John and I went to Market Square this evening to look at the lights and watch ice skating in the holiday rink. I took a number of photos, most of them not very good but I ran this one through Adobe Photoshop as a "watercolor" print. A little different...

Christmas cards waiting to be signed and mailed! The holidays are back but where is our Christmas weather? The temps have been hovering in the 60's, I am expecting the daffodils to break ground any day now.

Another trip to Arkansas this week. Aside from the usual Delta short term delays (causing a near miss of my return flight in Atlanta), assorted minor mechanical problems and the constant stream of turbulent air south of Tennessee, everything went okay.

The most interesting part of the trip occurred this morning when we pulled up at the corporate headquarters where we had a meeting scheduled for 8:30 am. An evangelical group from Kansas City was on a field trip to protest the corporation's recent advertising in gay and lesbian lifestyle magazines and the government mandate to resume selling the morning after pill. This motley group of about 30, positioned themselves along the main boulevard with signs such as "Wxxxxx supports sodomy." One hippie sorta Jesus looking guy in blue jeans was draped over an 8' cross looking bored. A slick preacher with a megaphone shouted his message mostly in the direction of the corporate offices, an audience of vendors, employees, security cops and real police. While the police were busy snapping photos with their cameras, most everyone else was snapping photos with their cell phones. It was quite a sight and it was with some difficulty that we pulled ourselves away to attend our meeting.

John and I escaped to Asheville last weekend for our annual holiday getaway. We were a couple of weeks earlier than usual, but based on our calendars, it was either last weekend or not at all.

We had no real plans so we knocked around the city, exploring our favorite shops and galleries. On Saturday, we lunched at the Laughing Seed Cafe and slipped into Malaprop's, a funky community bookstore, to shop. Always on the hunt for a new travel adventure, I picked up a copy of "The Places in Between," about Rory Stewart's walk across Afghanistan.

We lingered in several small shops on and around Wall and Haywood Streets, then drove to our hotel to check-in and to inquire about Togar Rugs. John is in the market for a large area rug and I found a flyer for Togar on a literature rack in the North Carolina Welcome Center. What a great find! Togar has a beautiful selection of Persian, Russian and Tibetan rugs. We were particularly impressed with their selection of colorful kilim rugs. But John is still exploring his options so we took way only ideas.

Dinner was disappointing! For 7 years I have been trying to convince John to eat dinner at the Early Girl Eatery. Billed as a southern restaurant with a healthy, regional emphasis, the menu looks very good and there is always a waiting line. He finally agreed and before we knew it, we were squished at a small table, picking at pork dishes and wondering why this place was on my "must try" list. Not a restaurant we will give a 2nd chance to. After dinner, we felt sorry for ourselves and grabbed incredibly rich chocolate cupcakes from Old Europe Coffee House. We spent our evening eating cupcakes, watching TV (National Lampoon's Vacation no less) and reading.

More gallery shopping on Sunday and brunch at The Corner Kitchen in Biltmore Square. Good food, but slow service due to the massive after church crowd. One of the more interesting items on the menu was a "breakfast salad." This is basically a salad with an egg (prepared to ordered) on top. I couldn't decide if I thought it would be good or bad so I ordered something else.... maybe on another trip?!

Our trip was over too quickly but we are already looking forward to next year's trip!

A small outdoor market on Battery Park, mostly jewelry and other handcrafted items.

Page Avenue with the Grove Arcade in the white building on the left

The elegant Grove Park Inn

Another shot of the Grove Park, John is walking in the foreground
The Asheville skyline from the backporch at the Grove Park Inn

One of two 7' fireplaces in the lobby of the Grove Park Inn

A beautiful sunset for the drive home!

Work has been very consuming recently so spending this evening in the company of friends was a real treat for John and me. We filled two of six seats at a small dinner party hosted by Will and Kim. Will created a fabulous dinner of spicy vegetarian chili, cole slaw and vegan cornbread, capped off with large slices of vegan raspberry cheesecake. If the food and lively conversation weren't enough, one of the other guests, local author Ron Miller ( "The Happy Cannibal"), treated us to a showing of his slides of China taken on one of his trips exploring the world. Although travel is always near the front of our thoughts, the slideshow got us thinking about travel plans for 2007. Time to begin planning!!

Thanks for another great Friday night Will and Kim. We wish you success on running two 5k's tomorrow!

It was with a very small measure of amusement that I arrived at the airport Tuesday evening and discovered my Delta flight was once again delayed by mechanical problems. Incredible! I am begining to take this personally.

Faced with an extra hour to kill, I sailed through the nearly empty security fort and staked out an empty table at the only airport cafe. Lots of time for dinner before before starting a long evening of travel. Just as I began to settle in, I heard my name over the intercom with a directive to go immediately to Gate 3. I grabbed my stuff, dashed down the hall where a boarding pass to Cinicinnati was shoved in my hand, the promise of a seat on to Bentonville was made and the plane door was closed before I found my seat. Though my original flight was still on delay, seats on an earlier flight were open and Delta delayed the plane to accomodate several early arriving passengers.

Delta delays have been pretty aggrevating recently but mastering the technique of packing all fluids in a one quart plastic bag, carrying on luggage and arriving at the airport early, PRICELESS!


A 1 quart plastic bag...the new "must have" travel accessory!

I found my work companions at the gate in Cincinnati and we boarded our flight to Bentonville. Several jokes were made (at my expense) about flight delays but we boarded on time and arrived at our destination safely...actually, the guys arrived on time, I arrived an hour earlier than originally scheduled!

Our meetings went well and we got out of town early Wednesday afternoon. This was a good thing as the 1st major winter storm slammed the area late Wednesday evening!

Where did the long holiday weekend go? Last Wednesday I had five glorious days in front of me and now I am scrambling to finish the odd, unrelated assortment of tasks that have occupied much of my time. Most of my "his" stuff, i.e. mowing the grass, oil change, cleaning the computer keyboard (the right shift button still sticks) is done while I am still working on the "her" list which is still way too long for comfort.

Among one of the more unusual tasks was mixing up a small packet of sourdough starter purchased in Alaska in September 2001. I have been shuffling the starter from spot to spot and finally decided I was willing to commit to the starter up keep. So many memories from the trip came back as I read the package instructions. John and I were part of a group of seven friends who spent 12 days backpacking in the remote Brooks Range (located above the Arctic Circle). We relied on a map, compass and each other for our existence. The stark, rugged mountains, the night sky ablaze with the Northern Lights, soggy tundra dressed in reds and yellows for fall, icy glacier fed rivers, the constant awareness of a possible grizzly encounter, warm days, crisp evenings, funnel cakes, and lots of laughter. It was an epic trip of grand proportion and finally, when we returned to the tiny town of Bettles (pop. 70-in the summer), we consumed the huge cheeseburgers and french fries that had been occupying our thoughts, dreams and conversation throughout the backpack.

Your are probably wondering (or not) how the sourdough plays into this story. Well, while waiting on the burgers to cook, I meandered around the tiny Bettles gift shop. One of the items I picked up was this little baggy of dehydrated "Sourdough Dan's Bettles Sourdough" mix. I think I paid maybe $2 for the mix and couldn't wait to get it home. As John reminded me, I had big plans! I was going to activate the starter and divide it among the travel companions. We would all enjoy loaves of sourdough bread and yummy sourdough blueberry pancakes, just like in Bettles and Fairbanks. I was feeling pretty enthusiastic, but sourdough is like a pet, it requires upkeep so I put it off.

Fast forward to November 2006. I finally decided to commit to the starter. As a matter of fact, I was thinking about how I would pull the group together for a sourdough pancake meal and a rehashing of the trip. But five years is a long time for a tiny package of dehydrated mix to keep it's ingredients active. I mixed the starter with warm water (as per the instructions) and put it on top of the warm oven where I planned to have something cooking most of the day. Nothing happened. The water rose to the top, the flakes sank to the bottom, no fizz, no bubble, no sign of the active yeast. A disappointing but not totally unexpected result after waiting so long.

So Will, if you are reading this, and I know that you are, when are you going to pull out your map and compass and plan another epic journey to Alaska?? I have sourdough starter to buy!!

Received my first Christmas card today. Is it that time of the year already? Our recent bout of sunshine and warm weather has me thinking spring.

Dinner at the Crowne Plaza in downtown Knoxville capped off our holiday festivities. It was a quiet affair, we were all pretty tired. Carol, Leslie, Daddy and I dined on the traditional turkey, cornbread stuffing, green beans, potatoes and cranberry sauce. For the evening entertainment, we watched a number of gentlemen and ladies adorned in elegant saris walk up the hotel's grand staircase to a 2nd floor ballroom. An Indian wedding was taking place in the hotel and the attendees were dressed to impress. What a spectacular array of beautiful fabrics!

Thanksgiving was a different experience for our family this year. Instead of the traditional fare around the family dining room table, we had a Thanksgiving picnic at the nursing home where my mother has been a resident since her hospitalization in October. Daddy reserved a corner table in the 4th floor activities room and a thoughtful nursing staff set a white tablecloth, cups and napkins....we brought the rest.

The family had chatted a lot about Thanksgiving fare over the past few weeks. All of us were operating under very busy schedules so Daddy decided to purchase boxed lunches from Honey Baked Ham. On Tuesday, when he arrived to pick up the lunches, he was informed there were no boxed lunches offered during Thanksgiving week. As a result, Honey Baked Ham sent him home with a sack full of somewhat suspect turkey sandwiches.

Wednesday morning he made a close inspection of the sandwiches. While the turkey was plentiful and looked good, he decided thick hoagie rolls, soggy tomatoes, half pieces of cheese and limp lettuce were just not going to get the job done. A little trip to the grocery store netted him a loaf of good bread, some Muenster cheese (he threw out the lettuce and tomato) and a few grab bags of chips and fritos. Accompanied by homemade cranberry sauce and bean salad from Leslie's kitchen, and pecan pie from Carol's, we had a fine Thanksgiving feast. Our family has had a tough year but enjoying another Thanksgiving together is something we are all thankful for!

Our Thanksgiving feast !

Leslie, Mother and Carol around our lovely corner table...best seats in the house

Daddy and I have the window seats

Pecan pie

Carol and I. The low building behind us is the assisted living facility where Mother has been living and will return soon.

Daddy in Mother's room, taking photos!

November has been a hectic work month, hence the lack of posts. Last Sunday, no two Sundays ago, my boss and I caught evening flights to Bentonville with a plane change in Cincinnati; we were bound for an overnight in Bentonville and an early Monday morning meeting. I never have good luck connecting through the Cincinnati and this trip would not disappoint.

I arrived in Cincinnati pretty much on time with plenty of time to spare before the next flight. A quick dinner at an airport restaurant and I scrambled back to the dungeon (Terminal C) to wait for my boss who was arriving from Chattanooga. As it turned out, he had not had dinner so we hurried back to the restaurant so he could toss down a quick sandwich before hustling back to the terminal area to find our gate. I should mention that Terminal C gate numbers are not fixed and flex from one door to another as gates open and fill. This method certainly provides flexibility but it also means that one's gate can move doors in a flash.

And so this happened to us, our flight completely disappeared. While we stared at the flight boards searching for our gate, a monotone voice over the loud speaker suddenly broke through my concentration and I heard something about our flight and Terminal A. A quick check with a ticket agent and we discovered our flight had been delayed an hour and had moved to Terminal A...some vague problem in Portland, Maine, mechanical, weather but definitely delayed.

We grabbed our stuff and headed for the shuttle to A. It was at this point that I began to have a sinking feeling about checking my luggage. I had been lazy packing for this trip. After all I told myself, I was leaving on Sunday, I didn't want to deal with the new federal regulations for plastic bagging my liquids, blah, blah, blah, so I checked. A really bad idea for an overnight trip!

The situation didn't look much better by the time we got to Terminal A. We found our gate (a permanent gate), grabbed bags of "pity" candy and sat down to wait, and wait, and wait. An hour passed and another delay then suddenly my phone began ringing with calls from Delta announcing more delays, mechanical problems, bad weather and finally, around 9:30 pm, a canceled flight. Looks like an overnight in Cincinnati, compliments of Delta, and me with no luggage! "Don't worry" the gate agent told me, "luggage will be available at carousel 3." She rebooked our flights and sent us away, coupons in hand for a hotel (of sorts) and dinner and breakfast coupons.

We stood at the carousel as a few bags were unloaded. Finally the carousel belt stopped and a number of people left empty handed, including me. A visit to Baggage Service netted a really crappy conversation with an Iron Maiden who didn't care if I had my bag or even a toothbrush...too bad for me. We grabbed a taxi to our Delta designated hotel, the Drawbridge Inn in Northern Kentucky. The Drawbridge Inn looks like it was built in the 70's and, by all indications, has not been remodeled since it was built. Did I mention that my boss hadn't checked so he had luggage in hand....smart boss.

Not a great night! I was up early and in the lobby, still in my blouse and jeans. My boss showed up looking fresh in his suit. We were on the way back to the airport by 7:00 am for a flight scheduled to put us in Bentonville and at our meeting an hour and a half late. Luckily our salesman had arrived in Bentonville on Sunday night (flying through Atlanta) and would be at the meeting on time.

A post script to the story...the meeting went well and I, in my same my jeans and blouse, was actually appropriately dressed (luckily the jeans and blouse were nice). My luggage did arrive on my flight into Bentonville and like a fool, I checked again on the way home. Both return flights were late but my luggage arrived with me. And guess what, gotta do this again next week!

Another excellent backpack weekend thwarted by demands on the homefront, probably the last good weekend of the fall season. We had our hike picked, dinner menu planned and our packs (at least mine) halfway packed. We also had the good sense to call the trip off and stay at home to work on a project that I am dragging out too long. So we built our first fire of the '06-'07 winter season, turned on the University of TN, LSU football game (ouch!) and worked on the still uncompleted project. Oh well, there will be another fall next year!

We celebrated Daddy's birthday today! It was a fine October day for a party, even if we were a few days past the offical event. We had lunch at Rafferty's and cake and ice cream at Leslie and Mike's. Happy Birthday Daddy and may you have many more!!


Chocolate on chocolate (baked from scratch by me)

The birthday table (including a tin of Carol's incredible peanut brittle)

The birthday boy!!

Leslie and Mike (caught in the act of eating :-)

Carol and me

Walking in Leslie and Mike's backyard...what a view!

Ron, Steve and I went paddling on Chilhowee Lake this morning. Surprisingly enough, it was a perfect morning for being on the water. The cool temperatures warmed as the morning turned to afternoon and the foliage on shore was stunning. This was my first trip in a kayak and the guys took turns keeping an eye out to be sure I didn't encounter problems. Below are some pictures of our adventure.

Steve (yellow kayak), Ron (blue) and my paddle, carefully balanced while I take a photo.
I am using a Kodak disposable water camera, not secure enough to take my Olympus just yet.

Sun reflecting on the water (and on the water on the lense)

The foliage, the sky and Steve's yellow boat reflect on the water.

Padding into the cove where we stopped for lunch.
On an earlier paddling excursion, Steve discovered a small waterfall in a cove. Perfect for a picnic lunch!

Ron securing his kayak.
We hiked the short distance to the waterfall and enjoyed a light lunch among the fall splendor.

Ron paddling out of the cove.
The water was incredibly clear and we could see the bottom around sections of the shoreline. Of course the middle of the lake was deep, deep blue!

Headed back in the direction we came.
We paddled to the entrance of Abrams Creek before returning to the car. Time demands did not allow us to go up creek...another trip.

Yours truly, still doing okay after almost four hours on the water.

Calm waters.

We logged 8.5-miles in four hours including a 40 minutes stop for lunch. Parts of the lake were smooth as glass, while some areas, stirred up by the winds, were rough with small whitecaps. All in all the experience was great and I look forward to some overnight kayak trips in the spring!

Some 10 years ago, three women formed a friendship while working together in the same division at Proffitt's Department Store. Over the years, one friend (me) left retailing for manufacturing, one (Carol) moved to several cities in search of the perfect retail job (finally landing in Nashville) and one (Angela) happily remained at Proffitts until the store was sold to another last fall. Through the years, all remained in touch, even if it was just a letter at Christmas.

Yesterday morning, the three friends finally got back together to catch up with each other and enjoy breakfast cooked on the campstove at Metcalf Bottoms (Great Smoky Mountains National Park). Joined by family and loved ones, a great time was had by all! We plan to do this again before another 10 years flies by!


Angela, her stove, John and Anglea's new BMW (visible over John's right shoulder)...fancy!!

Angela arrived at Metcalf Bottoms early. She grabbed a couple of picnic tables and fired up her stove to boil water for hot chocolate. Angela is originally from Townsend, TN and Saturday breakfast by campstove in the Smokies was a family tradition when she was growing up. I have some fond memories of early morning campstove breakfasts with Angela, her husband Richard (who had another obligation this morning) and daughter, Julianna. Thanks for introducing me to the tradition!


Angela cooks, while Carol, cup of hot chocolate in hand, supervises!

John and me at the Coleman stove, filling the crisp mountain air with the smell of frying bacon. Any bears lurking?

Justin (Eric's brother's son), Angelica (Justin's girlfriend) and Christopher practice the art of keeping the fire going!


It is always about the food!

Scrambled eggs (cheese, onion, mushrooms), bacon, sausage, hash browns, fresh fruit and coffee cake. Yummy!

The whole gang!

Friends and glam girls, errr, that would be me and two glam girls, Angela and Carol.

A good looking family, Eric, Carol and son, Christopher!

The party is over. John warming his hands over the last of the hot coals before the drive home.

Roger Jenkins, friend, backpacking companion and one of Montana's newer residents, planned to be in town over the weekend for a few days of work and play. He decided his old friends might want to see him so he sent out the call for an impromptu "pot luck" dinner on Sunday night. Since Will was hosting his visit, Roger designated Will's house as party central. Luck was with Roger because his friends really did want to see him. So, armed with an assortment of wine and really great food, his friends showed up at Will's at 6:00 pm for a fun evening of conversation and catching up.

Thanks for pulling the dinner together Roger, it is always great to see you. But next time you visit would you just not look so happy and relaxed? Some of us still have a few years to go before we can enjoy the virtues of retirement!


Kim and Robin catching up. They haven't seen each other since the gourmet backpack last weekend!

Roger and Brian enjoying a glass of wine from the vast assortment carried in under people's arms. H-m-m-m, this seems to be the prefered method to carry wine when one's hands occupied with dishes of food.

Lance and Carol listen to Roger spin his magical tales about life in Montana.

Host Will setting up the dinner buffet. "Is everything vegetarian??!!"

Kim, Ron and Ginger chatting, but not necessarily to each other! We were sad that Kim couldn't stay for dinner; she had a date with her son to go to the theater.

Barbara listening as Ray tells a story.

Food, food everywhere and most of it is vegetarian. This made Will a happy guy. From left, my profile, John, Angela, Will, Barbara and Lance. Ron and Duane are in the back talking, though not to each other.

Dinner around the table. From left, Ginger, Angela, Ray, me, John, Robin and Ron.

Dinner around the coffee table. From left Barbara, Duane, Lance, Barbara, Carol, Will and Brian.

Why is it that guys don't sit three to the couch...look at all of that wasted seating space!

Thanks for the great evening Roger and Will, and thanks for the pictures! Equipped with a camera with no batteries and no digital card, I had to rely on the kindness of friends to blog this event. Not sure whose picture is whose but I know none of them are mine!!

Busy weekend, October weekends are always that way!

Friday nights have been pretty hectic recently so when we realized Movies on Market Square was advertising it's 4th film (in a 7 film series), we grabbed our lawn chairs and hurried to the Square to reserve our spot. We were hungry and The Tomato Head beckoned so we abandoned the chairs and disappeared into the restaurant for a fine dinner of chips and hummus, salad and sandwiches. An hour later we resurfaced with a few minutes to settle in before the film was scheduled to roll, or so we thought.

Technical difficulties with the big screen forced the event coordinators to call in the heavy equipment...a big truck. So, while the band warmed up the spectators, the coordinators huddled around the side of the truck with the projector. About 30 minutes late, "October Sky" finally rolled up on the shiny, white panel truck. The temperature was cooler than expected and a moderate wind put a mighty big nip in the air. Although the film kept us engaged, an hour of shivering finally forced us to "toss in the towel" and hurry back to the car where we warmed ourselves with the heater. Disappointed, we will be better prepared next time!