First stop, Columbia, TN-Not exactly on the westward trail but very definitely an oasis.

We are blessed!!
I'm not saying that to sound pious, I truly feel that way.
After the "door" closed it took a few weeks for reality to sink in and figure out our plan B. Once we found the "window", things (emotionally) began to look up. For a short time we experienced that heady feeling of excitement that comes with embarking on adventure. Then, once again, life came crashing in.
Remember that chapter on stress in your college Psych 101 class? It included a list of the top ten things that bring significant stress to your life. I have found that those stressors never seem to come one at a time. but kind of clump together like those big ugly clots when you let cream outlive its expiration date. There is never just one or two things happening but multiple layers of stress going on at one time. Consequently, in the midst of having to make some serious decisions about this change in our lives, we lived through a very traumatic experience...the Great Nashville Flood of 2010.
It began raining on Friday, April 30. The water cycle that hydrates our earth stalled out over Middle Tennessee. It poured almost nonstop for 3 days dumping 14 inches (in some places 18) on our city. Creeks became rivers, rivers became torrents,.
and any ole' low spot in the ground suddenly became a lake.
The Harpeth River decided to take a detour through the home of our son and his sweet wife (who by the way DID NOT live in a flood plain). They ended up with river water 4 feet deep in their house and lost most of what they had.
Now I was not only packing to put my own life in storage, but I was finishing out the year in my job, helping my kids salvage what they could, doing demolition on wet soggy sheetrock, insulation, and flooring, and trying to decide if we go on with our plans or postpone for a couple of months.
Needless to say, the last few weeks have been difficult on lots of levels. Maybe now you will understand why the guest house at our friends' home place in Columbia is truly oasis.

In Nashville we lived in a townhouse- great location but very noisy. Sirens all the time, a security gate in the development behind us that squeaked constantly as it opened and closed. I had to resort to sleeping with a sound machine...noise to cover up the noise. To see or hear nature I had to leave home. I've come to realize that there is a certain amount of nourishment that my soul gets from nature and for the past few years I've become quite malnourished.
For the next couple of weeks I get to enjoy a front porch with rockers, big trees to shade me, that sweet smell of things growing, and nothing but the sound of the birds.

Columbia is what I call a real Southern town. It's a small town so everywhere you go someone knows you or your people. Since it was on the Confederate army's route to the battle of Franklin there is plenty of "history" wherever you look. My husband grew up on a farm in Spring Hill and used to dig up mini-balls (Civil War ammo) in his front yard.
Columbia has several claims to fame.
James K. Polk, our 11th president, lived in Columbia.
Of course there are several plantation homes in the area. One I particularly like is Rattle-n-Snap, named for the ole' timey game of chance in which you rattled your dice and snapped your fingers when you threw them. Up towards Spring Hill there is Rippavilla where the Confederate generals spent the night before the Battle of Franklin. But by far, the best claim to fame Columbia has is Mule Day. Columbia's roots are sunk deep in an agrarian culture. It used to be considered the Mule Capital of the World, the hub for buying and selling mules (the workhorse of the farmer.) Every year King Mule was and still is celebrated with The Annual Mule Day Parade. Personally, I've always thought the very best thing about Mule Day is the reason it gives you to to throw a whoppin' big party.
Well, that's the latest stop on the High road. Love your family, hold your friends close, and keep your faith in front of you.