Neighbor Nancy waved at me from her porch at the bottom of the steep hill. I stopped to chat and waved my phone in the air. I said, “I’m walking John this morning. He’s in Tennessee at the train club, and we’re texting.”
Nancy is both dreading and looking forward to her husband’s retirement in a few weeks. She said, “I cook breakfast only on Sunday and Monday right now. When he is retired, he’s going to want eggs for breakfast every day.”
The landscaper has adorned his burn pile with bottles hanging from a long branch, a small red ball, and an American flag. I didn’t realize it was a work in progress until I saw the additions today.
Spring is coming to the mountains. The creeping thrift is beginning its annual show. I suspect we would appreciate this more if we had seen the snow while we were away. The neighbors didn’t talk about it, but we heard a weather report that said it was snowing in the Carolina mountains.
Mehrling Muse 
Good to keep the walk even on the phone. Where in Tenn. is this train deal. Is it open to the rest of us? My grand dad was a train man. Ticket window for the ICRR in Canton,Mississippi.Back when they still used the tic,tic,tic.
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The train club is out from Chattanooga on the side of a mountain. It isn’t open to the public because of lack of parking, but people can go with a member. I grew up in Ripley TN, and the ICRR ran through our town. I was closest to it in third grade. That school room was a few yards from the track, so I heard the whistles and smelled the black smoke. I still love that smell.
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If I’m ever up that way i would love for John to meet me there for a visit…You can come too. LOL
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I haven’t been to the train club yet. John would be thrilled if you and I both came. Let us know if you are heading this way. We’d love to meet you.
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Not any time soon I’m afraid. I’m kinda ‘stuck’ with both parents in need.
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Our parents are all happily in heaven. You are still on duty. May God bless you for that!
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Ahhh…and duty is wearing on me.
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The Burn pile will soon become a tourist stop.
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Wonder if they will charge admission.
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Not foreseen in the near future.
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I am especially fond of, what I call, the transitional seasons.
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By the time I get fond of Spring, it’s gone. Wonder why it doesn’t have more staying power?
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It does it’s job and off it goes.
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I hadn’t thought of it like that.
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Beautiful flowers. You are ahead of us weather wise. We are just getting daffodils and hyacinths. More to come though and I’m very excited about it. Spring is such a time of hope.
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💗
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“Walking John” is such a great title. I love the picture of the flowers. Spring even here comes and goes in a flash. I guess we should be thankful we have four seasons.
Susie
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The flowers add a pop of color to the landscape, and they will last for a couple of weeks, I think.
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Won’t the flowers last through the summer ?
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Nothing that is blooming now will last through the summer.
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I love that creeping thrift on hillsides. One neighbor of ours has it covering a huge bank beside his house and for 2 weeks in the spring, it looks just gorgeous. The rest of the year it looks green and prevents erosion, which is important too!
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We have one neighbor who has a better view of our creeping thrift than we do. We see it only as we walk or drive to the front of the house.
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I love thrift!!! Beautiful picture!
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Is creeping thrift like creeping phlox Anne? What a nice color to jazz up the yard. Our colors are pretty sparse now, trees still just in bud.
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I’m not sure what creeping flowers we have. The colors are fun, though.
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They are beautiful – a nice touch of Spring color. We have a possible inch of snow Wednesday night – may only affect northern burbs, but they may have a blizzard in the Upper Peninsula where Robb is going the end of the week … he drives in any kind of weather, so hopefully this does not deter his visit (likely not). The weather is crazy – it is 60 degrees now at 6:45 and gets to 73 today.
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That’s warmer than we are supposed to get.
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It was a lovely change – at least we are not going to walloped with the blizzard that is tearing across the Midwest, just getting the tail end of it they say…one inch of snow, but we had 73 today – it just seems a little surreal.
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What you need instead of surreal is sun-real.
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I like that idea Anne! It was a little chillier today but at least we are not getting the part of the bomb cyclone – Wisconsin and Minnesota and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan where Robb is going Thursday afternoon (they are getting 10 inches of snow between Wednesday and Thursday night …may mess up his trip).
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I’m glad you will miss the worst of the weather.
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Me too Anne – it was bad enough I paid the guy to shovel this Winter due to my arm and he only shoveled once (he didn’t show up under 2 inches of snow), but he stopped the service on March 31st, and I’m willing to bet he would not have gone around to his clients for a “freebie” – now I would do that just to keep good with my customers. Glad I don’t have to see what he would have done though.
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Winter has its trials!
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I agree with Susie, I love your post title too. What fun to text while you walk. I love the thrift creeping down the hillside. It’s one of Spring’s many flowers that I wish stayed around a little bit longer. The colors are so pretty and blend so well.
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When John is away, we text at the beginning and ending of a day. If there is more that would be hard to type, we call.
Spring flowers are hard to beat. I appreciate not having to do anything for them.
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I feel the same. I plant. They bloom. I smile.
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I love thrift – it doesn’t do well here. But there it looks like it’s just spilling down like paint.
We’ve had storms the past few days, but it looks like yet more snow is on the way north and NE. Brrrr.
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The weather is rather outrageous, isn’t it? I’m enjoying a decidedly rainy day.
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