31 Beautiful Things, Day 29: Dog's View

I always open the front door for the animals so that they can have a sunny spot in which to lounge. This morning, after our usual 3-mile run, I was stretching out by the front door with our dog, Autumn, next to me, and I was so delighted in her morning view. She's just a dog, but I think even she enjoys beautiful things: yellow leaves, the early morning sun, a few last flowers. The last day of October.

31 Beautiful Things, Day 28: The Love of October

 

The Love of October

A child looking at ruins grows younger
but cold
and wants to wake to a new name
I have been younger in October
than in all the months of spring
walnut and may leaves the color
of shoulders at the end of summer
a month that has been to the mountain
and become light there
the long grass lies pointing uphill

even in death for a reason
that none of us knows
and the wren laughs in the early shade now
come again shining glance in your good time
naked air late morning
my love is for lightness
of touch foot feather
the day is yet one more yellow leaf
and without turning I kiss the light
by an old well on the last of the month
gathering wild rose hips
in the sun. 

- W. S. Merwin

31 Beautiful Things, Day 27: ARC

I don't receive advance reader's copies (ARCs) from publishers very often. I don't request them generally because I don't have time to read and review dozens of new books every year. But when I saw that Rachel Held Evans was offering ARCs of her book A Year of Biblical Womanhood, I jumped at the chance to get one!

I'm only halfway through the book, but I absolutely love it. I'll be reviewing it over at SmallWorld Reads when I finish, but here's just a little taste.

"Those who seek to glorify biblical womanhood have forgotten the dark stories. They have forgotten that the concubine of Bethlehem, the raped princess of David's house, the daughter of Jephthah, the countless unnamed women who lived and died between the lines of Scripture exploited, neglected, ravaged, and crushed at the hand of patriarchy are as much as part of our shared narrative as Deobrah, Esther, Rebekah, and Ruth."

I'm so happy to have a warm bed and a good book to read this evening!

31 Beautiful Things, Day 26: Warm and Safe

A gray, rainy day. A pair of black pajama pants and a sweatshirt. Smart Wool socks. My family at home, safe. Sunday Night Fried Rice. Amazing Race on TV. A pretty dog at our feet and a cat curled up in front of the fireplace.

Sometimes, the beauty comes in the smallest things, the most ordinary settings. I think that might be my favorite kind of beautiful thing.

25 other beautiful things in October here.

31 Beautiful Things, Day 25: Book Club

I love my book club. A friend started it a couple of years ago, and it has become one of those things that I never, ever want to miss. Last night we had an honest-to-goodness tea. Our book for October was  The Tea-Olive Bird Watching Society, so a tea seemed appropriate. One of our members is gifted with the giving-tea gene. She a dozen different china cups from which to choose, a few pots of tea, and lots of delicious and dainty cookies and such.

Our husbands think book club is just an excuse to get together and socialize, but in truth, we do talk about the book (which had absolutely nothing to do with tea, by the way). Only one of us really loved this particular novel, but so we discussed all the ways we would have made it better. And we ate a lot. Oh, and we did talk about many, many other subjects besides the novel.

I am so thankful for this group of women, and for books, and especially for gingersnap sandwiches with lemon curd filling. Now that is a beautiful thing!

31 Beautiful Things, Day 24: Shopping with My Mother

Yesterday I had the pleasure of shopping with my mother. Shopping is something we've always loved to do together. Even in the days when I was a teenager and I didn't think my mother liked me very much, we always loved clothes shopping together. She taught me to be a bargain shopper, so we always headed straight for the clearance racks. I can think of few clothing items I have ever actually bought full price.

My mother is 85 now. She aches all the time, from the base of her neck straight down to her left leg. My father does 95% of the grocery shopping, although my mother makes the lists. After our hour's shopping trip yesterday to one store, my mother will probably be in terrible pain today. But she will have said it was worth every ache.

It's not about a new pair of pants or a blue jacket that matches her eyes. The beauty is in the little moments seized while we still can and in the continuing of tradition across so many years. A girl and her mom, shopping.

31 Beautiful Things, Day 23: Cat in the Sun

I love having animals about the house. I know, I know. I often complain about hairballs and the smell of the litter box, but really, I love them. Look at that big fat guy soaking up a square of sunshine. These guys know how to appreciate life.

{"MOM! He's not fat! He's just furry!"}

{Uh-huh, people. That cat is F-A-T!}

Sweet things. How much richer our lives are because of this funny animals that share our space!

22 other beautiful things in October here.

31 Beautiful Things, Day 22: Sunrise

One of my very favorite things about getting older is that I wake up early, not because I have to nurse a baby or because the little ones are up running around. I wake up early on my own, anticipating a couple hours of quiet time before the kids wake up and the daily bustle begins. Every morning I sit in the same place on the couch with a blanket over my legs and watch the sun rise above the mountains. These cool fall mornings I turn on the gas fireplace (it's all about the ambiance), read a chapter in the Bible, and pray. Some mornings I get distracted mid-prayer by a cat meowing or a random thought that pops in my head. I am always trying to be more disciplined.

You'd think a sunrise would be old hat eventually, but every morning I swivel my head again and again to look at the sky. Has the sun popped up yet? What new color has been added to the sky? Some mornings, like today, the morning fog lightly shrouds the mountains, and I imagine myself wading through it.

Used to be I lived on Seneca Lake, and every morning I'd do the same: watch the moods of the lake, the sun spreading diamonds on the surface, the trees in sturdy silhouette. I can't imagine living somewhere without a view to start my day.

Linked up with Outdoor Wednesday, Wordless Wednesday, Seven Clown Circus

Beautiful Things Days 1-22

31 Beautiful Things, Day 21: Leaves

The leaves are out in full glory this week. I can't stop looking at them. This afternoon, after coming home from a long day at co-op, I sat on my bed and watched the sun streaming through the leaves. All I could really see out either window was leaves and sunlight. It made me want to write poetry or bury my face in a pile of leaves, breathing in October. Instead, I rested and read and thought about the perfect comfort of leaves, a fleece blanket, a quiet house, and a kitten curled at my feet.

I'm marking October with beautiful things. See days 1-21 here.

31 Beautiful Things, Day 20: Old Friends, Brand New

Back on Day 7 of "31 beautiful things," I wrote about the beauty of a brand-new thing: our new church. But yesterday was one of those days that the old and new came together. Four of us who left our former church at different points came together for lunch. Two of them have been gone 5 or 6 years. We all left in bitterness and with much grief. We had all been terribly hurt by individuals at our former church. That's not the beautiful thing. That's the ugly truth.

But the beautiful thing is that we all know that people aren't perfect, but God is. People hurt each other, but God heals. People break your trust, but God keeps all His promises. And the promise that he'll provide a crown of beauty instead of ashes just keeps showing up in my life. And that's a really beautiful thing.

Day 1.
Day 2: Morning Coffee
Day 3: It's OK to Break for Bugs 
Day 4: Supper and Cards 
Day 5: Running with Randy
Day 6: At Cataloochee 
Day 7: A Brand New Thing
Day 8: Alma Mater 
Day 9: Writing Group 
Day 10: Big Brother, Baby Nephew 
Day 11: Little Girls
Day 12: Boy Home 
Day 13: Quiet 
Day 14: Family Legends 
Day 15: Comfort Food 
Day 16: Family Legends 2 
Day 17: Sleep 
Day 18: Anticipation (AKA, Beauty in Cleaning) 
Day 19: Soup and Pumpkins
Day 20: Old Friends, Brand New 

31 Beautiful Things, Day 19: Soup and Pumpkin

A night filled to the brim with food, friends, and pumpkins.

It's probably my favorite event of the year, second only perhaps to Christmas. At the end of the evening we are ready for bed and feeling utterly blessed to be in this village.

Day 1.
Day 2: Morning Coffee
Day 3: It's OK to Break for Bugs 
Day 4: Supper and Cards 
Day 5: Running with Randy
Day 6: At Cataloochee 
Day 7: A Brand New Thing
Day 8: Alma Mater 
Day 9: Writing Group 
Day 10: Big Brother, Baby Nephew 
Day 11: Little Girls
Day 12: Boy Home 
Day 13: Quiet 
Day 14: Family Legends 
Day 15: Comfort Food 
Day 16: Family Legends 2 
Day 17: Sleep 
Day 18: Anticipation (AKA, Beauty in Cleaning) 
Day 19: Soup and Pumpkins

31 Beautiful Things, Day 18: Anticipation

Every now and then I come to the end of a day and think, "What was beautiful about today?" And that is what this is really all about: finding beauty even in the humdrum days. I can look outside and see beauty every single second. I can see the Smoky Mountains from my window, for goodness sake. I can look at my daughter and inwardly gasp at how gorgeous she is, how breathtaking. I can feel my sweet boy's head on my shoulder and know what beauty feels like.

Today, I pretty much cleaned all day. Is there anything beautiful about cleaning? I can't even pretend to find beauty in scrubbing the shower or picking fuzz off a dark blue comforter that was washed with a fluffy light green towel.

What's beautiful for me about today is the anticipation: the why of cleaning. Friday is party day! We have a big annual fall party, and in the morning I'll just have a few hours of preparation left to do. I love having a house full of friends. I wish I could invite every single friend I have and even every single acquaintance, but we can only hold so many people in our house and yard.

We started this almost 10 years ago, telling each child they could invite 2 close friend and their families. Well, friends shift throughout the years, but we also made a rule that no one ever gets taken off the list—only new people added. We've lost a lot of people through the years, mostly as they move away physically but sometimes as they've moved away from us and into other friendships, other villages. But we've added a family or two each year, and this year we're especially excited because one of the original families—who have long since moved away— will be visiting and staying with us for the weekend!

And so, while I really can't find anything beautiful in cleaning, I can totally find a beautiful thing in the reason for all the scrubbing and dusting.

Find October's 31 Beautiful Things so far here!

31 Beautiful Things, Day 17: Sleep

Sometimes, the most beautiful thing at the end of a long day is simply a warm, comfortable bed and the potential for a good night's sleep.

31 Beautiful Things, Day 16: Family Legends 2

I mentioned two days ago that my daughter and I were both collecting family legends this week, her for American history and me for my writers' group.

Click on the link about for her story about the Civil War table; here's mine about my Uncle Max.

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Max in the Sky

Max knew he really wasn’t supposed to do it, but the idea pulled at him and he couldn’t shake it. Other pilots did it, and his mother would be thrilled. He could see her laughing, her head tilted back, blue eyes on the sky. She’d smile wide and then put her hand up to her lips and close her mouth the way she did, hiding her crooked teeth. Dad would stand next to Mother, looking gruff, thumbs tucked under his suspenders and a cigarette dangling from his mouth. He had to do it.

Here’s how it was in the spring of 1943. Max and his crew were issued a new Martin B-26 Marauder bomber, direct from the factory at Omaha. He had to take it on a cross -ountry flight of at least 1,000 miles in order to make a precise fuel consumption test before crossing the ocean, overseas to Europe, to the war. As Max mapped out the course, starting at Barksdale AFB in Shreveport, Louisiana, he found that a perfect flight path just happened to include his hometown of Mt. Vernon, Illinois.

And so Max and his crew took a little side trip—just a small one— on their test flight, in what became known as the dusting of his hometown. About the middle of their flight, they came upon Mt. Vernon. They flew low, so low, from west to east and back again. There, Max saw clearly, was the Courthouse, the library, and the Rogers Building. And the folks lived at 600 Main Street, also right on course.

As this rumbling, thundering airplane with two big engines flew low over the city of Mt. Vernon, windows rattled, dogs howled, and the townspeople hurried out to see what all the noise was about. In the streets they looked up and involuntarily ducked at the low-flying bomber. Were they being attacked? Had the war come to America? Was it another Pearl Harbor?

The plane tipped its wings as if waving, and there on the front porch of 600 Main Street, Helen Firebaugh laughed. That was her Max in the pilot’s seat. She took a violet-edged handkerchief out of her apron pocket and waved ‘til she thought her arm would fall off. “That’s Max!” she yelled to the next-door neighbors and the people on the street. They laughed too and shouted the news on down the line, and soon it seemed the whole town was waving at Max and his crew, flying so low they could just about touch him.

The Balwig sisters, who lived near the Catholic church, marched right over to Verner Pigg, Chief of Police, to issue a complaint, but Verner Pigg refused to call Scott Air Force Base since the sisters couldn’t identify the plane. Mildred Metcalf, the librarian, said the vibrations sent some of the books flying off the shelves.  She spent the afternoon picking them up and placing them, one by one, back in their rightful spots. She thought about Max Firebaugh the whole time, and about the other hometown boys who were over there already or about to go, boys who once checked out adventure books or asked her, with cheeks flushed, if she’d help them find a certain novel.

Back at 600 Main Street, Helen Firebaugh, a poet herself, took out a piece of creamy white stationary, and in her loopy cursive, wrote a letter to the famous American poet Edgar Guest, describing her son’s flight over his hometown as he prepared to go fight overseas.

Edgar Guest crafted the poem “Dusting Off His Hometown” in response to my grandmother’s letter. The poem was published in syndicated newspapers across the country as well as The Saturday Evening Post on July 27, 1943.

Max Firebaugh, at 20, was in England when the poem was published, thousands of miles away already from his hometown. He’d imagine those books toppling off the library shelves sometimes when the sky was bright with search lights and thundering with the sound of anti-aircraft guns hammering away at a German aircraft.  And when the Germans would drop butterfly bombs on base, he’d think about the fluttering white handkerchief in his mother’s hand. He could see how proud she waved.

Family stories: ask about them. Write them down. Legacies are a beautiful thing.

Day 1.
Day 2: Morning Coffee
Day 3: It's OK to Break for Bugs 
Day 4: Supper and Cards 
Day 5: Running with Randy
Day 6: At Cataloochee 
Day 7: A Brand New Thing
Day 8: Alma Mater 
Day 9: Writing Group 
Day 10: Big Brother, Baby Nephew 
Day 11: Little Girls
Day 12: Boy Home 
Day 13: Quiet 
Day 14: Family Legends 
Day 15: Comfort Food 
Day 16: Family Legends 2

31 Beautiful Things, Day 15: Comfort Food

When my oldest comes home from college, I always build the menu around his requests. This time he requested, among other things, chicken and dumplings. Chicken and dumplings is not on my On the Menu list. My only experience with the dish is not a pleasant one. My mother was an excellent cook, but her chicken and dumplings were truly dreadful. Oh, just horrid: big, pulpy balls of greasy dough in a greasy stew. Wow.

But Randy and Jesse once ordered chicken and dumplings at Cracker Barrel and told me how the dish should be, so I have it a whirl. And YUM! I used this recipe at Back to the Cutting Board. I already had shredded chicken and homemade broth, so I was ahead of the game. The dumplings turned out perfectly. My only change was that I had to keep adding more broth/water because we ended up having 3 extra guests for dinner.

Chicken and Dumplings is going on my menu list and will be on my own personal list of comfort foods, those beautiful foods that make you feel truly nourished, warm, and loved: macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, chicken and rice soup, baked potato soup, and pumpkin bread.

What's on your list of comfort foods?

Day 1
Day 2: Morning Coffee
Day 3: It's OK to Break for Bugs 
Day 4: Supper and Cards 
Day 5: Running with Randy
Day 6: At Cataloochee 
Day 7: A Brand New Thing
Day 8: Alma Mater 
Day 9: Writing Group 
Day 10: Big Brother, Baby Nephew 
Day 11: Little Girls
Day 12: Boy Home 
Day 13: Quiet 
Day 14: Family Legends 
Day 15: Comfort Food

31 Beautiful Things, Day 14: Family Legends

I love family stories. As it happens, my daughter and I both needed to collect one this week: she for her American History class, I for my writers' group. This evening my father told us the history of what is known in our family as the Civil War table.

Want to hear it? I thought so. This is written from the POV of Laurel.

The Civil War Table

The story goes that as my great, great, great, great grandfather, Samuel Cummins, prepared to come across the mountains from Virginia to Illinois in 1843, he had to first build a wagon. He needed big, wide planks, so he used a walnut tree. When he arrived in Illinois, where he and many generations were to live, he eventually made a table out of the planks of that wagon.

Many, many years later, my grandfather, Opa, and his cousin Bob liked to spend the night at the house Samuel’s son, Gilbert, had built. It was a 2-story house, and top floor was unused at that time except when Opa and Bob came to stay.

One winter’s day, when Opa and his cousin were about 11 or 12, they noticed an old table, painted an ugly green, in the bedroom. It didn’t look like an ordinary table, with its spiraled legs. When Opa pushed on it, the top gave a bit. When he pushed on it again, because he was an 11 or 12-year-old boy, the table top opened up to a big secret compartment filled with old papers.

Some of these papers were receipts for bags of wheat, coal oil, or taxes. Some were letters in envelopes with old stamps, dated around Civil War time and a few dates before 1860. Opa was an avid stamp collector at the time, and he even cut some of those stamps right off the envelopes for his collection. They even found some land grant papers in which President Millard Fillmore granted 160 acres of land to Samuel Cummins and his business partner.

Perhaps one of the most exciting letters was written in 1859 to Samuel. This was the year that a young lawyer from Illinois was running for President of the United States. This young fellow, Abraham Lincoln, was running on the Republican ticket.  Samuel was a diehard Democrat, magistrate of his town in southern Illinois and heavily involved in local politics.

The letter writer, in a beautiful, slanted cursive, wrote that “If this damned black [evil] Republican is elected, this whole country will go to hell.”

That was quite a find for two boys in a tiny town in Southern Illinois in the late 1930s: not just a letter about President Lincoln, but a letter with a couple of curse words in it!

Eventually, my great-grandmother, Gladys Riley Cummins, refinished what became known as the Civil War table to a rich, dark brown walnut. It has been in my own grandparents’ homes for all their married life.

It's beautiful to be part of a family rich in stories. My family story is going to be about my Uncle Max. Check back in a couple of days for that one!

This post is Day 1.
Day 2: Morning Coffee
Day 3: It's OK to Break for Bugs 
Day 4: Supper and Cards 
Day 5: Running with Randy
Day 6: At Cataloochee 
Day 7: A Brand New Thing
Day 8: Alma Mater 
Day 9: Writing Group 
Day 10: Big Brother, Baby Nephew 
Day 11: Little Girls
Day 12: Boy Home 
Day 13: Quiet 
Day 14: Family Legends

31 Beautiful Things, Day 13: Quiet

Don't be me wrong: I am absolutely thrilled to have such a bustling life. But I find myself alone tonight, soaking in the quiet. Randy and Duncan had a star-gazing event to go to for a Boy Scout merit badge. Jesse and his best friend and Laurel and her two best friends went to a movie together. In 15 minutes, Randy and Duncan will be home, and the football game will be on. In another hour, all five of the others will be home. By 11 p.m., there will be 8 people in the house. Some of them are loud. And I love it, I really do.

But right now, I'm loving these beautiful things: the hum of the dryer, the purr of the kitten next to me, the rustle of falling leaves, and the crickets.

Day 1.
Day 2: Morning Coffee
Day 3: It's OK to Break for Bugs 
Day 4: Supper and Cards 
Day 5: Running with Randy
Day 6: At Cataloochee 
Day 7: A Brand New Thing
Day 8: Alma Mater 
Day 9: Writing Group 
Day 10: Big Brother, Baby Nephew 
Day 11: Little Girls
Day 12: Boy Home 
Day 13: Quiet

31 Beautiful Things, Day 12: Boy Home

He might be 19 but he's still my boy, and this evening, he came home. His college break starts today. We went to Dollywood for the day, but I had a pork roast in the crock pot, mashed potato casserole ready to stick in the oven, and homemade applesauce ready to reheat. He came in from Nashville right at 6:15, nervous about his Italian midterm. In the three hours since his exam, his professor had posted grades already. He was so relieved to find he'd received a B.

The house feels more solid when he's here. A space is filled in, a seat taken. I watch the interaction among my three children, marveling that they are ours. How far we've come together, this family of ours. Can there be anything better than this pure joy?

Day 1.
Day 2: Morning Coffee
Day 3: It's OK to Break for Bugs 
Day 4: Supper and Cards 
Day 5: Running with Randy
Day 6: At Cataloochee 
Day 7: A Brand New Thing
Day 8: Alma Mater 
Day 9: Writing Group 
Day 10: Big Brother, Baby Nephew 
Day 11: Little Girls
Day 12: Boy Home

31 Beautiful Things, Day 11: Little Girls

Girls in red, white, and blue. So many of them. Dozens and dozens of them! I love my American Heritage Girls, big and small. It's overwhelming sometimes—has been for 10 years. All the planning, and then hearing even one word of criticism that strikes me down. But this is what makes it all worth it: a little girl today who comes up to me and says, "I know my Bible verse!" And then she says the AHG oath. Precious.

It's been a beautiful day with these girls.

31 Beautiful Things, Day 10: Big Brother, Baby Nephew

We've been a little edgy around here these past few days, a little unsure of how to proceed. My oldest brother, who was 16 when I was born, was rushed to the hospital last Friday, gasping for breath. We've known about his heart problem for a couple of years now, but I imagine he thought he could conquer it. After all, he's survived tractor rollings, walking off barn roofs, and a traumatic brain injury from a bicycle accident. Why couldn't he beat a leaky valve?

But my brother, who thinks little of Western medicine, is scheduled for surgery on Friday. I cannot even imagine how much James, who has lived most of his adult life in teepees, campers, greenhouses, or just platforms in the middle of his orchard, despises being in the hospital. He is 850 miles away from my parents, two brothers, and me, in upstate New York. My fourth brother is there, taking care of everything. That's what he does.

And this is a beautiful thing, this nurturing of youngest brother of oldest brother. He knows the best medicine: his own beautiful son. Kollman smiles at Uncle James, probably seeing some of his Dad in his uncle's smile, but mostly, Kollman smiles at everyone.

Day 1.
Day 2: Morning Coffee
Day 3: It's OK to Break for Bugs 
Day 4: Supper and Cards 
Day 5: Running with Randy
Day 6: At Cataloochee 
Day 7: A Brand New Thing
Day 8: Alma Mater 
Day 9: Writing Group 
Day 10: Big Brother, Baby Nephew

31 Beautiful Things, Day 9: Writing Group

I mentioned a few days ago how much I love our new church. So one of the things I love about it is the emphasis on small groups, and imagine my absolute delight and amazement when I saw that one of the new small groups for this small was a writers' group! I cannot even believe that I'm part of a church that values the arts so much that they have a group for writers and have opportunities for visual artists as well.

Our group is an eclectic bunch of people, from a 25-year-old to several folks in their late 60s. We have different writing styles and different focuses, but we all love to write. It's been fun over the past few weeks to watch the dynamics change, as we go from complete strangers to possessing an intimacy reached through reading one's own stories aloud. We know a lot about each other already.

It's a beautiful thing to be with others who share a passion for writing, and it's a beautiful thing to open up to others in this unexpected way.

What beautiful things are in your world today? Take a minute and blog about them, or list them on your Facebook status.



Day 1.
Day 2: Morning Coffee
Day 3: It's OK to Break for Bugs 
Day 4: Supper and Cards 
Day 5: Running with Randy
Day 6: At Cataloochee 
Day 7: A Brand New Thing
Day 8: Alma Mater 
Day 9: Writing Group

31 Beautiful Things, Day 8: Alma Mater

My college's mascot, the buffalo. In days of yore,  he was often found in buildings or in the middle of a lawn. He appears more sturdily anchored now.

Today's beautiful thing: being reminded of how incredibly blessed I am/was to have gone to college at a small, liberal arts college where everyone does, indeed, remember your name. I graduated almost 25 years ago, but when I returned today with my daughter and her friend on a college visit, I saw professors who hugged me and said, "I heard you were coming today!" Professors who asked about my parents, know exactly where I live and what I've been up to. I wouldn't trade my small college experience for anything. My daughter is just a sophomore, so she has a couple years to decide, but wherever she goes, I hope with all my heart that she finds community. Because community is such a beautiful thing.

Day 1.
Day 2: Morning Coffee
Day 3: It's OK to Break for Bugs 
Day 4: Supper and Cards 
Day 5: Running with Randy
Day 6: At Cataloochee 
Day 7: A Brand New Thing
Day 8: Alma Mater

31 Beautiful Things, Day 7: A Brand New Thing

This morning at our church, a beautiful thing happened. We became members. One year ago, I would never have predicted that we would join another church. We were so deeply grieved at what had happened at our former church. In fact, I think it was just about a year ago this week that I received an anonymous letter from someone at that church. I mean, really—an anonymous letter? But enough said about the old.

We have, for the most part, put that behind us. One of my favorite verses is from Isaiah 43:9: "I am about to do a brand new thing! Look! I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness for my people to come home. I will create rivers in the desert!”

Today, a brand new thing. And I couldn't be happier.

Day 1
Day 2: Morning Coffee
Day 3: It's OK to Break for Bugs 
Day 4: Supper and Cards 
Day 5: Running with Randy
Day 6: At Cataloochee 
Day 7: A Brand New Thing

Field Trip Review: The Tomb and MajiQuest in Pigeon Forge

We live in an extraordinarily homeschooling-friendly area. Between our own historical Blount County, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Knoxville and the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge areas, opportunities for field trips are endless AND so many of the attractions extend generous offers to homeschooling families.

Recently we were offered a fabulous deal at The Tomb, a new attraction in Pigeon Forge. My friend and I took our boys, both 6th graders. At first we drove by the building because we were expecting something big, like Wonderworks. The Tomb turned out to be just the end building in a strip mall, so we honestly weren't expecting much.

We didn't really care if it turned out to be lame, since we got in free.  But you know the old adage: never just a book by its cover, or a Pigeon Forge attraction by its showiness. The Tomb was fantastic!

The adventure takes about one hour. You are with a group of about 8-10 people, and your tour guide/archeologist takes your group through a series of rooms with all kinds of challenges that you have to figure out together in order to solve the mystery. That's really all I can say without revealing too much. Our tour guide was enthusiastic and managed to stay in character throughout the challenge. I would say this adventure is best for kids between 7 and 12 years old. Younger children may be frightened especially in the first room—this is a mummy's tomb, after all. There was one little girl of about 6 in our group who screamed and cried hysterically.

Our boys loved it. I don't say this often, but I would actually pay the full price of $10.99/kids, $13.99/adults for this attraction. It was very well done and different than so many touristy places.

If you happen to be studying ancient Egypt and will be in the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge TN area, this is a must do!

Part of our freebie day included playing miniature golf at Firehouse Golf, right outside of The Tomb. I haven't played miniature golf in years, and I must say this was tons of fun, especially since I beat my friend Diane by one point. She's very competitive. I think the price of this golf was $8/game. I don't know how that compares to other places, but it was fun. I probably wouldn't pay $32 for a family of four to play putt-putt, but I'm kind of a cheapo.

 Also included in our educators' discount day was MagiQuest, across the street from The Tomb. I know! Can you believe all this good stuff we got to do? The MagiQuest building actually contains four different adventures: Pirate Golf, the Odyssey Mirror Maze, the Vault, and MagiQuest itself.

We started with the Mirror Maze, which was really, really difficult. Basically, Diane and I followed the boys around until the figured out how to get out. I was getting a little nervous, to be honest!

The Vault is a laser challenge in which you are supposed to jump over and crawl under beams of light in a small, dark room to get to the other side. The boys liked this. I cheated and ran through, having figured out that nothing was going to blow up if I chose to ignore the whole purpose of the game.

The boys did the Pirate Miniature Golf and enjoyed it, mostly because it was a blacklight course filled with Pirate-ish things.

But MagiQuest is really the main attraction here, and WOW! This was absolutely amazing. Any Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings fans will love this "world within a world" journey, where each person is essentially on his or her own, equipped with a wand and a guide book. The object is to embark on a series of quests, each one requiring that different riddle be solved and treasures found. I think I finished 3 out of about 10 quests in one hour. After you finish all 10 quests, you can embark on adventures, which are even more complex.

MagiQuest if not for little kids unless a  parent plans to partner up with them; however, you are only given one hour in which to solve your quests. At almost $20/hour, this could be a pricey attraction. I was just getting warmed up when my hour was up, and I could totally see paying another $20 to solve more puzzles. It was really, really fun and extremely well done! The staff was plentiful and super helpful. The boys liked this, but I think they would have liked it more had they been a couple of years older. We saw lots of teenagers and young adults at MagiQuest, and some looked like they were coming back to embark on more quests. I would absolutely do this again!

This was an awesome day in Pigeon Forge, filled with all kinds of problem-solving adventures. I would highly recommend The Tomb and MagiQuest if you have Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg in your vacation plans!

Here are some more local attractions that I've reviewed:

• Museum of Appalachia (Norris, just north of Knoxville)
• Titanic Museum (Pigeon Forge) 
• WonderWorks (Pigeon Forge)
• Ft. Loudoun and more Ft. Loudoun (Vonore, just south of Maryville)
• Sam Houston Schoolhouse (Maryville)
• Children's Museum of Oak Ridge
• Things to Do in the Knoxville area

31 Beautiful Things, Day 6: At Cataloochee

We've wanted to do this for nearly a decade, and finally, finally we made reservations for a campsite. Every fall the elk at Cataloochee in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park put on a show, producing an eerie bugling noise that is reminiscent of the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park. Watching these huge, majestic animals was beautiful, as was being out in the valley at 7:45 a.m., autumn just coloring the leaves and fog creeping in and out. More on this adventure later. For now, I'm just reveling in—and recuperating from— this beautiful weekend.

 

Day 1

Day 2: Morning Coffee

Day 3: It's OK to Break for Bugs 

Day 4: Supper and Cards   

Day 5: Running with Randy

Day 6: At Cataloochee

31 Beautiful Things, Day 5: Running with Randy

I cannot lie: I don't love running. Running, to me, is not a beautiful thing. I feel no sense of freedom, no exhilaration, no thrill in the way my body works. I feel clumsy, sweaty, clunky, and slow. I do not run like the wind.

However, I do love running with my husband in the mornings. I run because I need to exercise. Keeping thin and fit was a simple thing 10 years ago; now, at 46, it's a struggle to keep fit. I left my personal "thin" behind in my mid-30s.

I run because the mornings are beautiful. I love seeing the mountains awake and running across the pretty red bridge of our city.

I run because Randy and I have 45 minutes of uninterrupted time, just the two of us, to talk about our yesterday, our today, and what's happening tomorrow.

Three times a week, we run and talk, me gasping for breath and clunking along. It really is a beautiful thing, in its own weird way.

 

Day 1

Day 2: Morning Coffee

Day 3: It's OK to Break for Bugs 

Day 4: Supper and Cards   

Day 5: Running with Randy

31 Beautiful Things, Day 4: Supper and Cards

One of the greatest blessings in this decade of my life is having my parents live just down the street. Ideally, we have them over for supper and cards each week. Realistically, we do this about twice each month. Tonight was one of those nights. My parents are the most grateful dinner guests. At 85, my mother cooks only simple lunches now; supper for them is almost always yogurt and cereal, by choice.

After we eat, we play cards—Randy, my parents, and me. We have a long tradition in our family of playing a game called 500. I learned to play it as a little girl by watching my older brothers, parents, and grandparents play. In my family, playing 500 is considered an expectation, as is playing ping-pong.



I cherish these beautiful evenings, sharing a pot of decaf coffee, watching my parents' familiar hands deal the cards, laughing at our losing bids, exclaiming over victories.

What beautiful things are in your life today?

Day 1
Day 2: Morning Coffee
Day 3: It's OK to Break for Bugs 
Day 4: Supper and Cards