I grew up in and around the small town of Maryville, Tennessee. In one direction lay the big city of Knoxville. In the other lay the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I preferred the mountains to big cities, and still do. So I spent more time in the park than in Knoxville. …
Skinny, 5th grade Malcomb was at the pool with his swim team. They had finished swimming and were horsing around in the dressing room as boys that age will do. Malcomb was at the end of the bench where he had a good view of the area. And that was fortunate because in came an older man with the ugliest foot and leg he had ever seen. The foot was large and stubby and overly red in color. It had no toes whatsoever and was attached to a somewhat matching leg that looked no better. It looked like something from a freak show. …
This is not a cry for help, but we are having a lot of winter this winter in the Washington D.C. and Mid-Atlantic region. Up to 250,000 homes have been without power, including my home and neighborhood. A man who works with me has been out of power for nearly a week. We are breaking the all-time snowfall record of 54 inches for one winter. The air is white with it just now and blizzard-force winds are blowing it sideways. We have the heat turned up and the candles and flashlights laid out and ready. There have been discussions about portable generators and other preparations. …
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I went out running through the neighborhood on a Saturday afternoon. I heard the sound of helicopters overhead and discovered they were spraying. I had heard about the spraying on the radio. It was to kill something they wanted to kill. …
Down under Gregory’s Bald at the west end of the park is Big Shuckstack. A lookout tower is there. Forest rangers used to climb up and sit and watch for signs of smoke. Lower still is Little Shuckstack. It is steep between the two and your knees will let you know, don’t worry, as they did us ten or so Scouts the day we climbed down. …
The North Chickamauga Creek Gorge, located 15 miles from downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee, is a beautiful deep central gorge cut into the sandstone plateau of Walden’s Ridge. It is approximately 10 miles long–steep, and rugged with forested slopes and very limited access. This gorge is the upper portion of the 32-mile North Chickamauga Creek, one of the main tributaries of the Tennessee River in Chattanooga. …
I remember exactly where we met. I remember the intimate lighting and the view outside of all the expensive yachts. A marina restaurant on Chickamauga Lake in East Tennessee. I kept looking around to see if anyone was there who knew me. Yes, I was concerned that someone might see me doing this. But the more I got to know her, the less I cared about that. There are times in your life when you try something you've held back on in the past, and you cross over and find yourself in a new place. She was that place. …
I met this man who trains dogs to sniff out explosives. He calls them “bomb dogs.” He does this for the police department in Washington, D.C. As we know, a lot of people are interested in planting explosives in Washington, D.C. Sometimes it makes you wonder why we live here. …
Once upon a time there was a fishing village that surrounded a beautiful harbor beside the sea. The people of the village worked hard to make their living. Everyone was expected to help with the fishing, from the youngest to the oldest. …
I knew a man in Tennessee whose real name was John Smith. I point out that this was his real name because otherwise you would think I was disguising it. John lived in Tellico Plains and he’d been taught to trout fish by a forest ranger who was the best in the region. John became an expert himself and one day I went fishing with him because we were friends. I was no expert when it came to trout fishing. …