Mid-October Ruminations & Cogitations

The weather has turned cooler in the past couple of days, and it is positively delightful. I talked Mr. Jim into going on a little road trip yesterday. It was a nice change of pace from our usual haunts for the past five months (grocery store, doctor offices, and hospital). Leaf colors are changing pretty well at higher elevations, but still running a bit behind in our neck of the woods.

I sold my old Nikon D90 earlier this month and purchased a Nikon D7100 to replace it. After 4+ years and about 50,000 photos, the D90 served me well! But digital technology has changed significantly during the intervening years, and it was time for me to upgrade. I took the new camera on our little road trip to break it into service. It performed beautifully, and I am delighted with quality of the digital files. The camera has been pretty easy to customize and use because the controls are very similar to the D800 full-frame camera I purchased last year.

The above photo was taken yesterday on the Tennessee side of the Cherohala Skyway. Besides getting some fresh air and seeing a spectacular autumn show in the mountains, we had lunch at one of our favorite places: Tellico Grains Bakery. Be still my heart! I devoured the best BLT sandwich of my life. Mr. Jim was very content with a huge club sandwich. It was so large that he had them wrap up half of it to take home, LOL. We’re big fans of their herb flatbread, so we also purchased a couple of loaves to go.

On the way home, we made stop at Benton's Smoky Mountain Country Ham store. I’ve blogged about it before HERE. We got some of their terrific smoked bacon to pack away in our freezer. It was very busy, as usual, and we were pleasantly surprised to see that they are in the process of expanding their building. Business must be good!

This is the last weekend for the Parade of Homes show for the house across the street from our cottage. There has been considerable interest in it during the show, and there have been several private showings as well.

I received another routine doctor checkup earlier this week. I asked for a flu shot since it was convenient. Perhaps the side effect of a sore arm gets worse as a person ages. My arm feels like I’ve been hit with a ball bat. But I figure the temporary discomfort is worth it if I don’t get the flu this winter!

Mr. Jim continues to recover well from his cancer surgery and gaining strength. He will be starting a regimen of chemo/radiation a week from this next Tuesday. We were relieved to hear from the new chemo doctor that Mr. Jim won’t have to wear a chemo pump for a continuous dose. Instead, he will get a daily infusion for three consecutive days once the radiation treatments begin, then he’ll get three more daily infusions four weeks later. The radiation will be done on every weekday (minus Thanksgiving holiday) until 28 sessions are completed. (Are you confused about all of that scheduling? That’s why we keep a detailed calendar to keep track of everything.) So please continue to keep Mr. Jim in your prayers for an effective treatment and minimal side effects. We appreciate it!

I hope that all is well in your corner of the world and you are enjoying the seasonal changes underway!