Luckily, so far it has not been a frequent occurrence. The rest of the time the area is dead silent with only crickets chirping away at night, an occasional opossum stopping by to check on the quality of my garbage (yes, I do recycle!) and perhaps a coyote or a dog howling in the distance.
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| Visitor |
I have successfully scheduled most of my doctor's appointments for a routine care in one day. Nice and early in the morning before the sun even considered rising I was on my way to Knoxville. The two-hour drive was not too exhausting, and I was at my new MD for an annual wellness exam in downtown Knoxville. She was young... Very young, and a bit inexperienced. Let's just say the exam was not pleasant. I did leave the office quickly and went for my bloodwork. Ahead of time on the schedule, I stopped at Trader Joe's and enjoyed my twenty minutes of shopping in a "nice" grocery store. Spencer just does not have anything like that. I bought some food for dinner that I planned to make for my new friend.
I had some time to stop by the storage to drop off a suitcase with summer clothes. After an hour of digging through my boxes that have started to fall apart, I finally found a winter jacket, a few sweaters and some clothes to take with me on a work trip the following week. Let's just say my boxes are no longer organized or labeled. Finding items has become a nightmare.
My next appointment was an ultrasound followed by a visit to a friend with whom I went to complete my citizen duty of voting at mid-term elections. We had lunch afterwards, and I headed to my last appointment of the day, allergist. After discussing a few issues, I decided to do an allergy skin test. I did not realize it involved needles. Needless to say (pun intended), I was in a bit of a discomfort, but equipped with new information that I am allergic to cats (duh!), dogs, all the grasses in the world and dustmites. I somehow tested negative for cockroach...
I was supposed to go to the gym as well, but just felt a bit tired. Besides, the sun sets much earlier now, and driving in the darkness is not fun for me, so I headed home. Just under two hours later, I was back in my peaceful cottage.
I unloaded the car and enjoyed the sunset. In fact, I enjoyed the sunrise and sunset here daily.
On a Friday night, I made dinner and invited my friend to join me. It is really great to be able to cook for someone and spend evenings with a like-minded individual. After dinner we headed to the Haunted Forest, a remarkable haunted house experience with actors and light/sound effects. This place was a mile away from my rental and exceeded my expectations. I remember going to haunted houses back on Long Island where the theater folks would put up an insane performance as we walked through the haunted experience. I just did not expect Spencer to have something of similar quality, plus it really was in the middle of nowhere in the forest!
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| Waiting at the entrance |
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| At the entry booth |
I didn't manage to take any pictures as we walked through the haunted forest, but I did make a video recording that clearly documented the two of us screaming at the sound of a chainsaw!
The following morning, we went on a hike to the Black Mountain to hike Black Mountain Crest Loop Trail. After an hour drive and a one lane road closer to our destination, we made our way through dense foliage that somehow was already on the ground crunching away under our hiking shoes. The trees must have shed their leaves much sooner at higher elevation here. We stopped at the lookout point and took a few photos.
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| Overlook |
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| The trail was completely covered in dense foliage |
After the short 2-mile hike, we had lunch at Grinder House Shop in Crossville, visited a local Amish store and a garden supply store (this one was quite expensive and not exactly Amish - the Amish woman at the checkout wore an Apple watch!) and finished the day grocery shopping and drinking tea. Another great day!
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