I just want to click my sparkling ruby pumps when I say that. 

Last night, I had the opportunity to "bask" in my community.  My entire family, with all their various friends, got gussied up and turned out for a benefit concert at the Palace Theater.   Nothing turns out the locals like an overt attack of the Big Bad Wolf, as one performer called them.   Let's face it:  noone comes to East Tennessee for the view of our lovely housing developments.  But I digress.  I'll talk about the Big Bad Wolf another day. 

I was so impressed with the people who donated their time for the cause of Saving Chilhowee Mountain.  There was Steve Kaufman, Bill Mize, and Sisters of the Silver Sage.  Bill Landry, best known for the Heartland Series, who is a resident of the affected area, acted as a sort of MC.  These folks could have had paying gigs, but instead were out doing something for the community -- some for the 2nd time this fall.  And the Palace actually had to open the balcony, because the first floor sold out.  It warmed the heart.  (Not that my heart needed much more warming than the jalapeno cheese grits I'd had at Sullivan's just before...)

I saw people I hadn't seen since I was a little kid.  I met several folks for the first time, thanks to my dad who knows about 75% of this county, along with their geneology.  I saw people that I see at absolutely every event I go to -- other people who care about the environment, our community, and keeping our very own goose that lays all the golden eggs for us breathing.  There were old folks and little kids and I even took my baby.  Everyone seemed to enjoy that; particularly Baby.  He had his cheeks pinched by a plethora of little old ladies and seemed to really enjoy the music!  Going to any community event around here, even just a dry county commission meeting, has an aura of a church social.  

I've bragged to many of my friends in other parts of the country about my unique community.  I bragged about the time the UPS man delivered my Victoria's Secret order, which was clearly labelled with my home address, to my workplace -- because he knew I was there during the day and not at home.  About going to the dentist, just after finding out that I was pregnant, and learning that HE already knew.  [My great aunt goes to the same dentist.  All my relatives do.]  About eating out on the porch of a restaurant in town and having to keep adding chairs to the table because other people we know show up unexpectedly -- one after another. About the flowers that were delivered to me at the hospital, because the delivery guy took the time to find out where I was when he learned that I hadn't been sent home yet.  I brag because I know what a blessing it is to be able to live in the same place your heart calls home in this transient world. 

I just hope that the essence of my home doesn't get lost in a sea of little boxes...

Little Boxes (click, then click again to listen)
By
Malvina Reynolds

Little boxes on the hillside.
Little boxes made of ticky-tacky,
Little boxes, little boxes,
And they all look just the same.

(Additional lyrics ©2002 by Roger Scimé)

There'll be condos and apartments,
There'll be strip-malls and convenience stores.
There'll be houses by the thousands,
Nothing's ever gonna be the same.
=
See the Target and the Mervyns,
And the Wal-mart and the Wal-mart,
And the Sam's Club and the Wal-mart.
All the prices will be same

There'll be street lights, there'll be stop lights,
And gated communities.
There'll be lots and lots of rent-a-cops,
Security everywhere
=
See the drug lord and the crime boss,
And the fascist dic-tat-or.
Living in their winter houses,
Only three months of the year.

With their Volvos and their Bentleys
And their Lexus and Mercedes.
But they won't be driving anywhere,
Too much gridlock everywhere.
=
Gone the burros and the horses,
And the chollo and the tortoises.
Gone the sunsets and the starlight,
It'll all look just the same.

No more hikers, mountain bikers,
No more tourists or photographers,
Only boxes, little boxes,
And they'll all look just the same.
=
Little boxes in the Canyon.
Little boxes made of ticky-tacky,
And they're all made out of ticky-tacky,
And they all look just the same.

Save the Canyon, for our children,
Save the Canyon, it's our neighborhood.
If there's only little boxes,
It would be such a bloody shame.

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Posted by eclecticityTia

Welcome girl! And THANKS for the Little Boxes link!

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Posted by DrHibiscus

Welcome to the blogosphere, oh Queen of the Hill! Maybe it's time to get a little "monkeywrench gang" on those rascals up on Chilhowee Mtn. For goodness sake, I'm starting to feel a little boxed in right here - new restaurants and strip malls going in all over the place.

"Oh give me a home, where the buffalo roam..."

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Posted by arajbrown

Welcome friend!!!

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Posted by jennfromtenn

Hey There,
Welcome to Homeschool Blogger. I'm enjoying your blog already :).
Jenn

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