Goats on the Roof and a Bear in the Park

So I promised Goats on the Roof, so here you go....

It's my new favorite spot :) This place is a gem. It's just a little souvenir shop on Wears Valley Road on the way to Pigeon Forge, but it's quirky and fun and it has real goats! It makes me smile. You should visit it, just to say you've been there. I visited Goats on the Roof last week (and a couple of times before that), but today I went to Cades Cove. How I love that place! And guess what I saw? Yup - a bear!! OK, so before you get all jealous, I must admit that I'm not calling it a bonafide siting because 1) I didn't get a picture of it (well I got some pictures, but when I got home and actually looked at them, there was no bear in them! Just the people around looking at it) 2) I only saw a glimpse of it as it was running away. There were lots of other people who saw it, but by the time I got there, well...it was running off :( Oh well, it was still lots of fun to get that thrill that there's a bear in the park!! I have to say that today's Cades Cove visit was awesome. I didn't know that it would be, but it was. Today, I conquered my fear (if for just one day!) of what people may think of me. You see, I stopped at every place there was to stop at in the Cades Cove Loop and walked to the cabins and churches and took lots of pictures. As I was praying this morning, I asked God to help me be a blessing to others today. I love how God does unexpected things. I prayed that I would be a blessing to someone, but it turns out I was the one who was blessed in so many ways. When I got to Cades Cove, I decided to get out of my car and explore. (Just a side note - if your reading this blog and don't know me personally and wonder why this is a huge deal, here's why. Because of my dystonia, I walk with a walker to keep me upright and to keep me from falling, tripping and/or slipping. It doesn't always work because I'm so talanted that even with the walker, I fall, trip and slip! But, that's another blog entry, let's get back to today!) I got out at every stop along the Loop. I walked up to and into every cabin, homestead and church, except one. And that one cabin had steep steps and no railing, so I did use caution and stayed on solid ground. I had a blast. I really, really did. It was an absolutely gorgeous, breathtaking, beautiful day. I thought people may think I was crazy, because I got out and walked to the first cabin - The John Oliver Place:

It's a long haul (I mean, not too long, but about a 1/4 of a mile across a field). I just smiled when people passed by me and said hello to everyone. Here's some pictures of the path:

When I got to the cabin, I went inside. There was a little girl there who ran through it and exclaimed that she wished she lived there! Ha! I walked back to my car, loaded my walker and drove to the next place - a Methodist church. As I was touring it, I met two lovely ladies, who carried my walker down the church's stairs. (I had carried it up, but they offered to help me down and I accepted!

Then as I was walking back to my car, I ran into (not literally!) this couple. They asked if I had just toured the John Oliver Place and I said yes. They looked surprised and the man said that he didn't even walk it because he thought it was too far! They had UK shirts on so I asked if they were from Kentucky. They were. I told them I went to college there and they had actually heard of my school (Asbury University). One of the woman's friends even works there! We had a lovely conversation. And then I got back in my car and went on to the next place. I eventually ran into the couple from Kentucky again and the man asked if I was just walking the entire Cades Cove Loop. I said no, I had my car, but I was bound and determined to stop at every stop and see everything there was to see. And in that moment, I felt blessed. I don't know if that man and his wife knew how big a blessing they were to me, but they were. I can't explain it, they just were. Here's a picture of the KY couple:

I wasn't sure that I had been a blessing to anyone, but that couple, along with others I met along the way today truly, deeply blessed me. Their compassion, their willingness to acknowledge me and talk with me - it truly blessed me. And so, I prayed to God that I would be a blessing to someone today and instead I was blessed multiple times over by many people. Thank you Jesus for goats on the roof, a bear in the park and people who showed kindness and Your love whether they knew it or not!

Here's some more pictures of my trip to Cades Cove:
Another lovely church

Beautiful flowers and a gorgeous day!

Dystonia vs. Estonia

In my last post, I mentioned the name of my blog came from my quest to find out what was causing me so much trouble walking. Well, turns out after 5 years and 5 different hospitals, the "condition" actually does have a name - dystonia. That's D-Y-S-T-O-N-I-A and it's a neurological condition, defined by my ever resourceful friend Wikipedia as "a neurological movement disorder, in which sustained muscle contractions cause twisting and repetitive movements or abnormal postures." Now, I had never heard of the disorder, nor, it seemed, had anyone else I knew. I've educated myself on dystonia in the years since, however, it still makes me laugh when people say, "I thought that was a country". Well, friends....Estonia is a country :) Dystonia...not so much! You can go to Estonia, but you can have Dystonia. I've never been to Estonia, but maybe I should go, so that I could say, "I have Dystonia and I'm in Estonia". That sounds like something that should be on a T-shirt. There will be much more time for me to post about dystonia, but I probably won't mention Estonia again (unless, that is, I actually do go there). It's just that it's not nearly as interesting or entertaining as Dystonia ;) So now you know the name of what I've got. I don't mind you asking me about it either. Just to let you know, I'm not going to talk constantly about Dystonia on here. It's what I have, it's not who I am. There will be posts about it, but not every post will be about it. On that note, you're going to read all kinds of random things on this blog. So stayed tuned because my next post is going to be all about goats on the roof. Seriously. I'm not joking.

What's in a Name?

You would not believe how much I've thought about what to name this little blog of mine. Seriously! I'll let you in a little secret, it's actually what's caused me NOT to write a blog up until now. Yes, that's right - I didn't start a blog because I was hung up on what to call it! I'm still not thrilled with it's name. You see I really wanted it to be called "It's Not Brain Surgery". Yep, it's the difference between an "it's" and a "it is" that's got me all up in arms :) But "It is Not Brain Surgery" will have to do, because "It's Not Brain Surgery" was already taken. The title is in reference to notes I started writing back in 2009 on Facebook, titled - you guessed it!- "It's Not Brain Surgery" chronicling my quest to find out why I was tripping and falling after walking pretty well for 25 years. So now you know!

And so it begins...

Hi all! I am so excited and nervous all in one about starting my very first blog. I've never done anything like this before, so it will definitely be an adventure. I've started and restarted this very first posting over and over again, so before I lose the nerve, I'm going to click the publish button. I promise to explain the title of the blog in my next post and let you know a little more about me, but for the time being I'll leave you with one of my all time favorite quotes which explains a lot about me in just one sentence: "I was the shyest human ever invented, but I had a lion inside me that wouldn't shut up!"- Ingrid Bergman