The Tennessee Valley

 

Today in the valley, expect a high of 56 degrees...

Not bad...  for a little past the middle of February, especially when our neighbors in the North are experiencing temps much, much colder...  and, our neighbors in Canada are buried under snow and expecting more...  however, if you travel a few hours to the south of us, the temperatures increase 10 degrees or so and by the time you get the the Gulf of Mexico, the temps will be approaching 70 degrees today...

Many of us in the Valley today will be walking around in shorts spending time outdoors since the sun is out and there are no clouds in the sky at all and none are expected.  While it is a little to cool to work on one's suntan, it is still a nice enough day to spend the majority of it outside experiencing the beauty of nature that has been so freely given to us.

As the figure above demonstrates, the Tennessee Valley is nestled between a plateau on the west and a range of mountains on the east.  The state appears to be landlocked as it does not border any oceans like the Atlantic, Pacific, or Gulf of Mexico, yet it is blessed with an abundance of rivers that flow along its western border like the Mississippi River and a plethera of smaller rivers like the Buffalo River, Clinch River, Cumberland River, Duck River, Elk River, Hatchie River, Hiwassee River, Holston River, Obion River, Sequatchie River, Tennessee River and Wolf River.

Obviously, there are numerous places in Tennessee to camp, fish, hunt, look at the landscape, take photographs, or simply experience the beauty of nature as you walk along the many nature or manmade paths that meander through it wilderness.

Life in America

In the last two years, January 2020 through December 2021, my wife and I have received $3,200 each in stimulus money or a total of $6,400 and since we did not need the money, we simply put it in our savings account in the Credit Union...  but, it was really nice for our Federal Government to give us that free money and if they want to do it again, then we will gladly accept it and eagerly put it in our savings account again...

My wife and I have been retired since 2015 and live off of our Savings and our Social Security income which is around $3,000 each month and our current lifestyle has us spending about $4,500 each month so we are depleting our savings by $1,500 each month or $18,000 each year...  however, because I am being treated for two different cancers simultaneously, my cancer insurance which we took out 20 years ago on a whim pays me $10,000 each year, so I actually only need to reduce our savings by $8,000 each year.

Over the next 20 years, our savings will be reduced $180,000 and the current value of our completely paid for home is somewhere between $200,000 to $250,000.  At 74 years old, living for the next 20 years is questionable but entirely possible, even with cancer.

Did I plan for this?

Not really...  it just sorta happened...

In 1990, I left NC for TN because I was going to add somewhere between $12-15,000 to my salary but I did not think about TN not having a state income tax which adds 7% to your take-home pay.  Nor, did I realize that the cost of living was about 13/14% less (on average) than anywhere else in the USA...

Where we live in East TN:

• the Knoxville airport is 50 minutes away
• The Knoxville hospital is 40 minutes away
• Walmart supercenter is 2 miles away
• Weigles Convenience store (gasoline) is 1.5 miles away
• Interstate 40 is 7 miles from the house
• Gatlinburg, TN (Smoky Mtns) is 1.5 hours away
• Bristol Motor Speedway is 2 hours away
• Nashville, TN is 3 hours away
• Atlanta, GA is 4 hours away
• Myrtle Beach, SC is 6 hours away

Because of the Cumberland Plateau on the west side of us and because of the Smoky Mountains on the east side of us, all the major storms either in the winter or in the summer have a tendency to shield the TN Valley from adverse weather conditions.

Life in America for my wife and I is pleasantly satisfactory...  I would say that we look for deals and never spend our money unwisely.  We purchase year old leased cars with low mileage when we need to replace our vehicles.  Our lifestyle is simple and we have controlled our greedy desires that plague so many Americans.  We have no desire to try and live like the wealthy nor do not do what we want to...

• We have been on 12 cruises
• We have been to Europe twice
• We have been to Hawaii three times
• We have been to Alaska
• We have been to the Caribbean often
• We have been to Mexico several times
• We have been to Canada
• We have been to Vegas three times
• We have been to the Gulf Coast/Florida often
• We spend most of our summers at Myrtle Beach, SC

What has helped more than anything else was the fact that we became debt free 15 years ago and have never gotten into debt since.  We use credit cards, but always pay them off at the end of the month so we never pay interest.

We don't fly around in private jets nor are we members of a country club or spend a lot of money on clothes and accessories.  We typically go out to dinner once a week but never pay more than $30-$50 for those meals including tips.

Instead of an inground pool, we have an above ground pool but with a deck that completely surrounds the circular pool.  The deck is large enough for a 15X15 gazebo along with a 6 person hot tub.  Both the hot tub and the pool are over 10 years old because we make sure we properly take care of them with proper preventive maintenance.

It feels nice to live like this...  and, it feels nice to live in a conservative state...  and, it feels nice to live in an area where there is hardly any crime and violence...  I am glad for the convenient location of our home...  and I am glad that I live between two relatively large man-made lakes...  and, most importantly, I am glad to be a SOUTHERNER...

East TN Living

 Each day that I wake up in East TN and watch the morning news on FOX News, I am thankful that this is where I live and decided to live over 30 years ago...  but more importantly, with all these crime increases take place in larger cities and police retiring and the availability of drugs...

My health is stable but there is always the stress of it hanging over my head the fact that my cancers could go aggressive any day...  so, each day is not just a blessing for which I am thankful, but a day that I try to appreciate each and every minute which seems rather dramatic but it is true.

After 73 years of life, I have enjoyed 639,480 hours on this earth or 38,368,800 minutes...  

And, while it may seem a little silly to figure out these numbers, it instills inside me the value of my life in terms of something other than money or financial wealth as a measure of life.

Each day that I am above ground, I try to look at that day as not just something special but as a day where I try to enjoy and appreciate every single minute...  not just the hours but the minutes...  which means I try never to be bored but that does not mean I have to do something each minute...  but to appreciate each minute...

I watch the news

I prepare my meals

I cook my meals

I watch the news

I watch a couple of episodes of a series

I play with the cats

I post articles to my blogs

I find material for my blogs

I write emails

I read articles

I reflect and contemplate

I discuss the news

I write in a journal

I work outside in the yard

I go to doctor's appointments

I go shopping

I do inside the house chores

I go on vacation

I visit with family and friends

I go to procedures and treatments

I go eat dinner at a restaurant

I sleep each night

There is a lot to like about East TN just as there is a lot to dislike about East TN as well...  but, the point of my day is to live that day without any regrets and to keep myself busy...  it is not difficult even though living like this may take a little practice...

Rainy Day Blues

A light rain fell from the sky in the Tennessee Valley for most of the day, keeping most of us inside instead of doing necessary chores outside.  The forecast for the Valley for the rest of the week including the weekend calls for rain the next three days and given previous forecasts this amount of rain may or may not happen.  But, as the day winds down and people begin the rush hour drive from work back to home, the sun is out and if it continues to remain out, then around 7:00 pm or so, I should be able to mow the back side of our lawn which grows the fastest and is the largest section.  With a riding mower, it only takes about an hour.

However...  in our neighborhood no one has been outside at all today, even when the sun appeared...  which is normal for our neighbors as the 20 years we have lived here, very few people venture outside when the weather is nice, unless it is a holiday and they are entertaining family and/or friends.  My wife and I like it that way because we spend as much time as we can outside when the weather is nice with the understanding that she will spend more time than me, especially when it is humid.

AND...  as I have mentioned before...  I much prefer living out in the rural areas of East TN rather than in any kind of city proper location.  It is just too crowded for me in cities, even when the cities are small...  it seems like everyone like to roam around cities just looking at shit...  maybe hoping to run into friends or maybe not...  but, they got to BE AROUND OTHER PEOPLE in order to live a fulfilling life.  I don't need that kind of companionship...  outside of having a spouse and/or children who visit.