Halloween’s packed up and gone and the candy bowl’s down to the Tootsie Rolls nobody wanted, and the trees around town are puttin’ their usual big show before winter. It’s my favorite kinda in-between: sweater weather in the mornin’, short sleeves by lunch, and the sun clockin’ out before supper now that the clocks fell back.

This week’s a real special one ’round here (you’ll see why soon enough), so I’m extra glad you stopped by. Kick your shoes off, grab somethin’ warm, and stay a while. 🍂

As always, we’ve added a fresh track to this week’s issue purely for vibes as you read. Click the link below before ya start readin’ if you wanna listen, or listen to the full Chattynooga playlist on Spotify!

Some folks curl up on the porch with a good book, others with a good magazine, and Condé Nast has been fillin’ coffee tables with the good stuff for over a hundred years. This week they’re bringin’ a real thought-provoker by: why the human body still gets folks so worked up, with experts weighin’ in.

Take it away, Condé Nast!

Everyone has opinions about breasts. Allure Perspectives has the experts. 

Hosted by Allure editor-in-chief Jessica Cruel, this podcast pairs expert interviews with intimate personal stories and cultural history. Topics range from whether belly bands are modern-day corsets to how AI-generated images are skewing expectations of surgery. 

It’s smart, candid, and refreshingly shameless. The whole season is out now, so there’s nothing to wait for.

Binge wherever you get podcasts.

Community Building 101
Thursday, November 5 @ Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce | 5:30 - 7:00 PM

Ever had a big idea for makin’ your neighborhood a lil’ better? Young Professionals of Chattanooga is hostin’ a panel of four local community builders who turned their ideas into real-life spaces and gatherings, sharin’ what worked, what didn’t, and how you can get started. Keep an ear out, ’cause intern Logan’s on the panel talkin’ about Roundabout, too!

🏘️ Build it and they will come

Fall Clothing & Plant Swap
Friday, November 6 @ Plant Bar | 2:00 - 6:00 PM

Closet overflowin’ and windowsill runnin’ outta room? Bring up to five pieces of clothing to trade for five new-to-you finds, or swap a plant or propagation for a fresh green buddy. Grab a drink while you’re there and you’ll earn yourself an extra swap!

🪴 Leaf it to us

Witch Walk: A Magick Market on Frazier Ave
Sunday, November 8 @ Almanac Supply Co. | 12:00 PM

Spooky season ain’t over ’til the witches say so! Almanac Supply Co. and The Woodland Witch are hostin’ their sixth Witch Walk, fillin’ the Frazier Avenue sidewalks with vendors sellin’ spells, tools, art, and all kinds of curiosities. Bestsellin’ illustrator Jessica Roux will even be on hand that afternoon signin’ copies of her newest book.

🔮 Somethin’ wicked this way shops

Red Bank Porchfest
Saturday, November 7 @ Porches all over Red Bank | 10:00 AM

Red Bank’s front porches are turnin’ into stages for a whole day of free live music! Grab a lawn chair, check out the porch map and schedule, and wander from one front-yard show to the next. Can’t wait ’til Saturday? The official pre-party at The Spritzeria kicks off Friday night.

🎸 Porch, please

Neko Case: Neon Midnight Green Tour
Friday, November 6 @ The Signal | Doors 6:30 PM, Show 8:00 PM

Neko Case is bringin’ her fearless, one-of-a-kind songwritin’ to The Signal on her Neon Midnight Green Tour. Parkin’s tight around the Choo Choo, so grab a rideshare and save yourself the circlin’.

🌃 Neon lights, big nights

Chattanooga Market: Big Band Day
Sunday, November 8 @ First Horizon Pavilion | 11:00 AM

Swing on by the Chattanooga Market for a free afternoon of big band, swing, Latin, and waltz tunes from the UTC Jazz Band and Sweet Georgia Sound. Stick around for the Quilts of Valor ceremony at 1:30 PM honorin’ our local veterans ahead of Veterans Day.

🎺 It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing

In the Park After Dark
Thursday, November 5 @ Stone Fort (Little Rock City), Soddy-Daisy | 7:00 PM

Bonfire, beer, and live music up on the mountain? Count us in! This annual fundraiser for TDEC and the North Chickamauga Creek Conservancy is movin’ to Stone Fort this year while the park gets renovated, and every dollar goes right back into the land and creek we love.

🔥 Keep the home fires burnin’

History by Kayak: Chief Dragging Canoe
Saturday, November 7 @ Tennessee River Gorge | 8:30 AM

Paddle through the Gorge at peak leaf season while a guide shares the history of War Chief Dragging Canoe and the Chickamauga Cherokee. All the equipment’s provided for this 4-mile trip (about 2.5 hours on the water), and it’s best for folks 16 and up.

🛶 Row, row, row your boat

Fall Group Photo Hike
Sunday, November 8 @ Lookout Mountain | 8:30 AM - 1:30 PM

Exploring Chatt and the Chattanooga Camera Club are teamin’ up for a slow-paced, 2.4-mile photo hike through the fall leaves on Lookout Mountain. Bring your camera (or your phone, we won’t tell) and RSVP to get all the details.

📸 Say cheese, fall leaves

Got somethin’ you wanna tell the community about?

Tell us all about it with our new and improved events form, or just reply to this email with your event details and we’ll go from there!

If you paint, sew, bake, design, play, perform, or make somethin’ and sell it (or hope to someday), The Chattery wants to hear from ya!

They’ve teamed up with Prospera Strategies and our bud Melanie from Rad Work on a regional Creative Entrepreneur Survey to learn what’s workin’, what’s gettin’ in the way, and what would actually help local creatives take their next step. What y’all share will shape a report that wonderful organizations such as The Chattery, LAUNCH Chattanooga, TSBDC, ArtsBuild, and others will use to guide future support for creative businesses ’round here. Here’s the quick deets:

¿Prefiere español? Haga clic aquí.

Know a creative who oughta take it? Forward this their way! The more folks bein’ heard from this in our city, the better! 🖌

Y’all, we’ve got ourselves a wedding to attend this Saturday! And not just any wedding, neither. Our very own intern Logan and intern Amy are gettin’ hitched! I reckon that’s worth changin’ out of the overalls for.

I don’t know a whole lot about marriage, but I figured I oughta have some words of wisdom ready for the happy couple. Usually when I need advice, I go bother Meemaw. She’s got an answer for just about everything, whether you asked for one or not.

Trouble was, Meemaw was busy gettin’ Clementine’s outfit to fit “positively perfectly,” so I went lookin’ for the next best thing: Pappy Tallant.

See, Pappy ain’t much of a talker. Matter of fact, I’ve had longer conversations with the refrigerator when it starts makin’ that funny noise from bein’ left open too long. Most days he’s perfectly content in his chair, lettin’ Meemaw do enough talkin’ for the both of ’em, with the occasional “mm-hmm” so she knows he’s listenin’.

So, still wearin’ my giant inflatable possum costume, I plopped down next to him on the couch and asked what he’d learned from bein’ married all these years. He peered at me over his glasses and let out a snort. I couldn’t tell if it was at the question or the possum.

“Lord, you an’ your Meemaw are somethin’ else, ain’tcha?”

“Well, yeah,” I said. “But what’s that got to do with marriage?”

He chuckled, set his Kindle on the coffee table, and shifted his creaky ol’ joints around to face me. “Just ’bout everything, sonnyboy.”

He got to tellin’ me about Meemaw when they were young. Said she’d always been a firecracker, and anybody who ever told her she couldn’t do somethin’ knew better than to try it twice. He even did his best Meemaw voice, quotin’ her from an argument way back when: “’Cause I ain’t the one OR the two to mess with!”

“And soon as that woman gets an idea in ’er head,” he said, “you might as well go on and find your shoes. You’re prolly goin’ somewhere.”

I asked if that ever drove him crazy.

“Oh, plenty.” Then he smiled real big. “But I ain’t been bored a single day, that’s for darn sure.”

He said the trick ain’t just agreein’ with everything Meemaw says, neither. Sometimes you gotta have the guts to tell her when she’s wrong, and the good sense to know when she’s right. And if you’re gonna disagree, you’d better have put some thought into it, ’cause she’s already put plenty into her side.

“But here’s the thing about your Meemaw,” he said. “She puts that same kinda fire into the people she loves.”

He told me about all the times she’d gone out of her way to make somebody feel welcome. How she’d remember somethin’ a neighbor mentioned weeks back, or notice somebody havin’ a hard time before they’d said a word. How she’d always find room for one more at the table, even when they’d already run out of chairs.

“She’s got a big heart,” he said. “And she ain’t careless with it.”

I thought that was a funny way to put it, so I asked what he meant.

He said lovin’ somebody means payin’ attention. Learnin’ what matters to ’em. Rememberin’ the little things. And givin’ a little extra grace when they don’t get it right the first time.

Then he looked at me over his glasses again. “Lord knows she’s given me plenty of that.”

I asked if he’d do it all over again, knowin’ everything he knows now.

He didn’t even have to think about it. “In a heartbeat.”

And then, ’cause he’s Pappy, he gave me a wink that meant social hour was officially over and went right back to readin’ his current fantasy book obsession.

So intern Logan and intern Amy, I hope y’all are ready to celebrate your big day this weekend, and all the happy days that come after it, too.

I hope y’all keep dreamin’ up big silly ideas together, go on adventures to places near and far you’ve never even heard of, and always find somethin’ new to laugh about, even when you’re old and wrinkly as a basset hound. (Meemaw says on people they’re called “jowls.” I have questions.)

When life gets a lil’ tangled, I hope you remember you’re on the same team, even when one of you is bein’ stubborn. Or hangry. Or both.

And someday, when y’all are sittin’ on a porch of your own, I hope some nosy little kid wanders up askin’ what made your marriage so special. And I hope you’ve got so many stories to tell, he stays for supper just to hear more.

Love, Bubby 💍

P.S. Drop your own advice for our two love birds, I’ll make sure they get the notes!

Alright y’all, enough lovey dovey from Bubby because this week’s Corner is long overdue. I’ve wanted to share my opinions about this for more than a whole entire month but the time was never quite right. But now is the time to discuss the monumental program that is Dancing with the Stars and the incredible Season 35 that is well underway.

Look, I’m not a dancer, but DWTS has taught me what to look for in a good dance. I’m talking knee walks in a Paso Doble, kicks and flicks in a Jive, the fleckerl in a Viennese Waltz. I know when to hold your frame and when to move across the whole dang floor. And I’m not gonna lie, I’ve been locked into the drama this season (Lift Gate a few weeks back was WILD).

Of course, the most important part of the show is the professional dancers and their celebrity partners. My top three keeps changing, but Ezra and Daniella are at the top of the list. Connor and Rylee are really surprising me every week, and Tatyana and Jan are perfect and criminally underscored. I’m a big fan of Harry and Jenna, too!

I don’t know how kid reporters get famous enough to go on Dancing with the Stars, but one day, Clementine McBride will win the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy… just you wait and see!

Clementine and I have got ourselves a big weekend ahead: hair to comb, shoes to shine, and one inflatable possum costume that Meemaw says is absolutely NOT wedding attire. (We’ll see.)

Once we’ve sent the interns off proper, we’ll be right back on the porch with a fresh glass of sweet tea, ready to hear what y’all have been up to.

Till then, take a reallllll long sip of cider for me while we’re away!

See ya soon, neighbor! 👋

— Bubby and Clementine