Tag: Chattanooga
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Hello and Welcome!
Thank you for stopping by. Whether you’re new here or a return visitor, my apologies up front for the long amount of time since I last wrote a new post. That one was at the beginning of 2020…followed in just a few weeks by the declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic. Responding to the…
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Fair Enough
If you grew up in Tennessee and, certainly if you grew up with Tennessee 4H, you more than likely have been to a county fair more than once. I don’t know exactly how many times I have been to a county fair, but the number would have been at least 12 or so by the…
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The Party With Purpose
Over the 15 months since we moved to Chattanooga, Bill and I have steadily discovered more and more of what makes this area so highly acclaimed for its outdoor offerings. Mountains, valleys, lakes, rivers—calm and wild, it’s all here if you want to do it. And there are a whole lot of do-ers, like us.…
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Operation Move In
When I showed up as a freshman to get the key to my room in Crawford Hall on the campus of Tennessee Tech University, a couple of student workers welcomed me to college and pointed me to the stair well closest to room 311. The three-story building didn’t have air conditioning, had one wall phone…
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Stump Jumpin’: A Lesson in Limits
Some hikers have no trouble deciding, from the trail, that it’s not the day or the time or the right conditions to finish. I’m not one of those hikers. I tend to press ahead under almost any circumstances. I’m there, I can do it. I’ll push myself, if that’s what it takes. Last Saturday, I…
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Kicked by the North Chick
North Chickamauga Creek State Natural Area is a wild patch of public land surrounding a deep gorge that dives down and across the boundary between Sequatchie and Hamilton counties. It features a rugged hike over about a 10-mile section of the Cumberland Trail, so named becuse it runs along the eastern escarpment of the Cumberland Plateau. The trail–a…
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Fire(works) on the Water
Last week, we put our hiking boots aside and climbed into kayaks. Since I recently began offering short, 10-minute or so pieces on getting outside in Chattanooga via the local NPR station, WUTC-FM, I’ve had reason to look even more than I naturally would for fun, accessible outdoor activities here. In Chattanooga, there are almost…
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Chatta-versary
Time flies. On this date in 2018, Bill, I, three cats and all our worldly belongings headed for our new life in Chattanooga. Our stressful, action-packed, 28-day sprint through the worlds of home-buying and home-selling would come to a close by sunset. Not a minute too soon. We began the day in 2018 with one…
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Sometimes You Meet the Nicest People
Throughout my career, my line of work–in one setting or another–has steadily called for writing professionally. Often, the storytelling variety, which is my favorite writing to do. If you don’t know what it’s like to have writing be part of your job, I’ll let you in on a secret: It’s a great way to meet…
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Welcome to the Neighborhood
It’s been about six weeks since Bill and I moved to Chattanooga and our house in the suburb of Hixson, but it seems longer. I expect anyone who’s ever moved their entire, long-established household to another city to take a new job in that city understands. I don’t mean it seems long in a bad…
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Thanks for the Memories
Ever spent 24 consecutive years in the same house? My husband and I just did–the house we moved into when we came home from our honeymoon. We sold it in June and moved to Chattanooga, which we are loving, by the way. Moving forces you to purge. The prospect of hauling stuff to a new…
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Moving Right Along
Knoxville, Tennessee stopped being my home on June 1, almost 26 years to the day since I moved there. Leaving was a little bit scary, a whole lot stressful, and very exciting. My entire professional working life had been spent in Knoxville, but a fantastic new opportunity that I am immensely grateful for was waiting…
words and pictures 