Through the years, my spider encounters have given me a few adventures. In case you don't know, I don’t want to see one or be anywhere close to one of those icky things. In fact, when I get to Heaven, I plan on asking Jesus if there was nothing else He could have created that would have eaten mosquitos and other bugs.

But there was one spider that amazed me so much that I had to watch it instead of screaming and running away.

Mincey’s Musings
Year Two, Week Five

Once again, federal income tax season is upon us. Perhaps nothing is worse than being deemed guilty when convinced of innocence, especially when it costs money.

Last Friday, I met Diane Cooke Wright Green from Bean Station. She came by with her husband, Bryan Green, and her cousin, Donna Allen. They came to buy some of my mom, Bonnie Heiskell Peters’ books.

Biodiversity is a big deal in ecology circles these days. The dictionary defines it simply as the variety of living things in a particular area or region. Opinions on the importance of biodiversity vary, but to me the loss of any plant or animal species means something’s wrong, and rightfully raises some concerns.

This offering is about oatmeal muffins. But let me stop and say a few words about blueberry muffins. My youngest daughter's first job in Tennessee was at Krystal's on Broadway. We had never heard of Krystal or even White Castle, for that matter. They both set their reputation on dinner roll sized hamburgers. In 1987, you could buy an entire meal for a dollar. I fell in love with them and ate until I couldn't stand to see another one.

New research has found home-based video-game exercises can reduce chronic low back pain in older people by 27 percent, which is comparable to benefits gained under programs supervised by a physiotherapist. The study investigated the effectiveness of self-managed home-based video game exercises in people over 55 years using a Nintendo Wii-Fit-U.

Maynardville is now home to The Union County Opry. Known as the Cradle of County Music, Union County is noted for its musical heritage; four of its sons are now known throughout the world–Roy Acuff, Chet Atkins, Carl Smith, and Kenny Chesney. Lois Johnson, Hilda Kitts Harrill, and Melba Kitts Greene are among its best known women entertainers (https://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entries/union-county/).

Heading into initial rehabilitation from an injury or surgery can be stressful as there are many therapy types available. Luckily, Union County citizens now have an advanced aquatic therapy opportunity to explore. Tennessee Therapeutics, located at 2945 Maynardville Highway in Maynardville, is now offering a specialty aquatic exercise service to propose a way of getting back to preinjury state sooner while reducing pain during rehabilitation sessions.

In the Beginning...

It was a bright, sunny and very cold January day when I made the trip to Sharps Chapel to visit with Dave and Tomica Whaley and see the restoration progress on their magnificent historic home. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978, and known in the community as the Bate Ousley House, this 1835, Five Bay, Central Passage, Federal Style Home is one of Union County's historic jewels.

In August of 2011, Glenmary Home Missioners formed the first Catholic Church in Union County, Tennessee. As a part of this formation, local Catholics would gather at the Senior Center with the first mass being held under a carport, being a “bring your own chair” event with twenty-six people in attendance. The group began to search for a rental location to house their church, meanwhile the first Sunday Mass was held in October 2011 at Miller’s Chapel United Methodist Church. Masses were held there for the month of October while the storefront property on Maynardville Highway was renovated.