ice cream cone life

Good Ol' Rocky Top

It has taken me quite a few years and countless miles traveled to finally figure out that while place is important, the things you do and the people that you surround yourself with are far more important predictors of happiness. A few years ago I stopped running. I let my demons catch up with me and I put them to rest. Now, this doesn't mean that they never resurface, but my moral fiber, support network, and firmly planted feet are able to deal with them.

For awhile, I had felt a great deal of nostalgia for one of the places that I left and not revisited. This place, where I had lived and loved and transitioned from child to adult held such strong memories that had often hit me over the years with a wave of incomprehensible longing. What ifs. Just a few weeks ago, I headed down to the great state of Tennessee after having fled six years ago. As fate would have it, I finally returned to Knoxville to visit a great friend met in Saudi Arabia. My past lives had weirdly come full circle, meeting squarely on the banks of the Tennessee River. 

After the long drive South and a short visit spent walking around town, visiting old haunts, picking up right where we left off, and discussing the future, I feel like I put some closure on that place of the past. It was wonderful to explore where I once lived with both my husband and good friend, but that place is no longer my home, nor do I wish it to be. Rather it is the home of my friends whom I would be happy to visit anywhere in the world.

reunited at last! 

goings on in Market Square

someone is sick of having his picture taken...

Ayres is so quiet on a Sunday morning in July!

Neyland Stadium

very funny boys...

that little blue house...

hangin' out at IC King

It is hard to see in the picture but that is, in fact, a redneck on a pontoon with a giant flag flappin' in the breeze. Amurica, F*** ya! ...Dad, don't get any ideas...

view from the Sunsphere!