Boo

The new Ken Burns documentary Country Music is quickly turning into one of my favorite things I've seen on television in a good long while. I've watched the first three parts so far and will likely spend a good part of tonight watching at least a couple more hours.

Don't reckon the pig is getting a bit too highfalutin for all of us old chunks of coal here on the Train do you?

I'm glad y'all found this place as well. If you hadn't, most of you never would have had the opportunity to get to know me But seriously...I really wasn't sure about the whole interactive forum thing when I signed up. Now, three-and-a-half years later, I'm still coming around most every day. I came for the support and advice. I stayed for the boner jokes and memes.

I always feel like I'm missing out on all the fun with those pictures. I've stared. I've refrained from blinking. I've tried blinking rapidly. I held the picture close to my face and moved it away. I held the picture away from my face and moved it closer. And still...I haven't seen a damn thing. What the hell...lemme take another look.

Learn something new everyday. I've heard The Mavericks version of "All That Heaven Will Allow" hundreds of times. "What a Crying Shame" is one of my favorite albums of all time. Had no idea that was a cover song. Speaking of The Mavericks and covers...if you're gonna cover a song already performed by Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra, and Elvis you have to be on point. Raul Malo nailed it.

Covering a Dylan song is always a risky proposition. Logan and Courtney nailed it...

My Grandfather had apple trees. They were low maintenance. We would prune them once a year, around February or March, mostly just to cut off the lower branches that had been broken or were drooping from the deer pulling on them...the deer loved those apple trees. Even with a low amount of maintenance, the trees yielded a good amount of apples. It took severe conditions, either extreme drought or an extremely wet season, for us to see diminished returns from the trees. I didn't understand until I was older why the old man always kept a couple of five gallon jugs of cider stashed away from the rest and would have to wait for it to be "just right." Then I found out about yeast and fermentation. Good luck with your apples Doreen.

I posted the Everly Brothers yesterday. So, keeping with the theme of singing siblings...

Great job L4L.

Hope you're having a good one Ozzy.

Planned on lifting today, but went for a run instead. Having some minor issues with the carpometacarpal joints in my left hand. So...I decided the risk of further inflaming things wasn't worth it to get in one strength session. Went over to Laurel-Snow. Ran to Laurel Falls and then over to Buzzard Point for a total of 8.8 miles.

Good question. I suppose the vultures at Marlboro were trying to tout their product's ability to poison you without you feeling like you're being poisoned. When you peddle addiction and death, even the folks on Madison Avenue have a hard time polishing that turd.

I don't even remember the last time I craved a smoke. Distant memory. I can't imagine a scenario in which I would choose to light one up. Unthinkable. I don't miss smoking at all. Not one iota. Three and a half years ago I seriously doubted my ability to quit. Now, it's hard to believe that I ever smoked. Hang in there newbies. The only thing that kept us trapped as smokers was a perception of ourselves altered by addiction.

Good job Fart-Knocker. Don't get complacent. You still have a lot of issues to sort out.

Not content simply selling poison to children, the folks at Marlboro decided it was a good idea to use babies to sell poison to adults.

I'm no math-a-magician, but I can do a bit of figuring. At 3 years, 6 months, and 15 days quit and considering that I smoked a minimum of 25 cigarettes per day that gives me a number of 32,375 cigarettes not smoked. However, that's not the whole story. I was still a drinker when I quit. When I was drinking, I mean really drinking, it wasn't unusual for me to smoke more than two packs in a day. So, adjusting my number for alcohol induced inflation brings my total estimated current count to... 38,255

One thing I would like to do that I've never done...Scuba diving. I love the water. I'm fascinated by the fact that there is a whole world below the surface that I've barely seen. And it seems like the whole deal would be incredibly relaxing, just swimming and having a look around at all the coral and animals.

Congratulations on two months of freedom HellKatBaby.

Congratulations Lilly. Believing and internalizing that I was done with smoking and would never smoke again was the last hurdle I cleared in the process. I was almost at the one-year mark when I was able to believe that my quit was permanent. The acceptance will come with time.

Welcome aboard Unguided. There will be challenges along the way when you quit. However, I found that the actual quit wasn't as bad as the anxiety I had right before I quit. Don't exhaust yourself with worry leading up to the quit. You are on the path to setting yourself free. Enjoy the ride.

Beautiful country. I love the fact that in spite of the Great Smoky Mountains being the most visited national park in the system, you can still get a little off the beaten path and get away from it all out there. A friend of mine lives in Townsend, which is just a bit south of Sevierville. He has a 360 degree view of the mountains from his house and can walk to a river with great trout fishing. That dude is living the good life. I live in Dayton now. About 100 miles east of Nashville as the crow flies. Not being a crow, that equals roughly a two-hour drive to Music City.

"Carried some slabs"...that sounds like a weighted carry to me. Are you doing Farmer's Walks now? I knew if I kept going on and on about that exercise I would eventually win over a convert.

Got our bright and early for a run on the Piney River segment of the Cumberland Trail this morning. Ran out-and-back from Newby Branch to the White Pine Cascades for a total of 11.8 miles. Hiked 8.3 miles yesterday and added approximately two more miles of walking while exploring the caves. That's roughly 22 miles traveled this weekend. Getting my trail legs ready.