Robipedia

Saturday

I am sitting in our cabin at Land of Promise Lane in Cosby, TN. It is a beautiful day, the kind that makes me so happy to live in East Tennessee. It’s about 70 degrees, the sky is a gorgeous deep blue, and there is a gentle breeze blowing from east to west. Our place is called Creek Heaven, and it could not be better named. Five steps from the back porch is the creek, crystal clear water rushing down from the heights of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park less than a mile away. We have rocking chairs and a swing on the front porch, and a hot tub on the back. It’s a great little place, clean and tidy, and so far very quiet and relaxing.

Right now Sean and Dale are gone to the store with Kathi, and Ryan is napping on the couch. Sean and Dale are taking turns driving, a first for both of them on the twisty mountain roads of Cocke County. It is bittersweet to see them doing new things, for while I am proud of their growth and their increasing confidence, I know that this means they will be leaving us soon to strike out on their own.

The boys are not even staying with us all weekend. They would rather go back home tomorrow and do things with their friends. Again, while I know this is inevitable for teenagers, I take it hard that I am no longer the center of their universe. Matthew is already making a life of his own, although he still lives at home. He is so busy with work and college, there are days that I don’t see him at all. Sean, Ryan and Dale spend their free time with their friends Wesley and Big Ryan. I really miss the days when they wanted to go everywhere I went, and wanted to do everything I did.

Of course, it is not all bad that they want to be away from us, because now Kathi and I have much more time alone together. This is a good thing, despite the common perception that all married couples are unhappy with one another. As we are with each other more, we are able to remember and enjoy those things that brought us together in the first place. It’s almost like being newlyweds again, minus some of the unrealistic expectations.

Sunday

Kathi  and I got up early and drove around to look at some of the other cabins nearby. Cosby itself is a small town on Highway 321 between Newport and Gatlinburg, just a few miles from the Greenbrier area of the GSMNP. In fact, there is a sign just up the highway from our cabin advising that “the paved road ends soon”.   Springtime in East Tennessee brings unpredictable weather, especially in the mountains. We saw rain and sunshine at the same time, accompanied by a vividly colorful rainbow. Now the sun is out, but dark clouds are on the horizon, and the wind is gusting fiercely outside the cabin. I would not be surprised to see snow flurries, as the temperature dipped into the thirties last night. We are heading out again to drive over to Gatlinburg and the park for some shopping and sightseeing.