I hate cleaning house more than ever but I hate clutter and dirty dishes in the sink and laundry in the hamper! 

I've finally got my online writer's group sorted out. We were using Facebook for the group but have moved to Google Groups because of all the features they have on their site and it integrates with all things Google. I spent last evening overhauling the site with one of the members and now I think we're pretty well set. I hope so. I need to do some serious writing.

I've had Sarah in the evening most of this week. She is such a wonderful little girl. We played card games before but last weekend I bought her a Chutes & Ladders game. How many of you remember that? I do!  Anyway, some time ago I taught Sarah a couple of card games, Old Maid and Go Fish. She liked them but hated losing the first time and in fact, refused to play again. We talked about winning and losing and how it was just a game and it wasn't important who won as long as we had fun. The next time she came over she was ok with it. This week I won first on Chutes & Ladders. I squealed "I won!" She crossed her arms and smiled at me and said, "You can have a 5 minute happy dance."  I lost it and laughed, asking her where she heard that. She told me the teacher says it. I did get up and do a happy dance, not 5 minutes though. Then, I had to play a second game. I hope the child doesn't become a gambler. She won't quit until she wins a game.

I'm going to go home, get things cleaned up a bit and relax.. alone for the evening. My vacation starts on Sunday and I'm so looking forward to a week in the mountains. I haven't been to Gatlinburg but I have been to Highlands, SC and that area. I loved it. And when we moved here we came through the Smokies. I've always wanted to go back. Jerry and I  planned a couple of times to go to that area for a vacation but it just never worked our where we could go. There was just never enough money for long trips. We settled for things closer to home. I really just want some peace and quiet and to read and do nothing. 

Multiple Solutions

My week has been a bit better and I've slept much better as a result. Maybe the thought of a vacation is the cause. I don't know and it doesn't matter. There has been far less pain and that is entirely due to the weather.

Tomorrow is Thursday and the office will be closed to the public. I'm thrilled by this. I can, I hope, get a lot of work done tomorrow. If I do, it will make my return from vacation a lot less stressful.

I just finished exporting my post from my old Multiply site "Dixiegirl's Place" to a back up blog. There are problems but I don't know if it is because Blogger is doing its thing and sorting the download. One minute I can see the posts on the blog and the next I can't. I elected to do a back up blog because, as I mentioned before, this blog is a mirror of that one minus some random posts. I plan to go through them and compare posts to see what is missing and move the missing ones here. Eventually, that back up blog will be deleted. I've closed it by limiting readers only to myself. You do that in your settings by adding you as the only reader. 

I'm also going to set up some photo albums on Youtube. They'll be slide shows rather than albums of photos. Family won't be as happy but I think it will work just as well. They can be viewed easily. I don't really want to store all my photos on another site. The risk of losing them is simply too great. I'm going to copy them to disc to back them up and label them.

At the moment, I'm really exhausted. I'm going to go to bed now. I can't get into the backup site at the moment so don't know how it is progressing. I can see the posts on the dashboard but not on the blog. It says maintenance is being performed so maybe that's good. I have to say, I'm very unhappy with the media importer. It simply didn't work. So very glad I downloaded my albums. I'd hate to be at this point and find I couldn't get the photos down. 

If all goes well, I'll close the site well before December 1. I'll post the closing date ahead of time. I am sorry to leave. I have been so blessed to have all of you here with me. You've carried me through some rough times and I shall miss all those who move on to other things besides my blog. You have no idea how very much you've come to mean to me. Wherever you go, may you be blessed in all you do. 

I know some of you have already moved to other sites. Good luck to you. I've done the sinking ship one time too many and I'm going to stay with a platform I trust and that has proven stable. Slowly, I'm learning that it does all that I've been able to do here with the exception of photos. I've easily fixed that. So it makes sense to do what I've been doing long before Yahoo 360. My email is in some of the post over the last few weeks. Keep in touch if you will. If you've already joined me on Blogger, wonderful. I'm already enjoying your blogs, some of which belong new friends I found during this transition. 

Good night.