the queen....

The Cumberland River flows through Clarksville. The river is about as wide as Town Lake in Austin but it is an actual river with barge traffic. There is a sidewalk and park along the edge of the river and I checked it out last weekend. The sidewalk is about a mile long. The Cumberland originates in western Kentucky at the Ohio River, dips down into northern Tennessee, down to Nashville and then makes a northeasterly trek back into Kentucky. This is the river that flooded Opryland in 2010. At one time, French traders called it Rivere des Chaouanons (River of the Shawnee). Even back in the 1740's, Americans were unilingual so the river was renamed the Cumberland after Prince William, Duke of Cumberland. I like Rivere des Chaouanons but what can you do.

At some point, Clarksville became known as The Queen of the Cumberland. There are several businesses in town named in this manner.... Queen City Muffler, Queen City Beauty School, etc. Long live the queen.

just a pinch...

While I was in Austin, I used Mapquest to come up with a running route that included a good portion of the east side of town. It was through a part of town that I rarely ran through and I was looking for a change. When I ran the route for the first time, I felt like I could smell breakfast tacos as I went onto each new street. I christened the route the "Taqueria Run".

I first discovered the smokeless tobacco processing plant in Clarksville when I moved into my apartment. I was getting into my car one morning and the smell was strong. It quickly reminded me of being a kid and smelling the pipe tobacco that my father and grandfather used. The plant is two blocks from my place and I run by it during my morning run through town. On calm, humid mornings, the smell can almost be oppressive around the plant. I've never been a smoker but for some reason I've always enjoyed the smell of tobacco. A bakery, taqueria or coffeehouse would also be nice but I don't mind my local flavor.

night running....

I've been a downtown resident for a month now. I have learned some running routes and they change from week to week. I add a block here and there as I become familiar with the hood. I have a 7:00am meeting every day so I roll out of bed at 4:30 and strap on the shoes for a 5:00am start. My latest route takes me on a loop of downtown, a loop on the Austin Peay campus and then a loop south of my apartment. It sounds like a lot but it's only 6 miles. I never see another runner out and about. I'm not sure if it's because Clarksville doesn't have much of a running scene or if it's too damn early. I am starting to recognize people out walking. Those that are out walking at 5:30am are pretty friendly. One guy shouted out "Hey - I saw you last week." Indeed, he did. I run by an all night diner downtown. The cook and the regulars watch me run by and I wave. It feels like the Forrest Gump movie when Forrest runs by the barber shop and everybody swivels to watch him go by. "Look at that fool...."

sherpa....

This is just an observation from someone that hasn't lived in an apartment since the Carter administration. When I would go to a grocery store in Austin, I would pull in the driveway, pop the truck, open the front door to the house and begin the multiple trips back and forth with bags of groceries. In my apartment, the parking lot is about 60 yards from the front door of the building - which requires a key. Then there is a flight stairs and a walk down a long hallway. Then I need to unlock the apartment door and stumble into the kitchen. I'm not about to leave my trunk or my apartment door unlocked so I prefer to only make one trip. I have become quite good at loading myself up and making my climb up Everest to my camp. giggle

drivers license....

Pardon me for being melancholy for a minute.

I've had a long "to do" list associated with the move. The list included find some restaurants, find a place to live, find a supermarket, get a library card, join a running group, get a Tennessee drivers license, find a barber, find a place that sells good chocolate, etc. I took a long lunch today and I got my Tennessee drivers license. I viewed it as another chore but when they handed me the license, it was like a big smack in the mouth. The picture is bad but I think there's more to it than that. Things are going well here but the license symbolized a move from a place that I had lived most of my life.

Here's a link to my favorite Tom Waits song - San Diego Serenade. It's a song about not noticing what you've been seeing until you see something else. At least that's what I get out of it.

I'll feel more chipper tomorrow. This bottle of wine is helping. giggle

slow going.....

When you live in a city for 30 years, you tend to amass certain things. You also tend to take them for granted. I used to fume because the cabinets were full of pots and pans that were rarely used as well as a number of shelves full of spices and cooking ingredients. I viewed it all as clutter but it sure came in handy when I got a whim to make something different - whether it be baking or cooking. Why did I complain when it would take forever to sift through all the stuff until I found that bottle of lemon extract? At least I had it.

I moved to Clarksville with just clothes and electronics. Every time I think about baking something, I run into a wall when I discover I don't have a certain ingredient. In Austin, baking powder and baking soda were on my shelves forever. There were pie tins a'plenty; all sorts of flour, dark chocolate, white chocolate, semisweet chocolate, sea salt, nutmeg, cloves, brown sugar, turbinado sugar, confectioners sugar, blah blah blah. I'm in month number 3 in C'ville and the pantry is still growing. Some day.....

auntie em. auntie em.....

Tornadoes seem to be a big part of Clarksville history. No one can talk about the courthouse without mentioning that the current one is brand new. The old one was leveled by a tornado. There was a forecast this past week for a warm day followed by a very strong cold front. The experts were predicting severe weather. The natives were predicting apocalyptic weather. People were buzzing for days in advance for the possibility of a tornado. One guy at work couldn't believe that I didn't have cable TV. "How will you know if there is a tornado coming?" I'm supposed to spend $100 a month for severe weather warnings? yikes

Wednesday afternoon came and people hightailed it for home. Around 10:00pm, it got super windy. I can't speak for the rest of the city, but there is a tornado siren in the downtown area. It was like what I imagine air raid sirens to sound like. I have more windows than walls in my apartment so I figured the living room was a bad place to be. I went and sat in the bathroom. The sirens stopped after 15 minutes and I went to bed.

People seemed disappointed on Thursday morning. Winds were reported at 75 mph but no tornadoes in the upper middle Tennessee region. Nuts. giggle