Yesterday, the Tennessee men’s basketball team defeated the Kentucky Wildcats in spectacular fashion. It was one of the best endings to a game I’ve ever seen. Being raised in East Tennessee basically means you’re raised a UT fan, either for football, basketball, or both. My parents actually like basketball more than football, so I spent…
Davy Crockett Tavern Visit
I have lived in Morristown for a long time, but I had never toured the Davy Crockett Tavern Museum, which is honestly quite ridiculous. But I finally visited recently and was splendidly surprised. I thought I was only going to get to see one room, but there’s a LOT more to see there. First stop…
Do You Like School?
Growing up back in the 1980s, I was asked this question a lot: “Do you like school?” My answer, especially in grade school, was “YES, I love school.” My kids still get asked this question, but their answer is usually, “NO. School is boring. I hate getting up early.” Tonight it occurred to me that…
Football Time in Tennessee
Well, it’s another football season. The past few years, I’ve not been looking forward to it as much as I used to. I’m supposin I think too much about it, but I worry. I worry about the football players and concussions. There’s some real compelling research out there showing that multiple concussions may lead to…
Empathy
Hi y’all, I hope you’re enjoying 2018 so far. My family and friends have all had some version of the stomach bug, sinus infections, RSV, and pneumonia since Christmas. It sure seems like there’s a lot of sickness going around. I hope you have all been healthy. I’ve been thinking a lot about empathy lately….
Good Ole Rocky Top
Growing up in East Tennessee fairly close to the home of the Big Orange (University of Tennessee) necessitates 2 things: 1) rooting for the Vols any and every time they play a sport (mostly basketball and football) 2) learning the words to the fight song, Rocky Top I was in 3rd grade when I first…
A Visit to Sevier County
Yesterday evening I traveled to Sevier County, TN. I’ve been there and through there hundreds of times both as a child and an adult. But I wasn’t there for a fun time. I was there because a Sevier County commissioner, a publicly elected official, Warren Hurst had made several inflammatory comments during a public meeting…
Hamblen County, TN
Hi Everyone, Last week, something very bad and sad could’ve happened right here in our county. On Thursday evening, December 21, 2017, the Hamblen County Commission decided to take up an issue completely out of its jurisdiction, marriage equality. When I heard about it, I was completely and utterly blindsided. And then I found out…
Integrity vs. Despair by proxy
There’s this theory that was developed by a man named Erikson about how we develop thru our lifetimes. If you ever had a psychology class then you’re probably familiar with it. You can read more about it here: Erikson’s theory Anyways, I’ve been thinking about the very last stage called Integrity versus Despair. People who…
“I live here, BUT I’m not FROM here.”
Have any of you heard a statement like that before? I was on a conference call the other day with some very highly educated people and we were taking turns introducing ourselves. Before we got to me, a lady said she lived in west Tennessee but she wasn’t from “the South” and she wanted people…
Hate Growing
Hi y’all. I haven’t written in a while. Life has a way of refocusing your attention. When I get overwhelmed, I turn to the garden. Since I’ve been distracted recently, my azalea plant was overtaken by kudzu. <<<<<<My azalea with the addition of kudzu. I saw this vine last winter, but didn’t think…
Family Support
Hi everyone. It’s been a long time since I’ve written. So much has happened this past month and I took some time off from writing. During this trying time, I have received so much support from my family. We may not talk every single day, but when something happens, we all come together. We do…
The East Tennessee Hillbilly 