Stairway to Heaven

Whew! It's been a fast and furious December. My blogging habits have definitely taken a big backslide. I'll try to post more frequently this week and catch up on all the happenings.

We have so many beautiful outdoor spots here and we have been in the process of making it more user friendly. The first floor deck is now completed, thanks to our friend and semi-professional carpenter Lee. I can't wait for the first spring days now! We should have plenty of room for cookouts looking out over the gorge.

For the last two weeks, we have watched our stone staircase take shape from the upper parking lot down to the front door and then around the house to the new deck and continuing on down to the point. Our visitors can now park on the upper lot and walk down the stone staircase without having to hop over roots and overgrowth. In the spring this path will be lined with pink and white mountain laurel - should be breathtaking!

I hope all of you have had a wonderful holiday season and that you have had time to spend with those you love and care for.

Let It Snow!!

It's winter here on the mountain. We awoke this morning to snow on our third floor deck and it has continued to snow all morning. Are we in Montana??


The Cumberland Mountains continue to dazzle us with year round beauty. No sooner had the leaves fallen off the trees, the snow arrived. Now, we aren't sitting on the deck watching the sunset, but we have enough windows all around that we can enjoy this beauty from the comfort and warmth of our own living room, or bedroom, or just wherever.


The little chickadees are still here and were all over the feeder this morning. Most of the migratory birds, like the "snowbirds", are gone south. We still have a few species around - the Tufted Titmouse and the Nuthatch.




Oh... and one more thing, we are building yet another deck. Our good friend, Lee, who is quite a carpenter, is building the deck for us on the ground floor. This is the first step in the landscaping design. The deck is just 5 steps down toward the point; then the path to the point leaves from this new deck all the way out to the point of our lot. The boulders are already here and the work on this project will begin as soon as weather permits. The idea is to have all this work done by spring so that we will have yet another beautiful outdoor space to enjoy.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Families are Thanksgiving - and, oh yeah, FOOD! Here's our Thanksgiving menu:

Turkey with Cranberry Glaze

Apple Raisin Stuffing

Sour Cream & Chive Mashed Potatoes

Garlic Cheese Grits

Broccoli Cheddar Bake

Green Bean Casserole

Sweet Potato Souffle

Cranberry Marshmallow Salad

Bread Pudding Bars with Vanilla Creme

YMMM!! And best of all, most of it was prepared ahead of time at the Dinner Afare. Marci prepared the Garlic Cheese Grits, a family tradition and favorite. I prepared the Cranberry Marshmallow Salad and Jim prepared the Green Bean Casserole, both old family recipes.

BEST THANKSGIVING MEMORY: Will was anxious to perform the Merry Christmas song in Spanish - Feliz Navidad. As we all listened attentively, Will started singing, "Elise Bobby Dodd" - too cute. Of course, we had to immediately call our real life friend, Bobby Dodd, and let him hear his newly christened namesake song!!

But, really best of all was having our whole family together. Check out our pictures to the left. From our family to yours, a blessed and happy Thanksgiving.

Lady Vols vs. Lady Mocs

I'm always so impressed with the determination and discipline of the Lady Vols and Pat Summitt. So, we were thrilled that we had tickets to see them in Chattanooga. Jim's brother and sister-in-law, Jack and Pat, got the tickets and all 4 of us headed down the mountain for the game.

We stopped first at Jimmy's and got a big hug from Will. They were actually headed out to see the opera at the Tivoli that night. So, we didn't stay long - but long enough to get our "Will fix"!

The Lady Vols are a young team this year with all of their 2007 national championship team now playing in the WNBA. We were anxious to see the new talent. On the other hand, we had no idea what to expect from the Lady Mocs, but we happened to be sitting next to a former Lady Moc who was very excited about their team.

The first half (and frankly, the entire game) was very close. During the first half, the Lady Mocs were open on so many 3-point shots, I really just couldn't figure out whether the Lady Vols had no respect for the Lady Moc 3-point shooters, or just weren't effectively playing defense. In the 2nd half, I found out as the Lady Mocs proceeded to nail every 3-point shot they took.

Actually, two things could have swung this game either way: (1) the Lady Mocs could have hit all the 3-point shots in the first half and won; or, (2) the Lady Vols could have hit their foul shots - unbelievable!! There were more fouls called in this game than any I have ever seen - 29 in the 1st half alone - so, there was ample opportunity for the Lady Vols to win this one going away on foul shots alone. I would bet that they will be spending day-in and day-out at the foul shot line this week.

The Lady Vols were up by a few points at the half. During the halftime, we were entertained by the Sugar Mocs, a rhythm dance troop of students who performed to the music of the pep band.

The Lady Mocs came back out in the second half and started hitting the 3-pointers. Half way thru the period, they had an 8-point lead and showed no signs of slowing down. Slowly, however, the Lady Vols started making their way back and finally hit a couple of 3-pointers themselves.

Then the most amazing thing happened. The Lady Vols had a 1-point lead with 35 seconds left in the game. They took the inbound pass and froze the ball at half court and the Lady Mocs let them do this while 21 seconds ticked off the clock!! By the time the Lady Mocs challenged them, it really was too late. They had no choice but to foul, but in my opinion, they should have fouled them as soon as the ball was inbounded. The Lady Vols weren't hitting their foul shots anyway.

Miraculously, the Lady Vols missed their foul shots, and the Lady Mocs got the ball for an inbound pass. They couldn't get the ball into play, and called a time out with 2.6 seconds left. Problem was - they had no time outs left so they were charged with a technical foul. The Lady Vols made both foul shots and ended up winning the game 66-63.

This one came down to coaching - Pat Summitt is just hard to beat, all other things being equal. Both teams played hard, but the UTC coach was just outcoached at the end of the game. Great game! I'm looking forward to the next 4 years watching this team grow.

My Spot on MSNBC

This is truly the gift that keeps on giving!! As I was easing into the morning today, watching MSNBC reports about a possible Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, what to my wondering eyes appeared!! Yet another clip of Barack Obama's visit to the campaign headquarters in Charlotte, NC.



About 1 minute into this clip, look for me sitting in a chair just in front of Obama. Notice the great big smile on my face - and no I can't tell you what I was saying to him - I was way beyond rational thought at this point!!

The clip is actually quite good - 6 minutes in all - and features Jon Meacham who grew up and attended St. Nicholas School in Chattanooga with my children. Jon is Editor of Newsweek magazine, and has a new book out about Andrew Jackson, American Lion, which is getting very positive reviews.

All this is very exciting and I'm almost about to stop pinching myself. It really did happen!

Happy Birthday to ME

Yes, another year goes by and a good year it has been. I marked my 62nd birthday by filing for Social Security benefits. I did it online and it was really easy - can't wait to get my first check!

There has been much to celebrate this year. This was my first birthday in our new home here on the mountain. My good health, as well as that of our family, is always reason to celebrate. And, I'm still celebrating our new President-Elect! Best of all, our family was all together for the big day.

Marci and Ryan drove in for dinner at High Point on Saturday evening. Jimmy and Will were here, too, but got to bed early and, of course, 5-year olds don't know that weekends are for sleeping late!! Will was up at the crack of dawn and ready to go - and go we did. Legos seem to be the toy of choice currently. Aunt Marci put in some significant effort in building the police station - Will was an excellent supervisor!!

The weather was beautiful so Jimmy and Will took a short "hike" to the rock outcrop on our property. This picture was taken from our first floor window.

Will always manages to get in "tickle time" with Aunt Marci and Uncle "Rymie". The game goes like this: Will says "I'm going to get you" moving closer and closer, until Marci or Ryan make a move. Then he screams, "Don't get me, don't get me" then laughs and laughs when they do. Of course all of us have as much fun as he does just listening to his belly laughs.

My birthday gifts were 2 oil lanterns from Jimmy and Will, and an unusual stone lamplight from Marci and Ryan, all of which will be perfect for our new first floor deck. My children and grandchild truly are the lights of my life - perfect gifts!

At the end of a happy, fun day, all waved good bye and off they went - the memories are still with me.

Thanks to all of you who sent cards, phone calls and well wishes - every year I cherish my friends and family more and more!

More Election Reflections

This campaign has been a major focus in my life since last spring when I signed on to go to Asheville, NC and work in the primary. I have knocked on doors, made phone calls, cheered and held signs at rallies, and spent countless hours keeping tabs on the campaign's progress as reported by the media. At times, it seemed that the election could not come soon enough. Now that it's over, it almost seems like a dream that Barack Obama will be our next President!


But it's finally sinking in - and now the real work begins. One of the things President-Elect Obama wants is for all of us to stay involved in our government, and as proof of this please check out the website Change.gov from the office of the President-Elect. As he says, "Today we begin in earnest the work of making sure that the world we leave our children is just a little bit better than the one we inhabit today." On this website you can find anything you want to know about transition plans, the inauguration, press releases, cabinet offices, biographical profiles, and you can even apply for a job in the new administration. But the most important feature of this website is that it asks us to share our vision for what our country can be. I recommend that you spend some time exploring this site, bookmark it, and go to it often during the next 4 years.


There are so many memories from this past 6 months, but some of the best are the people I have met and worked with along the way. Last week, I knocked on doors and made phone calls along side Daidee and Steve from Chattanooga. We rode to Charlotte together, shared a guest house together, and celebrated together at 11 pm on election night. Our hosts, June and Phil, also joined in the champagne toast. Their "labradoodle" Dawson was so excited he jumped up in June's lap.


Kevin, our intrepid field organizer, never let us forget that we were making a difference in NC, calling us in from a late lunch at 4pm on Tuesday afternoon to go back out and find voters who had not yet made it to the polls which closed at 7:30 pm. At 6:45 I knocked on a door and a young woman answered and started apologizing that she had just gotten home from work and hadn't voted. I simply said, "Get your shoes on and let's go!" We made it with 10 minutes to spare. Kevin was right - NC was so close that those last-minute voters gave Obama the extra edge needed to squeak out a victory in NC.



As I walked through the phone bank room, back at headquarters, at about 8 pm, I noticed that the basketball hoop used by Senator Obama was still on the wall. How can I ever forget being in that room with him and his tossing the ball up in the air and then into the hoop.



And the most exciting surprise - finding my picture on the front page of the New York Times on Nov 4!! That's definitely a first and perhaps the only time that will ever happen to me.


Another first for me was the paid TV ad. The local Grundy County TV station (GCTV) offers local community programming and our Cumberland Plateau for Obama group thought it would be a good idea to place some local spots for Obama on the air for the 5 days preceding the election. I was one of 4 people who did 1-minute spots - my topic was the economic crisis. Other topics included health care, education and religion (no, he's not a Muslim!)


I'm sure this afterglow will eventually mellow, but I hope that my renewed enthusiasm for participatory democracy will burn brightly for the rest of my life - "government of the people, by the people and for the people shall not perish from this earth." Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address