True Colors

 

Suddenly, fall is almost finished on our one Kentucky acre. 

This year's color change was slow to arrive, but just before they fell, 

the leaves put on a dazzling show of color. 

Just like every year, sunlight and 

temperature changes signaled chlorophyll to stop its work. 

And the greens of summer faded away while I was busy carving 

pumpkins and puzzling out costumes.

Without the influence of chlorophyll, 

what the leaves packed in during their spring-and-summer lives 

finally surfaced to create ...

... a grand spectacle of fall color pointing to the 

glorious nature of a wise and extravagant Creator. 

* photo taken on a Smoky Mountain getaway

It might be a life lesson, whispered to anyone  

with an ear to hear. 

Six Years and The List

There's this bench in downtown Gatlinburg. In a quieter part of town, just off the main street, there's a place to park in a school lot for $5. Does this seem expensive? It's not.

I did try to convince the shed-guy (he sits in a shed all day collecting parking $ - tough job) to let us return and park in the evening for free since we had already paid in the a.m.   He didn't go for it. A guy who sits in a shed and wears a tee-shirt that says "Gas, Grass, or a__ - nobody rides for free" --- this guy gets to call the shots for sure.

There's always a spot there for us, and it's only a few steps from the Donut Friar. The Donut Friar is right at the top of the list of  Must Do's on a Gatlinburg trip.

This picture was taken on the bench in 2006. We were on our way home from South Carolina, spending one, and only one, night in Gatlinburg. We all fit in a single hotel room back then.

This photo taken this year. What a difference six short years makes!

We went from vacationing with children to vacationing with adults, or at least adult-sized people. The comparisons have had me just sitting and staring, drawing comparisons, amazed.

The List:

1. The Village including buying and eating from the Donut Friar

2. Car gawking on the main street at night 

3. Sausage sandwiches eaten as you walk and gawk

4. Watching the taffy making at the Candy Kitchen

5. Mini-golf - recommend Davy Crockett course

6. At least one hike (as a concession to mom)

7. Rock hopping in the stream that runs through Chimney Tops picnic area

8. Go karts on the way home in Pigeon Forge 

(also in PF - Smokey Mountain Knife Works, Apple Barn fritters, Old Mill Square)

Super-Size Kong

If you get a photo of Kong Kong while driving down the road on a June Saturday, 

I think it should go on the blog post as super-size instead of just an everyday 'medium'.

So here it is:

We've been on vacation. 

There's agob* to look at on the drive into Gatlinburg, TN. 

Pigeon Forge just keeps getting more and more out there! Since there's such astack* of traffic, you have plenty of time to take photos of oddities. I messed up the shot of the Hollywood Mt. Rushmore, or you'd get to see it too. 

We don't actually go in these attractions, considering them just some fabulous (and free) scenery. The sights we used to look for on the Pigeon Forge drive when we were kids are old and pathetic in comparison, if they're even still visible. That huge dragon with the pink and green polka dots - - - I know you're wondering about that one - GONE. The alien head poking out of the arcade - VANISHED. 

I'm not sure, but I think King Kong and even the Hollywood Mt. Rushmore are inflatable, so  how long can they possibly last?

And I just want to ask, why would anyone really want to see Dueling Lumberjacks?

*Recently impacted by this snippy cartoon correcting all users of ALOT. 

Like me.

I'm planning to move to more creative versions of ALOT.

ascad, aheap, apile (which does not trigger spellcheck), 

awad, abatch, and abucketful.

ALOAD more on the family vacation coming up soon...

LOOK!

"LOOK! LOOK AT THAT!"

One of the best things about Gatlinburg is just kicking back and watching the show. The Road Show that passes by continually on the street going through the middle of town. There are benches for this, although they are weirdly turned in the wrong direction. 

I would include the crowds of people in the entertainment, you know - no better place to people watch. And maybe a caramel apple. Yes, definitely.

There happened to be a car show that weekend, and my nephew had grabbed My Middle Son to point out some amazing car when I snapped this. 

Is there anything much more adorable than toddler arms? Tiny rounded arms ending in chubby hands and fingers - so squeezable! 

I love how they pressed their heads together to better see the one coolest thing on wheels, whatever it was. 

This photo has always been a favorite of mine. I guess the camaraderie ... the closeness ... the excitement, maybe? There's no formality in the relationship here, none at all. They are real buds, neither shy about grabbing the other and pointing the way toward something truly eye-popping. And I love that! Isn't that the kind of friendship we all wish to enjoy? Has God blessed you with someone in your life who will grab you around the neck, so to speak, and excitedly point toward something you just can't afford to miss? 

What a wonderful gift!

John did it for his friends, and I bet he was just as excited - can you imagine it? 

"Look, the Lamb of God...!"

For more "LOOKS" see Genesis 15:15, Matthew 6:26, Mark 11:21, John 4:35, Acts 3:4

Free Bear Rides

We found this bear in a sunny spot in the back of a Tennessee antique-junk shop. 

Of course, I had already 'petted' him more than once before noticing THE WARNING SIGN.

I wasn't feeling hospitality flowing around the shop.

Love the last forbidding line: 'Other such abusive acts'

Seems like most of what you could do to a stuffed bear was covered in the other lines...

You have to wonder about the thought process behind this sign - really. Would someone who would engage in pulling toes off a stuffed bear, in full sight of the owner, really bother to  read and be cautioned by this sign? 

Or does it just spark 

ideas 

and the beginnings of rebellious disobedience? 

I guess you know what I think. 

Seems like RIDING might be an option...

Bring Your Monkeys

I was putting on shoes to hike when this couple walked past us to begin the trail. 

I almost fell out of the open car door - are you kidding me???

Monkeys in Gatlinburg? 

You brought your monkeys to hike a historic trail in Gatlinburg?

Convinced that they would be sending their monkeys up the trees, and somehow needing to see such a thing, I tried to catch up with them. 

MWH scoffed this idea, "How would they ever get them back down?" 

We had our share of trouble in play area tubes and ball pits ourselves.

Wife had Snuggly Monkey - you can barely see its head over her shoulder. 

Husband had The Wild One. It was bouncing on his shoulders, making a constant tossed salad with the man's hair. 

They left the trail before us, so I got this shot of them returning to their car.  And I didn't try to do it on the sly, either. If you have monkeys on a hiking trail, you already know that people are going to be watching and taking your photo. 

Only the monkey seems to notice that his photo being taken. 

'Cause monkeys are like that. 

I can't finish without mentioning the flame print diaper. 

It's bad enough changing the bottom of your own smooth-butted baby, but wiping a furry monkey bottom? 

I wonder if they all went to the Apple Barn for breakfast?

Did they ride go-karts in Pigeon Forge?

Did they ride the ski lift to Ober Gatlinburg?

October in Gatlinburg

It's not possible for you to enjoy these photos as much as I enjoyed taking them. 

 Gatlinburg in early October - exactly the right time to go!

(Do you see it, right there in the shadow behind the farther tree?)

While keeping an eye out for flame-bottomed monkeys,

(Is that a paw...?) 

we enjoyed the fall wonders, which seemed to be everywhere we looked!

(There - just in the background? Do you see a bear?)

(We didn't either - no bears. NONE. sigh. The one disappointment of the trip.)

Thought you'd enjoy a few seconds by a quiet stream -

Listen to the Trip Song here.