11 March 2010 Weather is here we are too

11 March 2010 Weather is here we are too


We planned on running errands and food shopping in Greeneville today. So we decided to treat ourselves to barbeque at our favorite barbeque place. They have a lunch special that is just big enough and just cheap enough to make it well worth stopping to eat. Naturally, the rain began while we were inside Lowe’s our first of several stops. The middle part of the day was spent climbing into and out of the Pathfinder, looking for parking spaces not surrounded by puddles or a quarter mile from the shop doors. As we left Lowe’s we noticed that there was a “Chuck Wagon BBQ trailer parked in the lot at Lowes, selling food. “Expansion, how nice!” we thought. Out of the lot and on about our day’s errands.

After several stops we reached the barber shop we both use for our quarterly, or so, haircuts. Our timing was perfect, both chairs just finishing and we were the only customers waiting to be shorn. We were done slightly after noon, eager to drive to the other end of the parking lot to have lunch. The lack of smoke smell should have told us. The sign on the door explained the empty lot. They are, “looking for a new site. Meantime, visit us at Lowes.”

Back in the truck, drive back to Lowes, stand in the rain and order food. Then back along the planned route to find some lunch. By this time, we’ve decided to bring the BBQ home for dinner. We wound up at Long John Silver’s. Since moving here in late 2006 we’ve eaten there perhaps four times. Still, it was edible; the fries were real, not chopped, blended, and extruded. The dining area was clean, and the service was fast.

Grocery shopping consumed the rest of the afternoon. Now it is all put away. We bought two nicely sized corn beef briskets.

The rain in Greeneville was rather heavy. Here we’ve had about 0.05 inches total rainfall. This rain should melt much of the remaining snow pack. The mist-shrouded mountains and the turbulent, dark clouds made great imagery for the drive over and back. There was still snow apparent on the north faces when we went. The north faces were hard to see coming back. Combined with temperatures in the 60’s F, the rain will likely result in high water as the creeks are loaded with run-off. While we show no posted warnings or advisories the area around Roan Mountain and Elizabethton were cautioned last night to pay attention to local streams. I don’t think we’ve seen enough rainfall totals today to cause problems. Tomorrow may be different.

Another day to sleep in an hour or so later failed to materialize. I woke up at 0530 and couldn’t find a comfortable position and thus couldn’t get back to sleep. Rather than wake Gloria I rolled out about 0630. I’ll try again tomorrow.

Time to go lay a new fire in the stove. It will be cool and damp tonight so a warm stove will feel good as the day winds down.