I had to ask someone what was soaking my Wednesday paper. I'd forgotten what steady rain looked like. We haven't seen much of it around here since August.
The soaking gave a needed shot to our streams. Let's hope it was enough to get the wildfires beaten back, both here and for our neighbors to the south.
Unfortunately, it came just too late for one of my favorite landmarks in the Smokies. Yes, I'm talking about Hillbilly Golf.
Let's start at the beginning. Mine anyway. I was born in Knoxville, my mother's family had been in Maryville since just after the World War II. I've been visiting Gatlinburg since long before Ripley, believe it or not.
Pancakes, taffy and Davy Crockett dominate my earliest memories of the place. Family reunions in Maryville or Townsend always included a day in Gatlinburg. Through the later 60s, my cousins and I always went for the putt-putt. When I was 10, it was obvious what I was destined for.
Maybe one day Meat will tell you about my years on the Miniature Golf tour. I didn't have the career of, say, Arnold Ziffle or Hosscat Woods, mind you. But...let's just say I racked up my share of wins on the old carpet.
I've played the finest putt-putt courses in the world, from Palm Springs (and Mattresses) to Augusta National Dinosaur Park, but there's one I always go back to. One right there in Gatlinburg.
In 1971, when I was 12, some genius built the course of my dreams and called it Hillbilly Golf. It was a masterpiece of design only a true william of the mountains could conceive of.
Eighteen holes falling off the side of a cliff only accessible by incline trolley that carried you straight up to the top. If you lost your balance on the 1st tee you might roll clear to the parking lot. A hole in one on the last hole won a free return trip. I did it two rounds in a row once.
As Gatlinburg became the wedding and honeymoon capital of the hills, I kept going back to Hillbilly Golf. When I proposed to my ex on a romantic Gatlinburg weekend, we went there celebrating. I don't think her family was much impressed by that for some reason.
Even though that little excursion didn't work out in the long run, I still always hit Hillbilly Golf on my trips to Gatlinburg. I've taken my kids there and my long time partner there. I've taken people who didn't want to go.
It is still my favorite thing to do in that town with a million silly things to do.
But now, according to early reports out of Gatlinburg, Hillbilly Golf was destroyed along with many other businesses in the wildfires that tore through the town. LIves and homes were lost in a tragic spark.
We've dodged a bullet locally with this dry spell. My heart and love go out to the folks in Tennessee who weren't so lucky.
And keep praying for rain. Just in case.
* Turns out reports of Hillbilly Golf's demise were greatly exagerated. We're happy to report she'll return to her former glory. Beware of fake news!