Plaasabilities

"Reflecting on Nursing School" Neyland Stadium reflects in the windows of the College of Nursing at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville  © 2014 Kristina Plaas, All Rights Reserved The fall leaves on Circle Park at the heart of the University of Tennessee called my name after I finished attending Dr. Thomas' phenomenology group this afternoon. Thankfully I had the presence of mind to grab my camera on my way out of the house and had what I needed when I saw the perfect light and perfect colors. It provided an wonderful opportunity to reflect back on all the years I've spent in this building, the College of Nursing. After many years of blood, sweat, and tears I walked away with not just one, but two degrees from this place. The BSN and PhD experiences were different to be sure, mostly because I was very different. They were equally challenging, though, and much more difficult that my MSN from Vanderbilt. Maybe it's because of that challenge that I love this p...

Snow White goes to Grandfather Mountain on the Blue Ridge Parkway  I admit it. I hate the hassle of taking my car in for servicing. I hate having car trouble more so I try very hard to do the routine things to keep my car running well. That meant sitting in the waiting area at the car dealer this afternoon while they changed the oil and other tasks. As I waited I engaged in an attitude improvement exercise of thinking about what my life would be like if I didn't have a nice, safe car to drive. I couldn't drive to the grocery store or church, or take Daddy to doctor's appointments or out to eat. I couldn't go to the university or to the Smokies. I would be stuck at home -- horrors! I drove a family car in high school and college, but bought all my own cars after that. A few years ago when my old car started needing one costly repair after another to keep it running safely, my parents started to worry. It wasn't so much about fixing the radiator or the air con...

In the Christmas movie classic It's a Wonderful Life, Clarence, the angel, tells George Bailey (aka Jimmy Stewart) that "no man is a failure that has friends." When life gets hard you find out who your real friends are. You know the ones -- the people who call or text you just to see how you are doing, the ones who just show up with loving words and generous hugs, the ones who are happy when you call them at 11 PM or 6 AM because you're life is falling apart and you need someone to reassure you that things will be OK, and the ones that take you away from your troubles for a morning and surround you with love and laughter. I'm very grateful to have such friends, including the lovely women who took me hiking in the Smokies today. Thank you all so much!

Middlin' Middle Prong Little River, Tremont Great Smoky Mountains National Park © 2014 Kristina Plaas, All Rights Reserved Nothing Gold Can Stay Nature’s first green is gold, Her hardest hue to hold. Her early leaf’s a flower; But only so an hour. Then leaf subsides to leaf. So Eden sank to grief, So dawn goes down to day. Nothing gold can stay. Robert Frost, 1923 As a nature lover and photographer I eagerly await the first hints of buds emerging from the trees in early spring. I adore the bright, cheery green trees in the Smokies in April. That green evolves to a deep, velvety hue as summer progresses then, before you know it, hints of gold show up in early September. It's just a tease, of course, as the richest red and golds won't show up until late October. It's futile to wish those rich hues would remain. Fall always has it's way as wind, rain, and snow turn the golds to brown and down, down, down they come. Gone. The gold is gone. The leaves ar...

Not all those who wander are lost.  J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973); Writer, Poet, Philologist, University Professor I inherited my wanderlust tendencies from my father. I consider it to be one of the greatest attributes he has given me. I am rarely content to be stuck indoors -- be it work, school, or at home. After a while I have to get out and get into nature. Living in East Tennessee, that often means heading to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park or one of many state or local parks. But really, any road or path that piques my curiosity will do as long as I am exploring. Daddy used to call it "getting lost."  He'd pile all us kids into our big Plymouth station wagon and say, "Let's go get lost." Translated, this means let's go to an area that we sort of know, drive down roads we've never been on before, and see what we can discover. We rarely ever got truly lost, but we saw things we might have missed had we opted to not go down the roa...