Life in a Small Town

{Friday Foto Friends} Chips, Hazy Skies, and Dolly

Deb at Breathing in Grace hosts Friday Foto Friends every Friday. I haven't been very faithful about joining in...life gets in the way. I shared most of my favorite pictures of the week in this post, but I think I have a couple more to share!

During our sightseeing trip on Sunday, we grabbed a bag of these. Dark vs. milk chocolate...it was a tough decision, but I decided on dark because of the health factor! I was a little disappointed; I thought there was just a little too much chocolate on them.

Finally on Wednesday, the hazy skies from wildfires dissipated and we had some beautiful blue skies.

One last picture from last Sunday: our selfie with Dolly. We didn't really think it looked a whole lot like her, but it was something I'd wanted to see and never took the time to stop.

If you'd like to see some of the "off the beaten path" sites we visited last Sunday, click here.

Election Hangover Randoms

The views listed here are my own. I'm not looking to debate, pick a fight, or get anyone riled up. I'm just getting some things off my chest. I can, because this is my blog! If you don't like it, don't read it!!!

No Hodgepodge today since Joyce is swimming in a sea of boxes while waiting for her furniture to arrive! Oh, and apparently is without internet. 😒

So...this is unusual for me, but, with the current events in our nation's history, here are some thoughts about the election:

🗽A couple of people had this in their Facebook statuses: Hate won. No, hate did NOT win. I think morality won. I'm not saying our President-Elect is the epitome of morality...he's far from it. If he stands by his platforms, this country will be back on track to gain back some of her morals.

🗽Women voting for Hillary because she's a woman and they want to see a woman in the White House is just wrong. To say so on national tv is just embarrassing.

🗽I don't like change. There, I said it. Any time a new president is elected, there's going to be change. The older I get, the scarier it is. But, you know what? The USA survived Carter, Clinton, and the Obamas (why is it always plural and not just him? Hmmmm) ...we'll continue to survive. Our country isn't perfect, but it's still the best there is!

🗽As a Catholic, Hillary scares the ever-loving crap out of me. Her anti-Catholic rhetoric and ideals are just frightening to me.

🗽Best post I saw this morning (from 1 of my Kindergarten teachers...thanks, Hailey!): "You get what you get and don't pitch a fit." Be an adult, be proud of our country, be thankful you live in a country where you can vote and not be afraid of being persecuted because of it.

🗽Four & eight years ago, I had to endure co-workers boasting. I sincerely hope there will be no boasting (or fit-throwing). As a friend of mine posted on FB: "One thing I know; it is not the responsibility of ONE president to make sure I'm OK. It is MY hard work, effort, the love of my family and the everlasting love of my God that will carry me through." (Thanks, Maria!!!)

🗽Best picture on FB this morning:

🗽Last May, when I heard Father Leo Patalinghug talk, the race was just in it's early stages of being frantic. He said that in the end, this nation will still be 1 nation under God. Continue to pray for our country; don't stop just because the election is over. She needs as many prayers as she can get!

🗽Finally, I saw this youtube clip yesterday. Nice to see our northern neighbors reminding us how great this country really is!

Exploring East Tennessee: New Fall Sights!

This weekend, CH & I stayed a little closer to home. I saw a segment on a local tv channel a couple of weeks ago that highlighted a few places in Sevier County that I didn't know about. It took some time on the internet (they didn't have the maps linked like they said they would), but I found maps for each place.
The tour started at the statue of Tennessee's favorite (and arguably most famous) daughter, Dolly Parton:

I didn't think it looked very much like her, but I can cross that off the list! The statue is just outside of Sevier County's Courthouse; I had never been to it but had seen it many times from the road next to it. It's an absolutely beautiful building on the outside.

Next, we went to a community college to see a plaque commemorating a civil war battle not far from that spot. Fair Garden is considered a "minor battle", but a couple of people who were involved in it are interesting: Colonel Eli Lilly (founder of the Eli Lilly Pharmaceutical Company) and General Sturgis (Sturgis, SD is named after him).

The next stop was Harrisburg Covered Bridge. I had no idea there was a covered bridge so close to me; I love covered bridges!

Harrisburg Covered Bridge is one of 4 covered bridges in Tennessee.

In 1975 the Daughters of the American Revolution raised the funds to renovate the bridge.

Here is another covered bridge that I saw a few years ago when I visited OS & we went hiking:

Next on the list was the Fox Cemetery. The first person buried here was Mark Fox, who was scalped by Indians. I walked around but couldn't find his grave. I told CH that it's too bad they don't have it marked, but maybe they aren't sure which one is his.