Today’s column veers away from pet peeves to let Elizabethton know how much I love it here. There is so much to do in the summer and I want to try them all!

My best friend and I went to see The Blue Hole last Friday. WOW! is all I can say; God surely made that place to put us in awe of His work.  The trail down to the water hole is difficult, but worth every scary, dizzy step!

Down, down, down. There are steps, but they were much too high for this short legged gal to use. Luckily I have my good old tobacco/walking stick to help my downward journey. Holding on to the stick in one hand and the other grasping the steps, I slowly crept down to view the most beautiful swimming hole I have ever seen. The trail is covered with tree roots and I found them to be helpful to use as stairs, placing my feet inside the flat spots created by the roots. How I wanted to jump from boulder to boulder, but Holy Cow, I couldn’t do that when I was young, what makes me think I can jump rocks now? Barely standing, climbing, scared near to death, I had already seen too much; high drop offs, slick spots and lots of places to hit ones head. I kept going down, barely glimpsing the water hole below, small, blue in the middle and hard to get to as it was to get down there. We stopped and marveled and snapped pictures all the way, making our trip more time consuming, but certainly worth it all!

I made it to about the 12th step from the bottom. My stepping place beside the steps was too slick for me to go any further, so I sat on the steps while my friend and my dog reached the bottom and the Blue Hole. The Hole is as hard to get to as the trip was to reach it, being surrounded by boulders one has to squeeze through or climb over. The little dog did not like that as fishing is one of his favorite pastimes. He finally gave up and came back to sit on the steps with me to watch my friend take pictures down below. Across from the hole, the giant boulders and walls loomed above. They are the biggest rocks I have ever seen, at least in person. The stream tumbled down among the rocks to a little stream that went on to make more waterfalls. Awesome is the word! We both kept thanking God for this wonderful spectacle before us.

We hung out for quite some time, enjoying the scenery and thanking God for giving us so much beauty. Going up was easier; holding on to my stick, steps, tree limbs and the roots to step between.

What a great day in the mountains with my best friend and my beloved dog. Thank you, Lord, for the beauty of the Blue Hole and for keeping an old woman from killing herself.

And then! In the parking lot, I observed trash on the ground. Volunteers have worked very long and hard to clean up this place; I guess litterbugs’ mamas could not teach them anything about keeping the world a clean, happy place. Y’all, it boils down to RESPECT. Respect the world God gave you and keep it beautiful and keep your trash in your car until you find a trash can. Simple. Do it.

That’s it for today, I hope to keep enjoying the beauty of Upper East Tennessee and its wonderful scenery and summer celebrations as long as I am able. What fun it is to live in such a  marvelous place!

If you have ideas or pet peeves you want to air publicly, Please email me at burnsmybiscuit@gmail.com. I will not mention your name unless you ask me to.

You are in my prayers,

E.J.