This week has been pretty darned pleasant. Chantalle came to town, which is always a big treat for me. That girl is fun, funny, and always up for some shopping (more on this later). But, before I get into that, I'll write a little bit about walking.
The weather proved too good to ignore this week, and I spent as much time outside as possible. The beginning of the week was a little cold, so I wasn't too incentivized to get out to the greenway or anything. But, by Thursday, that had all changed. I hit the Jean Teague greenway on Thursday afternoon and walked further than I had before. Let me describe this beautiful piece of land in west Knoxville. I begin my walk at a gravel parking lot just across the street from a school. You'd think I'd know the name of the school, but I don't. Anyway, the first part of the walk is through a park, with a baseball diamond, tennis courts, lots of playgrounds for kids (even a swingset away from the play areas which I assume is for grown-ups--at least that's what I tell myself when I swing there). As you cross a small street, you get into a walkway alongside a creek. On the other side of the creek are some really beautiful two- and three-story homes with huge backyards and lovely screened-in porches. If I had to own a house again, I'd want one of those on the side of the creek. As the path veers away from the creek, you round a corner that leads to the parking lot of a big church. The path ends there and becomes just a regular sidewalk that leads up to a major road. When I say up, I mean f'ing UP! It's quite a climb before the sidewalk dips back down again--which is quite a dip. There's a tunnel under the major road. Once you've crossed that, there's a beautiful nature walk place, with the creek again on the side of the path and beautiful blooming trees and bushes. I didn't walk to the end of this part of the trail as time was an issue, but I want to explore so much more.
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| From the Jean Teague Greenway |
So, my legs were totally aching on Friday, after having scaled what felt was the Everest of hills on the greenway. But I wasn't done. As Chantalle was going out to brunch and then to watch the Purdue game, I decided that I would finally make a trip to the Ijams Nature Center. This space is located alongside the Tennessee River and also encompasses a former quarry that is now a gorgeous lake. Not knowing too much about the place, I headed over with just an iPhone full of Elvis tunes and a pair of earbuds. Little did I know that I'd be doing more than walking. Yes, like the campus of UT itself, the Ijams Nature Center is built on hill, hills, and more hills. Next thing I knew, I was hiking down this steep trail from the visitor's center down toward the river. God, it felt great, like I was at the cabin or something. I followed the trail to a boardwalk that goes along the river and includes some caves, one of which was used by a woman in 1912 who hid there after killing a man. Wandering around without a clue where I was going, I followed another trail over to the quarry area. The lake there was sooooo gorgeous! I scrambled up on a rock to contemplate the pretty water and to snap a pic. Now, let me confess something about myself. I am good at scrambling up rocks. I SUCK at getting down again. I had to scoot along on my bottom until I could grab at a tree trunk to pitch myself upright again. Then I had to grab another tree trunk to finish the climb down. I tried to avoid a mysterious green plant that was climbing up the second tree trunk, but I was unsuccessful. Fears of poison oak filled my thoughts as I went back to the trail and walked for a little bit alongside the lake. Every time I felt so much as a possible itch, I was sure I had the dreaded disease. I pondered whether the visitor's center would have an antidote or whether I would have to go to some weekend clinic for treatment. Happily, the mysterious plant was apparently not poison oak, and I finished my beautiful hike around Ijams without unnecessary scratching.
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| The lake in the old quarry--taken from my perch on a rock |
After that, you'd think I'd walked enough for the week. But no. Neighbors Katie and Robert asked me to take their puppy out while they were down in Atlanta. This time, my walk took me all around the neighborhood streets here in West Hills. Miss April Kleinkopf-Rennie proved to be delightful company, and we walked each other until each of us was tuckered out.
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| Miss April |
So much for the walking. Now, for the talking. Chantalle was in town. Need I saw more? Thursday night found us at Crown and Goose for trivia. Joined by Ryan, Amanda, and Carrie, our team, "CIA Black Sites (Thailand)" took second place to "Unicorns on the Cob." We might have won, but Chantalle didn't believe me when I answered one of the questions with "The Price is Right." She wrote "Let's Make a Deal" on the answer card instead--and we lost those points. Ah, what might have been....
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| The second-place team, CIA Black Sites (Thailand) |
Of course, no visit from Chantalle would be complete without a visit to B&N. If there is one component of our co-dependent relationship that never fails, it's the ability of each of us to talk the other into a bookstore visit. This time it was my bad--I was the one who talked Chantalle into shopping for books. But it was so worth it!! I'm halfway through the latest Elizabeth Kostova book, Shadow Land, and I'm completely hooked. Sometimes its nice to read something that has absolutely nothing to do with Jessie Benton Fremont.
Now its Sunday, and the weekend has been disappointing on the sports scene. Yesterday, the Vol men lost to a team from a little school with a nun as its main cheerleader. That nun pulled some strings, and the last three-point attempt from one of the Vols didn't go in the basket. Then, last night, my man Donny Schatz had a terrible race from qualifying to a fourteenth place finish at the Stockton dirt track. And now, as I watch the NASCAR race, the Toyotas are running away with things, and Elk Grove's Kyle Larson and Bakersfield's Kevin Harvick got into a scuffle that has trashed the hopes of the California boys to win in f'ing California. #BadSports
I'm not really looking forward to the week ahead. Things at the museum are just not that fun without Lindsey. There's not a lot for me to do, so I really feel sort of useless. But its only for three more months, so I'll make the best of it.
That's all there is to report from Knoxville. Bye....
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