Two hounds from Tennessee

My two dogs were born and raised in Tennessee. And since I sold my house in Nashville, their birthplace is just about the only thing they have tying them to volunteer state. So much has changed for them, including a new home, new beds, a new car to ride around in, new yards, new places to walk, and new things to sniff.

I’m so proud of them for their flexibility! They’re 12 and 10 years old but have rolled with these changes and that makes me happy. We have adventures planned for 2022 and they have no idea how fun it will be. Tons of new scents, new birds and squirrels and rabbits and moles to chase or dig up.

Don’t get me wrong, they’re still just as stubborn as they were in Tennessee. I guess it’s endearing most of the time, but if Piper would stop eating her own poop, I think that would be some good character development.

But I love them, my two hounds from Tennessee!

Thanks for dropping in…

Out of the Wilderness

Foggy Florida Photos

It got all New Englandy on the gulf coast of north Florida recently. It was absolutely beautiful. I was really pumped to get my camera out before the sun burned off the fog. Here are a few photos from that day.

Thanks for dropping in…

-Out of the Wilderness

And the theme for 2022 is…..

Welcome to Out of the Wilderness! If this is your first time stopping by, check out a few of the pages to see what my writing is all about. And of course, thank you for reading along. In 2020, I posted a blog every single day and I continued that through 2021, also.

The trend’s going to continue this year, too, so you’ve actually read all my blogs for 2022 already. But there are 364 to come, so stay tuned. When I was thinking about what I should write about this year — more of the same, find a specific subject to focus on, include more photos, etc — I was also thinking what I want 2022 to look like for me in general. It’s also because the new year basically lines up with me turning a year older (birthday is December 26th) so it’s easy to have thoughts about life at the same time as what we call “new year’s resolutions.”

To set up what my theme will be for 2022 (age 43), I will confess one of my biggest fears as an adult is unrealized potential. Wouldn’t it really stink to reach the end of our lives and think there was more we could’ve done? So instead of assuming that’s what will happen, this year is about: taking chances, making hard choices if they come up, rolling with the changes, pursuing good things (and by “good” I mean healthy, positive, divine), stretching myself in the areas I enjoy most to see what my limits are. To sum all of that up, the theme for 2022 is…

FULL POTENTIAL.

I hope you accomplish things you want to this year, realizing your potential is even more than you think, more than what anyone tells you, and you can be part of significant things. That’s what I will be reminding myself of, too, and it will be fun 12 months from now to look back and see all what’s been done.

Gosh, I didn’t mean to get so heavy on the first day of the year, but then again…why not? Hope your new year starts off well.

Chat soon…

-Out of the Wilderness

Year in Review: What Came Out of the Wilderness in 2021

As 2021 dwindles to an end, I’d like to reflect how it went writing a post every single day of the year. To sum it up in a few words: I loved it. Was it always easy? No, especially this month (December) as I came down with Covid! The worst symptom was a sore throat that lasted for days but it also sapped my energy and motivation to write. That’s why, for the first time ever, I welcomed a guest post and it came from the best man I know…my dad. Here’s that post from Christmas day.

But in the previous 11 months I posted about so many parts of my life: dating, leaving Tennessee, stories about my dogs, original satire, and TV commercials. It was these TV ad posts that I seemed to enjoy the most, mostly because I already had a personal reaction to the commercial and thought readers might, too.

Among these, three popular posts are as follows:

Allstate’s “Duet” Commercial

Famous Voices in TV Commercials

Kohl’s Ad Featuring Not Dolly Parton

I also posted every so often about photographs I had taken from various hikes or trips. You can find more of my photography (and find a few to purchase) by checking out my page on the FineArtAmerica website, but for those posts I mentioned, here are a some favorites:

Fawns at Dawn – Radnor Lake, Tennessee

Pensacola – A Beach Tour

Kentucky Sunrise – Complete with Fog

And of course, the dating. I’ve said before and I’ll say it again: if you’re in a relationship and don’t have to deal with the dating scene, be grateful! My most recent date did this to me, but actually I had a handful of fun dates before I moved out of Nashville. I don’t actually write about the good ones often, so here are a couple “almost” dates.

I Almost Dated A Woman with 3 Cats

Donald Trump Cost Me A Date

Posting every day has been a real source of joy in 2021 and I don’t plan on changing a thing in 2022… Except maybe writing more about the good dates? Anyway, a big thanks to each one of you who have stumbled on my blog for one reason or another. I appreciate you very much and hope to at least provide a laugh or a bit of entertainment for you in the next 365 days.

So until we meet again tomorrow, have a fabulous final few hours of 2021!

-Out of the Wilderness

Alabama Cincinnati Bowl Bingo

My family is excited to watch the playoffs game this afternoon. Just like everyone who’s not already an Alabama fan, we’re anti-Alabama big time tonight! It just so happens that Cincinnati is the team opposing them, so we’re rooting for Cincinnati. Hopefully the game will be fun to watch, but to sweeten it up a bit we created a bingo board we’ll play throughout the football game. The board is attached below, but first here’s the list filling out the 24 squares. Feel free to copy these (we found most of them on other sites, as well), and have some bingo fun of your own!

Bingo squares:

Cincinnati touchdown

50+ yard play

Do your ownnTD victory dance

First down

Nick Saban angry

Alabama touchdown

Field goal made

Stadium design talk

Alabama turnover

Mentions everything is bigger in Texas

Mentions Nick Sabans houses

Alabama winning at half time

Cincinnati scores first in second half

Insurance commercial

Fan with no shirt on

Cincinnati turnover

Referees mic doesn’t work

Either mascot does literally anything

Plate sob story

Alabama band performs on tv

Field goal made

Beer commercial

Mentions Luke Fickles family

Truck commercial

Thanks for stopping by!

-Out of the Wilderness