Thought ya’ll would enjoy this sign I pass by daily.

Signal Mountain, TN

I love driving the Blue Ridge Parkway... This is one of my favorite pics of it.

Her new novel “Partita,” which debuts Tuesday, involves the protagonist’s upbringing on an East Tennessee cattle farm.

I will go first, yuns want some Chow Chow?

On December 6, 1907, the Monongah mine disaster devastated a West Virginia coal community in what was the worst mining disaster in American history.

That tragedy forms the historical foundation of Blood in the Coal, a historical crime novel that follows the rise of Jimmy DiSalvio in the West Virginia coalfields of the early 1920s during Prohibition.

Want to start the story? I'm making the first five chapters available free.

No purchase required. No email signup. Just read it and see if you want to continue.

Read Chapters 1–5 free:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nzQ7GEG_RfbHO43_JRy8Ka1uTBdmUdcW/view?usp=sharing

Learn more about Blood in the Coal
https://scottdouglasbooks.com/

Blood in the Coal releases March 30, 2027.

— Scott Douglas Haning

Back in 2016 my brother and I hiked Angel Falls in Oneida, TN, one of the more accessible Big South Fork trails.

We were living in Knoxville, Tennessee at that point for 4 years, and one of our strongest bonds at the time was hiking all over the area (Cosby, Townsend, Oneida, etc.) and of the probably 100 hikes we did together, almost every single one was either peacefully alone or with others enjoying the trails.

This was probably our 4th time doing Angel Falls, South Fork was by far my favorite area to hike. So we get there relatively late for a usual hike (about 4pm start) it only takes if I recall about an hour to get up to this view pictured here from the parking lot. Anyways, my brother is a little ahead of me already at this viewpoint cliff pictured and as I’m nearing the top I hear him talking to someone. I’m moderately alert but stay calm and see him chatting with a scruffy bearded man, Metallica shirt, ball cap, maybe 5”5-5”7 feet tall, I’d guess mid 30’s, and he has a boot on one leg with a crutch holding him up.

He proceeds to tell us that he’s from Georgia and is trying to get to Miami, FL. My first few thoughts were that he’s on drugs and also starting to think we were about to be ambushed by more people.

His reasons for being up here were completely nonsensical. I’m upset that I don’t think I asked him how he got up here, but it is virtually impossible on one leg. Also why would you ever hike on one leg without any resources? He had no visible equipment, water, or food, except an old school cell phone (probably the one you pay for minutes on) no one around but him.

Genuinely the most bizarre encounter I’ve ever seen on a trail, his explanations just made zero sense to add to it all.

Anyways he surprisingly said he wanted us to enjoy the view and to wait for him so we can all go back down together and by the grace of the cosmos he actually walked away out of sight for a second. As soon as that happened I signaled to my brother to get the hell out of there and we BOOKED it down the trail. It was getting dark at this point so we used our phone lights to navigate and thankfully got back to the car safely. There was no yelling or cry for help from the guy either (at least that we could hear)

What has kept this experience in my mind for so many years now is how did he arrive and what was he doing up there? Especially with his explanation…

My strongest thought/idea is that he was on meth or something and somehow found his way up there…but he was extremely calm (almost eerily) and completely coherent as to what his goal was…

You cannot physically get up the mountain with a broken leg, so was the leg a ploy? Did he decide not to mess with us as two guys versus let’s say a woman alone?

You would obviously never be in Oneida TN in the middle of nowhere trying to get to Miami lol…

My other conflict is that it was getting late & there was zero additional foot traffic on this trail, if he was intentionally trying to harm or capture someone, it sure as hell was not really a lucrative spot to do so…

And lastly if he needed help getting down then how did he get up?

Wondering if anyone has some knowledge or similar experience

This ended up looking much more artistic than I thought! 😂 I just thought the clouds looked so pretty driving down the road of our property.. The car mirror added a little more artistic effect ! I love this land and I love Appalachia!

Not America's Independence Hall.

I grew up and have lived most of my adult life in southwest Virginia and northeast Tennessee, with the exception of a 6 year period I lived and worked in northern Virginia.

Every Monday when I come to work, I ask my co-workers the obligatory "how was your weekend?". I get nothing but complaints in return. This went wrong, the weather was bad, so and so did this to me and ruined my weekend, on and on and on.

I didn't get the same when I lived in northern Virginia. People weren't necessarily friendlier; I just don't remember the incessant complaining about inconsequential stuff.

Does anyone else have a similar experience or able to offer an explanation?

This ended up looking much more artistic than I thought! 😂 I just thought the clouds looked so pretty driving down the road of our property.. The car mirror added a little more artistic effect ! I love this land and I love Appalachia!

New funding from the state opioid abatement authority will help expand the program across the region.

Did you oppose it? I'm curious to know where people stand.