Back Home Again

It's been a while since I posted anything on the blog, but I needed a break...not so much from the blog as from everything else. Every so often I must recall that I'm retired by removing myself from all the activities that clutter my increasingly disorganized life. And so last week Diane and I made the 500-mile drive to the hills of southeast Tennessee to visit our friends, the Hathaways. For those of you unfamiliar with the area, Ocoee, Tennessee is serious boondocks -- so serious that the view from their back deck includes miles of hills but not a single house. (See the below photo.)

Early Tennessee Morning

During our visit we made a few excursions with our friends and took in some of the local color, including visits to Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga, the Civil War battlefield at Chickamauga in northwest Georgia, and Bald River Falls near Tellico Plains, Tennessee. In the past Tennessee had been one of those states we drove through, stopping only for gas and food, but in recent years we've spent some time there and found it to be a beautiful state with many interesting places to visit. The photos I've included below should confirm this...

Man and his son view Bald River Falls
near Tellico Plains, TN

Young girl sits outside a Civil War era cabin
at the Chickamauga Battlefield in Georgia

Window of antique shop, Tellico Plains, TN

Alley stairway in Tellico Plains, TN

Covered bridge near Tellico Plains, TN

The McCarthys and the Hathways atop a tower at the Chickamauga Battlefield (135 steps, too many for us senior citizens)

Tellico Plains is a neat little town, with lots of interesting shops. We bought a lovely piece of pottery at the Tellico Arts Center and enjoyed a reasonably good (and reasonably priced) lunch at a local eatery.

I suppose that's enough of the truly important stuff, you know, family, friends, and enjoying God's good earth. Now that we're back home, I will have to turn my attention once again to the unserious, the activities of those who somehow believe that what they do is important.

In the meantime, God's peace...