thanks for the memories

Thanks for the memories….

THANKS to grandpa Buddy's boss for the annual end of year bonus and THANKS to Buddy for sharing it for the family trip, wait, that check hasn't come in yet…. Hopefully no jelly-of-the-month club for us this year!

THANKS to SARAH for her idea, "let's have matching PJs this year" and to MELISSA (and Target) for making that happen!

THANKS to ALLISON for making the official family photos again this year.

THANKS to MELISSA and CARRIE for creating the menu and grocery list and ordering it online for pickup at the Kroger(s) in Pigeon Forge upon arrival, and thanks to the folks at Kroger for having everything ready right on time.

THANKS to KEITH and DANIEL for all the cooking.

THANKS to MELISSA for the neat hot cocoa bar.

THANKS for the memories, the baby holding, the hot chocolate, the puzzle, the music, the coloring, the laughs and fellowship around the table. THANKS for the big table and the fireplace to gather around, for the Christmas trees and décor.

THANKS to RACHEAL and ISAIAH for bringing the entertainment (baby LILI).

THANKFUL that everyone had safe travels from places near and far. THANKFUL that all of our kids and grandkids are grown and have jobs and cars and can fend for themselves, they could all go places either together or separate, whenever and wherever they wanted (after a few minutes of car Tetris to get out of the parking area). A few places visited this weekend by some of us: Dollywood, Gatlinburg Aquarium, Laser Tag, Mini Golf, GSM Foothills Parkway, Ferris wheel at Pigeon Forge. 

Thanks to Dollywood Cabins for another great destination lodging experience. Staying at DW cabins has a lot of perks but the two that stand out are the 'length of stay pass' - for $69.95 per person you can come and go to DW as many times as you want for as long as you are staying in the cabin. But the best perk we think is the free parking at DW. Yes parking costs $15 per vehicle or you could all cram into the car with grandpa who has the Gold pass, but if you stay at DW cabins every vehicle gets a free parking pass (we had 7 vehicles). But not just FREE parking in the main parking area and ride the tram, but FREE parking up at the top of the hill in the special lot G with a short walk to the back entrance.

Thanks all y'all for another great family Christmas trip!

the secret is out

The Girls of Atomic City by Denise Kiernan

Atomic City = Oak Ridge, Tennessee, a secret city founded during World War II to help create fuel for the atomic bomb.

The local prophet came out of the woods in rural Tennessee with a vision of the future. No one believed John Hendrix or his ramblings, but it all came true… long after his death and 40 years after his prediction that the "valley in rural Tennessee would be filled with great buildings and factories and they will help toward winning the greatest war that ever will be."

The government came to rural Tennessee in 1942 and found an ideal spot hidden in the Appalachian mountain ridges, connected with a main railroad line, far enough from the coast… they came and surveyed and claimed the land, 56,000 acres, in the name of the government, eminent domain:

"Entire communities and the ways of life that infused them were to be wiped away in a matter of weeks. For some residents of East Tennessee, this was the third time they were evicted from their lands—both the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Norris Dam having already claimed their share years earlier."

The scientists came to rural Tennessee, their groundbreaking ideas and experiments with splitting atoms had worked on a tiny scale in labs, and on a small scale in fields and forests, now to make them work on a massive scale.

shift change

The girls came to rural Tennessee, on trains and buses, having been recruited out of their own small towns across the South. Think Rosie the Riveter goes to the sticks. Why girls? Well most of the guys were away at war. Some young men also came to the site, recruited from high school or from the military. Some of the reasoning behind hiring young women:

"If you tell a young woman of 18 from a small-town background to do something, she’ll do it, no questions asked. Educated women and men, people who had gone to college and learned just enough to think that they might 'know' something, gave you problems."

watching the dials and gauges

Resources were scarce, everything being used for the war effort. But resourcefulness abounded. For example copper was needed for magnets - 8 feet tall magnets - but copper was appropriated for shell casings. The scientists and engineers put their heads together - what else would work? Silver!

"Who had a few tons of spare silver lying around? The US Treasury, so the District Engineer met with Under Secretary of the Treasury Daniel Bell to discreetly request around 6,000 tons of silver."

Oak Ridge postcard

Another resource used exclusively for war was nylon, and more resourcefulness on the part of the girls:

"Some young women even drew seams up the back of their legs to simulate stockings or hose, much of which had gone to war, where their fabric was needed for parachutes. If you were a woman handy with a needle and thread, you might get that fabric back in another incarnation: Many young brides had taken to fashioning wedding dresses from the very parachutes that had brought their loves safely back down to earth. Fashion’s contribution to the war effort, come full romantic circle."

warning sign

Secrecy was priority. Each worker only knew what their specific job was, not the big picture. The surrounding locals watched the activity, wondering what was going on behind the fence, "Everything's goin' in and nothin's comin' out…"

The girls took pride in their jobs and the fact that they were helping to shorten the war, even though they had no idea how that would happen. They made the best of the rest of their time, making lifelong friends, making homes out of the temporary housing.

Oak Ridge postcard

This book describes the science of atom splitting and uranium and fission (admittedly a bit over my head), but the best parts are those about the girls and their day-to-day lives in this most unusual of cities. The author found some of these surviving women, listened to their stories, and did an excellent job putting it all together in this book, American history that is so unbelievable, it reads like a novel. 

Oak Ridge postcard

Note: None of these pictures were seen until after the war was over and the secret was out.  

signs of Clarksville

Clarksville, Tennessee

Home of the 101st, everyone in town offers military discounts.

Where the biggest street is named after an Olympic athlete

Where the train depot is featured in the Monkees song Last Train to Clarksville

Austin Peay State University

Where the college banners make you wanna go...

Another job well done!

Well we have been here in Clarksville, Tennessee for 8 months, right on the Kentucky border, and it is time to move on. It has been nice to be so close to stores and restaurants, but I can't say that I will miss the rumble of the 18-wheelers on the interstate out our back window or the whop-whop of the helicopters overhead. It is a nice area and glad to add it to our places that we have been there done that.

Homeward bound to spend some time in our house that is not on wheels! 

Harpeth River State Park

Harpeth River

site of historic Pattison Forge

Montgomery Bell tunnel

ridge trail

ridge trail view

pulpit rock

We visited the Harpeth River State Park on Saturday, our goal to find the infamous tunnel. We were successful, finding the tunnel and a lot more, a scenic river with folks canoeing, hiking trails, and a history lesson.

Just west of Nashville, The Harpeth River winds through middle Tennessee, making a horseshoe turn around a narrow ridge, returning to within 200 feet of itself, known as The Narrows of the Harpeth.

Interested in the potential of water power, Montgomery Bell moved to middle Tennessee around 1804 and saw an opportunity at the Narrows to use water power for his Pattison Iron Works.

The Harpeth River makes a tight bend around a steep limestone ridge, losing 17 feet of elevation in a run of 5 1/2 miles. Bell excavated a tunnel through the limestone ridge, creating a shortcut for the river. The hydropower derived from this drop in elevation was used to drive the Pattison Iron Works built by Bell.   

Montgomery Bell's Tunnel is one of the oldest tunnels in America. Though historic records are incomplete, it is likely that Bell both located the site and designed the tunnel himself. Slave labor was used to excavate the tunnel. The project is also significant because it is believed that all excavation for the 290-foot tunnel was performed using hand drills and black powder

The Montgomery Bell Tunnel, built in 1819, was the first "full-scale" water diversion tunnel built in the United States. It is also apparently the first "full-scale" tunnel of any type in the United States, according to histories of tunneling. 

"One of the oldest man-made tunnels in existence today."

The tunnel was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1994. It is now included in the Harpeth River State Park. "The oldest known full-size tunnel of any kind in the country." ~National Historic Landmarks 

The tunnel is the only thing left of the iron works from the early 1800s. The water flowing from the tunnel only adds to the peaceful setting, the hiking trial climbs the ridge over the tunnel, offering vistas of the Harpeth valley below. The only sounds are a distant tractor gathering hay and the laughter of kids in canoes. Even after stopping to read the informational sign about the iron works, it is very hard to imagine this as a noisy industrial location. Another piece of local history, gone but not forgotten.

looking up

moon over RV park, Clarksville, TN

When you get up before daylight and turn on the local news, which at this time is Nashville, you are told to go out and see the full moon which will be setting soon, and they even show some pictures sent in by viewers.

According to News2, this is a seasonal blue moon, as opposed to the normal blue moon, which happens only once in a blue moon…

According to the online Huffington Post: "This month's full moon, which rises on Tuesday (Aug. 20), is not just a Blue Moon — it's also the Full Sturgeon Moon, the Full Red Moon, the Green Corn Moon and the Grain Moon."

At least it is not a bad moon rising.

It is apparently a slow news day here, a good thing all in all. So take time out from your busy morning schedule to stop smell the roses and check out the full moon, I did, and it's awesome!

smokin weed

Tobacco was THE cash crop in Clarksville, Tennessee starting in the late 1700s. Known as dark fired tobacco grown exclusively in this area, it had the highest nicotine content of all tobaccos. 

photo from Tennessee Century Farms

Grown and cut and dried and graded in tobacco warehouses in Clarksville then loaded onto ships on the Cumberland River headed for the port in New Orleans and on to Europe, where this strong tobacco was very popular.

Clarksville Tobacco Market

Clarksville Tobacco Market

The local newspaper (currently called the Leaf-Chronicle as a result of a merger of the Clarksville Chronicle and the Tobacco Leaf) has a good article in the archives on the history of tobacco HERE:

This city was built on weed.
 "Clarksville tobacco has a world wide reputation. It is noted for its rich, silky, elastic qualities and is better suited than any other brands to the requirements of the European demand," said the 1895 Clarksville edition of the National Trade Review. "Clarksville is the third largest tobacco market in the United States and the largest export market — exporting more tobacco than all the western markets combined."
 As early as 1788, Clarksville was designated by the North Carolina government as an official tobacco inspection site. The 1855 crop had been particularly well received in Germany, Austria, Italy and France. Besides Great Britain, the crop began to ship to Africa, South America and the West Indies.
 For much of the 20th century, Clarksville remained a tobacco powerhouse. The 1965 city directory shows 19 tobacco warehouses in operation where annual auctions drew hundreds of participants. In the 1980s, seven warehouses remained as government quotas began to affect production. In 2004, there were only two. Now there are none.

Tobacco is still grown here today, but it is a little harder to find for the average tourist like me. A lot of the farm land has been turned into subdivisions. There are still a lot of fields in the area, but they are growing mostly corn, some soybeans. I found this one tobacco patch about 5 miles from our campground.

smoking tobacco barn by MyFirefighterNation

Even if the tobacco is not grown as much as it used to be, there is still the evidence of the popular crop, just take a drive through the countryside and you will see a tobacco barn at every farm.

"What these farmers here do is, about early September, they go into their tobacco barns and dig a little hole in the earth, start a small fire: the smoke rises up through the barn, through their tobacco crop that has been cut and is drying out, and travels up into the sky. Well, if you’ve ever seen a tobacco barn smoking you’d know you can smell it for miles before you see it! Then the next farmer on down the road receives the message, if you will, and does the same in his barn, and so on and so on. Before long, every area within a ten mile radius of this place is perfumed with the smell of cut tobacco. This smell is comparable to a pep rally bonfire, or a warm log on the fire in winter, only much richer." ~Beth Britton, author for Clarksville Online

The tobacco industry has of course dwindled over the years, but then again it is apparently alive and well, just go into any convenience store and look above the clerk's head at all the different kinds. And just listen to the radio, where one of the most popular country songs out right now has the line, "chew tobacco, chew tobacco, chew tobacco, spit."

photos: Clarksville Tobacco Market from Felix G. Woodward Library at Austin Peay State University; other vintage photo from Tennessee Century Farms; smoking tobacco barn picture from My Firefighter Nation article on how to fight tobacco barn fires.

Clarksville Veterans Quilt

We are presently living and working in Clarksville, Tennessee, home of Fort Campbell Army base and Austin Peay State University. I recently visited the large Montgomery County Library, went upstairs and found this unusual quilt on the wall. 

The Clarksville Veterans Quilt (2004-2005) – ( a collaborative project with the Clarksville-Montgomery County Public Library )
“The Clarksville Veterans Quilt” was a public art project that involved the Clarksville – Montgomery County Public Library and the Goldsmith Press. Community members were invited to the library on Veterans’ Day 2004 to typeset and print the names of friends and family members that served in the U.S. Armed Forces. The design for the 9' x 12' quilt was inspired by the Vietnam Memorial in Washington D.C. created by architect Mia Lin. The Clarksville Veterans Quilt hangs in the Clarksville-Montgomery County Public Library and features the names of 250 veterans. A crew of 75 volunteers worked throughout the summer of 2005 to stitch the finished quilt.

This was a community project funded by the Tennessee Arts Commission, incorporating local families to honor veterans and using the printing press at Austin Peay State University.

The Goldsmith Press is a unique letterpress facility that includes thousands of hand-carved wood letters, typesetting materials and antique printing presses. The wood type was originally created for a New England advertising company, Metropolitan Showprint (est.1890). APSU purchased the collection in 1997.
The letterpress and type collection were named in honor of Arthur Goldsmith — an advocate for public literacy, a lover of books and a long-term supporter of the arts in middle Tennessee. The Goldsmith Press, which has been awarded 11 regional and federal grants, has proven to be a valued teaching tool and a coveted studio for artists, designers and writers.

Most of my reading these days is in the digital form, I rarely pick up a real book, so I was surprised and pleased to see all the activity at the library. The library here is alive and well, I had to park way out in the large parking lot. Parents were helping kids carry out stacks of books for summer reading. 

Some of my favorite things all in one place - quilts and books. I just love to round a corner and find a quilt hanging on the wall. I commend the people involved in this project that combines so many things, honoring veterans, sparking interest in old art forms like printing with wooden letters and patchwork quilts, bringing together the community, all the while creating a beautiful work of art for the public to enjoy. 

the Opry

Grand Ole Opry House

Buddy and giant Geetar!

Minnie Pearl lives!

John Conlee - "Rose Colored Glasses"

The Whites

Jamey Johnson

Alison Krauss

Alison Krauss and Union Station

In celebration of our anniversary we went to the Grand Ole Opry to see Alison Krauss. It was her 20th anniversary of being an Opry member. The show started at 7 and according to the schedule Alison Krauss was to be on at 8:45 so we figured we would have to endure a lot of mediocre music or old timers in walkers... but NOT!

The lineup was great, some folks we had never heard of but were awesome singers. Some folks we recognized from the old days, some newcomers we recognized their voice from the radio. 

And then Alison came out at 8 and stayed on the rest of the show until 9:15 - either singing with her band or singing backup for others or playing the fiddle. We even got to see the Soggy Bottom Boys (aka Union Station) singing Man of Constant Sorrow from the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou? 

The area outside is like a park with lots of trees and benches, there was food and live entertainment while you wait for the Opry to open.

The doors open at 6 so you have time to look around and find your seats and get popcorn. The big screens were showing trivia - like this one:

And while waiting there was a good video presentation about the history of the Opry, the different buildings, the flood of 2010:

The Grand Ole Opry is still a live radio show, it is one of the longest running broadcasts in history, on since 1925. The radio announcer was on the stage doing commercials and announcing the talent, while the next group would be setting up. The house band and backup singers were on the stage the entire time. The different acts would intermingle, playing and singing with each other, you could tell they all were like family. It was an awesome overall experience, I recommend it to anyone even if they don't like country music!

~photo album HERE

river rats

Ocoee River

The water releases from the dam upriver just for the rafters, the sirens and the loudspeakers blare warnings as the white water fills the river gorge. A sight to see and hear beginning a beautiful day on the river.

The brave rafters in our family!

How many takes to get a group shot? They thought I was waiting on them, but it was too funny and this isn't even all of the takes. Kyle you are tall,get in back. Sarah: My eyes were closed. Keith and bunny ears. Ahh, family, love 'em!

~photo album HERE

stories from the farm...

Not your typical farm gate…

I became an instant fan of the 'Body Farm' books when reading the first one, Carved in Bone by Jefferson Bass.

Jefferson Bass is the writing team of Dr. Bill Bass and Jon Jefferson. Dr. Bass is a forensic anthropologist who created University of Tennessee's Anthropology Research Facility, nicknamed the Body Farm. Jon Jefferson is a journalist, writer, and documentary filmmaker. Together they created this fantastic fiction series based on the reality of their world, at The Body Farm and beyond.

Another author, Patricia Cornwell, wrote The Body Farm in 1994 about this same facility in Tennessee, one of her popular crime novels about medical examiner Kay Scarpetta, which is actually where I first learned of this weird place, but figured it was just fictional.

Dr. Bass has his office along with hundreds of research skeletons in storage underneath the University of Tennessee's Neyland football stadium. Remember the movie The Blind Side, when actress Kathy Bates warns Michael Oher not to go to UT because of what was buried underneath the football field? Well it is true, partly... there are over 5000 skeletons stored in boxes underneath the stadium in the offices of the Anthropology Department, but no bodies actually buried under the football field. After this film came out, the local television station did a great piece on this story, seen HERE.

In addition to all the crime scenes and CSI-like cases, the author(s) describe the local area around Knoxville, the Great Smoky Mountains, Chattanooga, places familiar to me, places I recognize, I've been there! They incorporate into their stories and investigations cases "ripped from the headlines" like the crematorium scandal in Georgia in 2002 where hundreds of bodies were found scattered on the property of the Tri-State Crematorium, and the Florida boys school scandal in 2010 where stories of brutal beatings and deaths resulted in investigation and discovery of many graves on the school property.

One story is about a case of radiation exposure in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, the site of the Manhattan Project that developed the atomic bomb. The story goes into great detail about the World War II project and the people who worked there, prompting me to want to know more about this city and its history, which I found in great detail in The Girls of Atomic City by Denise Kiernan.

Besides the maggots and decomposition, there is a lot of interesting stuff to learn from Dr. Brockton. Did you know you can tell the race of a skull by examining the teeth, that Caucasian teeth are flat on the back while Asian teeth are concave? And how to burn up that dead body in a car and provide an alibi for yourself - park the car in a dry field, leave it running, and the catalytic converter will get so hot it will set the car on fire, but it won't do it until 8 hours after you leave it there if you first place a bag of ice under the catalytic converter…  and when a body is cremated, what is left is not dust but a perfect skeleton laid out in the cremation chamber, which then must be pulverized to make the proverbial dust to dust…

The Body Farm books are described as "occurring in a parallel universe, one that resembles the real universe closely, though not exactly. That description seems fitting… his novels are works of fiction . . . but it’s fiction that is deeply rooted in the soil of grim realities. Some of those realities have been adapted, expanded, and dramatized here; others appear in these pages without alteration."

Check out the Body Farm books by Jefferson Bass.

tennessee girl

Driving the back roads here in Tennessee between Clarksville and Ashland City, we passed this sign. Welcome to Henrietta - Home of Pat Head Summitt. I looked closely and said, "Did you see that sign? Is that THE Pat Summitt?" I had never heard her maiden name, had no idea where she was from, I only knew her as the Lady Vols basketball coach. 

In her new book, Sum It Up, Pat describes growing up in Henrietta, Tennessee. She was made tough by hard work on the farm, playing basketball with her older brothers, and her father.

The first chapter broke my heart, where she lists all the things she remembers… then some things she doesn’t. When Pat decided to take 'Retirement with a small r' she was still very involved in the basketball program, but had some more time on her hands and decided to write a memoir, and WOW what a memoir! Like everything else she has ever decided to do, she does it well. This story is powerful and entertaining and inspirational.

I think I liked best the early years, growing up on the farm, the lessons learned early like hard work and family values. She goes off to college with her homemade clothes and her hick accent and she feels out of place with all the pretty girls with dresses and makeup. When the teacher looked at the roll book and saw her name was Patricia, she called her Pat, and it stuck, soon everyone was calling her that. But Pat was too shy to tell everyone that her name had always been 'Trish'. After a while she decided Pat sounded strong, so she kept it.

At age 22, fresh out of college, she became head women's basketball coach at UT. While the men's team played in the bigger arena, the women had the old 1920s gym. Pat would go in on game day and sweep the floor and set up the chairs. She would wash and mend uniforms. Then for away games she would load all the girls in her car and drive them to the games.

All the awards and records and stats aside, she admits her greatest accomplishment is her son Tyler, but that was not her only venture into motherhood.  All of those young girls in her basketball program were entrusted to her care by their parents, and she didn't let them down. She made sure they made good grades, she cooked for them and fed them in her home, counseled them, made them part of her family.

I wonder if early dementia is common in folks who use their brains so much more than the rest of us - it reminds me of a family friend who was recently diagnosed with early dementia. This person is so smart, can do anything, has such a keen mind, or had… Over the years she has started several businesses from scratch, building them up into very successful ones, her mind a steel trap of information, or was… I told her granddaughter that this lady used her mind to full capacity for all of her life, maybe she used it up, maybe it just needed a break. But then was sorry I said that because the granddaughter is just like her. A visit with this friend was like reading Pat's book - also heart breaking, she told countless stories of her childhood, but I had to remind her who I was.

  

After her diagnosis, and being told all things she cannot do… Pat listed some things she still can do. "I can continue to work as long as possible. I can decline to be afraid or self-conscious. I can try to be an example." And one of my favorites: "I can joke about it - when someone asks, she jokes, 'I've forgotten I have it.'

The memoir, Sum It Up does just that - sums up the life of Pat Summitt, her life on and off the court. I am glad she got her life story down while she can still remember it, let this be a lesson to all of us - you never know when your mind will falter, so if you have any stories from your childhood lurking in there, it is time to get them down - write your own story, start today!

area happenings

Common Grackle

House Sparrow

canola field

Mr. and Mrs. House Sparrow

Cumberland River overflows

the Silver Box

Happenings 'round here - still bird watching out my office window. Big yellow fields that line the interstate are canola (for making canola oil). Downtown the Cumberland River has been out of its banks and onto the River Walk for two weeks now. And on the Job front, it seems that wooden studs and walls and trusses are out of style, the all metal box that will be the Navy Federal Credit Union building.