What's New?: Roger's Infrequent Blog (Online Since 1998)
August 28, 2010: Today, Reanna went on an outing with good friends of ours, and I went to St.Thomas Hospital, in Nashville, to visit Mom. She is
still recovering from some complications, but is getting a bit stronger. I went to eat lunch with Dad, my sister, and her family in the cafeteria. Then,
we went to a new frozen yogurt place called, Sweet CeCe's, that just opened next to Publix in the corner of
White Bridge Road and Harding Pike, close to St. Thomas Hostpital, where you can make your own frozen yogurt treat with lots of toppings. It was
delicious. Next, I went to Two Rivers Parkway, off Briley Parkway, to ride on the Stones River Greenway, from the westside to the eastside. There was
some unfinished business from last summer when we (Dad, Reanna and I) rode here, but could not complete it because of an impending underpass being
constructed under Lebanon Road. But, as I discovered, it has been completed, and although two signs said that the greenway was "closed" presumably, because
of the flood in May, lots of people were ignoring the signs and using the greenway, nevertheless. This was fine and dandy, and eventhough there were some
rough spots with dirt and sand covering the trail from the flood, it was passable and I had a wonderful time. It was very HOT, but a great ride. I also
went back, past Two Rivers Parkway, to the pedestrian bridge joining with Shelby Bottoms Greenway, and rode on a good bit of that. The Shelby Bottoms was
in better shape than I expected, frankly, but I was pleased to ride on it. I used my GPS and clocked 16.2 miles, roundtrip. This was well done and
glorious, just glorious! Incidently, I rode my Dad's old Raleigh bicycle, today, which is a good bike for greenway trails.
August 21, 2010: Reanna and I went to see Mom and Dad at St.Thomas Hospital today, and mom still isn't ready to come home. She's progressing, but
she is still very weak from the surgery. Not sure when she'll be ready to leave. We took Dad out for a walk and a drive around. Went a short distance
behind the hospital to Richland Creek Greenway (which I rode my bicycle on about a year ago), and it was not fully recovered from the flood in May. Some
of the paved pathways and wooden bridges are still being repaired. Then, we drove over to Lipscomb Univ. campus and walked around. The new freshmen were there
already, getting moved in, and doing some activities. It was nice to see the campus again, looking very well-landscaped, and spruced up. The library wasn't
open, but the Science building was, so we went in and took a look around. We went into a lecture hall (Ward Hall) that I had a few classes in when I was in
college, and I was amazed at how nicely renovated and high-tech it was now. Next, went into the student center and bookstore, and again, amazed at how the place
has changed. Then, it started to rain, so we took Dad back to St. Thomas.
August 16, 2010: Saw mom last Saturday at St. Thomas, and she was stable and recovering ok. We went to the wedding of a cousin of mine in M'boro
Saturday evening and saw some relatives from north of Chicago that we hadn't seen in a few years. Mom would have liked to be there. She moved to a
regular room on Sunday, and today, walked, but she is progressing a little slowly, according to my sister.
August 7, 2010: Today, it was hot of course, but I went for an 11.9 mile ride south of town on my bicycle, and about a 5.0 mile ride in the
evening on my Dad's bicycle. It felt great! And, in addition to that, no dogs! Tomorrow, I take Mom & Dad to St. Thomas Hospital, in Nashville, for Mom's
heart-valve surgery on Tuesday.
August 2, 2010: A few days ago, I got my speedometer on my bicycle working again, and I've been having fun clocking the distance of my rides around
town. I just went on a 8.64 mile ride from my house, south of town, over some country roads and back via the water treatment plant, the DW Wilson Recreation
Center, Bel-Aire School and home--all while Linda & Reanna were shopping at Wal-Mart & Krogers.
July 30 & 31, 2010: We had a great "Back to School Games Night" and fellowship at church with our teens on Friday night, and a "Back to School Games
Day" with our younger kids on Saturday. We had a rather tall, infated water slide, and an inflated obstacle course on the church grounds, among other
things. The teens played some good volleyball, and there was food, and a devotional. It was very entertaining. Ditto for the kids on Saturday.
July 24, 2010: Well, today Reanna had an all-day Cheer session; fund raising car wash this morning and then Choreography practice till 5:00 p.m.
There was a heat warning in effect everywhere with a heat-index of 100 degrees or more expected. So, what did I do? I went to Brentwood Greenway
with my bicycle to finish some business that we started last year on May 5th. We didn't complete the Greenway to Ravenwood High School because Reanna
was tired. Well, today the heat was every bit as uncomfortable as advertised, but I comleted the route and then some. There's more to it than is on the
park maps, or signs, but that's ok. Much of the greenway parallels the Little Harpeth River and was flooded back in early May of this year, but everything
looked good and back to normal. I am impressed with Brentwood's Greenway! Then again, Brentwood is one of the wealthiest cities in Tennessee and they
should be able to afford an excellent greenway. Glad to see they're setting an example. There were some neat, unexpected surprises. Nice tunnels with
two-way mirrors to see what's coming around corners, switchbacks, and an old, brick restored two-room-school-house, called Boiling Spring Academy. It was built
in 1832! Then, I drove into Brentwood, and found Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI), which was a nice big
bicycling, camping, kyaking supply store. A lot of very tempting items in there to look at (and dream about). Did I mention it was HOT today?
July 17, 2010: Today, Reanna and I went tubing on the Ocoee River with the youth group at our church. About 17 of us went tubing. It's the
first time, believe it or not, that I have gone tubing, and it was a blast. It was a lot of fun, and not difficult, although you have to stay in the
middle of the river--a full flowing river--and avoid tree branches and stumps. That sort of thing. We used the company Outdoor Adventure Rafting,
O.A.R., who's website is www.rafting.com. It was located about a half-hour east of Clevelend, TN. I haven't been to the Ocoee area for recreaction in a long
time, but there's lots to enjoy!
July 12, 2010: My travelogue for Germany, England & Poland 2010 is now available. Check it
out, and read about the whole trip in my own words. This is what travel is about, from my point of view. Also, see the photos as a slideshow, and/or individually
with descriptions; either way you like it at my Flickr page.
July 10, 2010: Today, I carried my bicycle to Nashville, parked the car at Bicentennial Capital Mall, and rode my bike all around the Bicentennial Mall,
including the World War II Monument, and Farmers Market. I have been wanting to do this for a long time and finally did it, today. I didn't know that Farmers
Market was so big and crowded--lots of fruit and veggies there--and I must say, the WWII Monument was one of the finest I've ever seen. There is a big
granite globe, with several time-line stone enscriptions. Next, I found a landscaped link to the Cumberland River, particularly, the Cumberland River Greenway,
which I have been wanting to check-out and ride on. I didn't know if it would be accessible after the Big Flood in May, but it was--looked fine, in fact--and
then I continued on the Downtown Greenway that goes past Fort Nashboro, River Front, First Avenue, ect. It's hard to believe that this area was flooded
over 50-feet above flood level, and now it looks back to normal. Next, I rode across the Pedestrian Bridge over the Cumberland, turned around, and went back down to the
Country Music Hall of Fame, and then across Downtown, to War Memorial Plaza, the Tennessee State Library & Archives (where I used to work), and around the Capital Building, and back down to Bicentennial Mall. It started
to rain right as I got to the car and packed my bike on the rack! This was a great day of riding, and sort of a continuation of my ride on the Metro
Center Levee Greenway last year on August 1, 2009. Next, I went to my sister's house to pickup Reanna and it rained for over an hour! When we got home this
evening it hadn't rained in Tullahoma a bit!
July 3, 2010: Today, Dad, Reanna and I took our bikes to Sewanee to ride around. It's the first time Dad has come with us in many months. This just
happened to coincide with the Sewanee Forth of July Parade. Sewanee, being the surreal place that it is, was positively hopping with people and interesting
sideshows. We ate some BBQ at a food stand, and rode around, finally, riding on some "Rails to Trails" sections that I have been wanting to ride on, much
to Reanna's protest. The parade was one-of-a-kind though, and possibly one that we will go back to again in future.
July 1, 2010: Yes, it has been a long time. We had a wonderful trip to Europe and got home late Tuesday, June 29th. I'm physically in Tennessee,
but mentally, still in a holding pattern across the pond. It was a very satisfying trip, I must say, and I hope it won't be another six years before we go
back to Germany! We had a shorter than usual trip to England, but it went very well. My fears of volcanic ash activity never materialized, thankfully, and
we were able to fly in and out of Stansted airport without a hitch. We didn't make it to Paris, as we'd hoped, but we did make it to Poznan, Poland, on a
daytrip, and now I can say I've been to 26 countries. All-in-all, we traveled by plane, train, car, taxi, bus, bicycle and boat! We rented two cars on both
sides of the English Channel, and I also got to drive a trabant in east Berlin, which was a bonus. And now, I officially love Cambridge more than Oxford.
More to come...
See a slideshow of my trip photos at my Flickr page.
May 31, 2010: Memorial Day. We always do something good on Memorial Day, and this year, my cousin Greg, from Ridgecrest, California, whom I hadn't
seen since our trip to the Southwest in 2006, was in Middle Tennessee with his daughter to attend a funeral. Linda, Reanna, and I met them in Lebanon, TN
for lunch at the oldest Cracker Barrell restaurant in the country. Then, we drove to the square and walked around Lebanon's historic square, which happened
to be recovering from the big flood in early May. Then, we drove to Cragfont plantation (built 1798),
north of Lebanon, and eventhough it was closed on Monday, we were able to walk around and see the grounds unhindered. It was very well maintained and
attractive, and had a splendid English garden that I would love to have. This was a wonderful outing with our California cousins. Unforgettable.
May 29, 2010: Ahh, Memorial Day weekend, at last! Today, my sister and her girls were down in Tullahoma, and we spent the day with them. We visited
with two of our last remaining aunts, on the Merritt side. One of which, was visiting from Chicago, IL, and the other one lives in Tullahoma. We went to
Shelbyville for a little wedding gift shopping for a cousin of ours, and then we went to the park, so the girls could play, and Melanie could run around
the high school track. Then, we went to Sonic for milkshakes. Not a bad day!
May 22, 2010: Today, Reanna went to spend time with her cousins, and I rode my bike in Nashville, around Belmont University campus, Hillsboro Village,
and over to the Peabody portion of Vanderbilt campus, and then Scarritt college. This was very enjoyable as I love to ride around and observe college
campuses. There were lots of activities going on everywhere I went. I had lunch at the International
Food Market on Belmont Blvd. Then, I drove around Greenhills a good bit, seeing a lot of its streets and taking note of what's what. I haven't spent much time
in Greenhills in recent years and I was curious about the shops there. I went past a house, off of Hobbs Road that I rented way back in the summer/fall
of 1982, my first experience renting a place to live, and it was torn down, and a new condo was in its place. What a surprise!
May 8, 2010: A note about the flooding in Tennessee one week ago--A record amount of rain hit Nashville and surrounding counties on Saturday and
Sunday last weekend. Over 13.5 inches in Nashville, and more in some other areas. Nashville is very hilly and has a lot of steams and rivers. Never before has it
seen such widespread flooding and destruction. Some estimate that the damage will cost one billion Dollars to repair. We were very lucky in Tullahoma to
get only 3.5 inches of rain. My sister and her family were affected by the rain, but they are safe and that's the important thing. Melanie and the girls
left their home on Saturday morning and drove south to visit some cousins and me, and ended up staying in Tullahoma till Monday because they could not go
home. There were so many roads closed and uncertain routes. Though it was nice to spend some time with them, it was an experience they hope never happens
again.
Today, Reanna and I went to Falls Mill, an historic mill that's been in action since 1873, and then we went to the Dogwood Festival in Winchester, TN.
That was the first time we've ever been to it, and it was a lot bigger than expected. I was impressed. I also met a young man from France who was pushing
his well-equiped bicycle through the crowded square in downtown Winchester. He is on a cross-country bicycle trip, starting in New York, and he hopes to swing
down to Louisiana, and go all the way to the west coast. He was very interesting to talk to.
April 24, 2010: Today, the weather was very stormy and threatening, but Reanna and I drove to Nashville without too much trouble. while Reanna
played at my sister's house, I went to the Frist Center for the Visual Arts (www.fristcenter.org) to see
the exhibit Masterpieces of European Painting from Museo de Arte de Ponce (MAP). The collection is on loan from Puerto Rico while the MAP is being
renovated. It was originally owned by Luis A. Ferre (1904-2003),
a successful industrialist, philanthropist, and former governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico from 1968-1972. The collection was purchased in Europe,
and in New York, by Ferre, begining in 1950 and over the course of several visits. He was a big fan of the European Masters of art from many different nationalities. Although
there wasn't anything super famous in the collection I saw today, it certainly was of high quality, and very representative of the finest art from the
1500s-1800s. I saw at least one painting by Cranach, Van Dyke, Rubens, and Goya, among others.
Upstairs, there was an exhibit called, Heroes: Mortals & Myths in Ancient Greece. There were a lot of ancient artifacts from Greece, including a very old
bronze helmet, which was amazing. This collection was on loan by the Walter's Art Museum in Baltimore, MD, which I have been to, by the way. Unfortunately,
they wouldn't allow any photographs of the exhibits, but it was a nice visit. After that, I pressed on, despite the rain, to the San Antonio Taco Company
(www.thesatco.com) near Vanderbilt, for a late lunch, which I haven't been to since the mid-90s.
April 17, 2010: Today, Reanna and I went to Huntsville, AL to the Huntsville Botanical Garden where they have a new exhibit called Tremendous Tree
Houses. We like stuff like this, and every couple of years HBG seems to put on some kind of interesting feature that keeps us coming back. There were
several very creative and thematic tree houses/play houses there for young and old to climb, play on, and admire. They really can help adults dream about
being a kid again. After that, we went to Bridge Street Shopping Center. It wasn't too far from HBG, and it is a new indoor/outdoor shopping
experience, similar to The Avenue, in Murfreesboro, TN, but with a Venice theme. It had some interesting shops and outdoor music performances going
on, but the hottest draw that I could see was the Apple Computer Store. The place was packed with people looking at I-Pads and lots of other
Apple computers, I-Pods, and I-Phones. I have not had much exposure to Apple, so I was curious, more than anything, to see, and use some of the products.
The I-Pad was very tasty as far as appeal and use-ability. Very favorable, but I'm not sure I can justify buying one yet.
April 10, 2010: Today, Reanna went on a school trip to Nashville Zoo, yes, a school trip in a yellow school bus. Only thirty could go and you had to
sign up for it. She was lucky to get in, and about four teachers went to supervise. With so much time on my hands, I took my bike to Sewanee and rode on
the horseback riding/mountain bike trails. This kind of riding doesn't appeal to Reanna, so it was best that I go alone. It was a bit rigorous on my body,
but I thoroughly enjoyed it, and covered a lot of the trails on what's called the "Parallel Trail." I've been wanting to do this for a long time and I think
I have satisfied my longing, now. I went there last August, too, but the temperature was a lot hotter, and I didn't do as much of the trails because I wanted
to ride on the campus, as well, and take pictures. The beauty of going in Spring is that the temperature was in the 60's and you can see a lot more since
the leaves were just beginning to bud.
April 2, 2010: Today was a beautiful day weatherwise, and birthday-wise. Reanna and I took our bikes to Fall Creek Falls State Park, for the first
time and rode on the paved trail between the big falls and the Inn, although we did this to a lesser extent last year when I rented a bike. I wanted to
ride on an unpaved trail on the east-side of the park, but Reanna didn't, so we went to the Nature Center instead, looked around, and climbed down around
the cascades. There were so many young families in the park sporting bicycles, riding together. I was impressed, however, I believe it is mostly a weekend
thing for the majority. We went home via Spencer and McMinnville.
March 27, 2010: Well, March is almost gone and it's just now looking like Spring around here. This has been one of the cloudiest, wettest winters
I can remember living through in Tennessee! The Japanese Magnolia in our yard is starting to bloom--a sure sign that Spring is here--but it will certainly
turn cold a few more times till warm weather is here to stay. Today, Reanna had another Cheer competition in Nashville. They placed 6th out of eight teams.
That might do it for this season. We'll see. Later today, I finally got to ride my bicycle for the first time this year. Just around the neighborhood. It
was nice.
March 22, 2010: Ok, so health care passed. It's way too early to tell what this is going to be like. I say, give it a chance. Fifteen-years ago,
under Clinton-Clinton-Gore I was probably a little more against it than for it. But, the time has come to do something, people. We have the highest
health care costs in the world, and the state of our national health is far from the best. Our current health care ranks below many other industrialized countries.
The time has come. In most industrialized countries universal health care is as common as public transport, and it works just fine. I wish all those
fear mongering tea party yahoo's who live in the Independent Republic of Fox News would grow up! It's time for us to be a little more like the rest of the
developed world and stop acting like the last frontier of the free-to-be-me (even if I'm an idiot) franchise.
March 19-21, 2010: Reanna and I went on our church's youth group retreat. We visited the Mayfield Milk/Ice Cream factory in Athens, TN
on the way, which was interesting. Then, we went to a rental lodge in Pigeon Forge, and spent Friday and Saturday night. On Saturday, we cruised up
and down the strip of Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg (something which was fun with a group, but I personally don't care for it). We shopped at the Bass Pro
Shop in Sevierville, rode go carts in Pigeon Forge, and hopped around from one attraction to another for a short hour and a half in Gatlinburg. Reanna
and I went to the Ripley's Moving Theater (not a good idea after eating a baloney sandwich) and the Hollywood Wax Museum. Neat stuff, but again, I
prefer to go to the Smoky Mountains to see nature as the main attraction, not a backdrop, but that's what you've got to do when you're with
American teenagers, apparently. I think all would agree that the retreat was a big success, however, because the spiritual emphasis was very good. We
had some good activities, and a very good guest speaker from Knoxville that provided fun, fellowship, inspiration, and Biblical truth.
March 13, 2010: The other night, the three of us went to see the new Alice in Wonderland movie, but today, Reanna and I went to a movie
for the first time in M'boro. We saw Percy Jackson and the Olympians..." It was pretty good, and we were pleasantly surprised to see Nashville's
Parthenon make a guest appearance. That was nice, and very fitting for the plot. Reanna is very interested in Greek mythology now! And, it also
happened to be her 10th birthday today.
March 6, 2010: Today, Reanna had another Cheer & Dance competition in Birmingham, AL. It was very crowded and raucous. Her team performed
almost flawlessly, but they finished third, again. There's a pretty fine line between these teams.
March 1, 2010: Wow, I really miss the Olympics! It was good. It was so surprising to see how well the U.S. and Canada did. Germany? Yes,
one always expects them to do very well, of course. Man, I dunno what happened to Russia this time though. They were way down from their norm. The U.S.,
in my opinion, may have done well because they were almost the home team, without all the pressure--and because Russia was way down, but hey, I'm
not complaining. The U.S. Hockey team did amazingly well, after placing 8th in Torino (2006), they got 2nd. And, Canada, I know you have a great Hockey
team and all, but 2nd ain't bad considering Hockey is about our 5th favorite sport! Yeah, man, I miss the Olympics. And to make it even worse, I heard
on NPR that NBC may not win the bid for coverage next time. It might go to ESPN, and that might mean no more Bob Costas, and Al Michaels. That would be
a shame. Why, I'm surprised the IOC hasn't already thought about starting the Olympics Channel, and tried to get exclusive rights on coverage. Isn't
that the way everything is going?
February 27, 2010: Today, Reanna and I went roller skating at Skate Center West in Murfreesboro. It was pretty busy, and there were even some
dude's older than me skating! After that, we went to the Discovery Center at Murfree Spring & Wetland. I got to walk completely around the wetland
boardwalk today for the first time. The weather was sunny and cool.
February 20, 2010: Today, Reanna's Girl Scout troop participated in "Thinking Day," an area-wide meeting of Girl Scouts, and they had an
international day, where each troop set up a table about a particular country, made a presentation, and brought some food representing that country.
Reanna's troop chose Trinidad & Tobago. We were very proud to participate in this, and the whole day went very well. It was held at Lynchburg Elementary.
February 13, 2010: After a couple of cancellations, in recent months, Reanna's Cheer Storm team placed 3rd today in their division at
Municipal Auditorium in Nashville. This was the second competition Reanna has been in. Another snow storm missed us--this time to our south--stretching
from Dallas, to Atlanta. We keep missing all the snow. It's gone to our north and to our south. Also, the Winter Olympics started last night. I
watched the opening ceremony (yes, the whole thing, just about) and I really enjoyed it. I've always been a fan of the winter games, ever since the
first one I can remember watching on TV in 1972.
February 10, 2010: It's been three days since the Super Bowl was played and I still find it amazing that New Orleans beat Indianapolis. I
think that at the end of 2010, the fact that the Saints beat the Colts will be voted as one of the biggest "feel good" stories of the year. This is
partly because there just aren't many good stories happening to feel good about out there, and because it was truely an amazing story. I also feel
touched that I got to visit New Orleans, for the first time, mind you, just a little over a month before the Super Bowl. I really identify with
Nola, it's people and it's environment after a trip like that.
January 31, 2010: Well, we've just gone through our second "big winter storm" forcast for January, and we have pretty much come through
it ok. They were predicting a lot of snow on Friday, and it did snow, as predicted, and we got to leave work early (which is rare), and the Tullahoma
schools decided to close early. But strangely, the moisture in the atmosphere warmed up and the beautiful snow turned to rain, and it rained for the
rest of the night. Reanna's Cheer competition that was planned for Saturday morning in Nashville got cancelled--not the competition altogether--it went
on, but our team pulled out because of the slippery conditions between here and Nashville. Saturday morning it was still slushy and had not started
freezing yet, but then by afternoon it started freezing, and it even snowed a little bit more. It remained below freezing all Saturday night until
Sunday morning, about Noon-time, things started to thaw-out. It's now just about February, and I wonder if we'll get any more winter storms? We'll
have to wait and see.
January 16, 2010: Classes are back in session at Motlow, and work is picking up again with a new semester. I'm getting ready for my
class on Tuesday evenings. The weather's pretty blahh this time of year, and there's not much to do on Saturday's except watch NFL playoffs.
I look forward to when weather warms up so I can do more outdoor activities and get more excersize.
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