Reporting:

So I set off with Spaw's directions but no map. You see, the trip's funding had not all come in before I set out. Each leg of the trip, I knew I would have to be checking back home to see what had come in to know what my budget would be for that place and whether I would have to head home right away. Also I was carrying van-camping stuff in case MudHosts and schedule did not mesh, or in case funds dried up for my last and most expensive stop. Anyhow, I didn't have maps, and printers I'd had access to were not real good with color, so I did look at my route in Expedia before leaving, and I did print directions for all the stops I knew about, but no maps on board. I figured (being on a mission and all) that whatever directions or directional refinements I needed along the way, I could count on people THERE to send me on to the next place.

Well, I was tired when I got to Foxytown but tireder when I left, but I read back Spaw's directions twice and he said I had it right. I drove and drove. It was all taking much longer than the directions seemed to indicate. I had not asked my usual question, either-- "What will I pass just BEFORE I get to this or that spot?" At one point, by the clock, I thought I must surely have overshot the directions. Since it was to be a lunch meeting, I had skipped breakfast. My blood sugar got pretty low, and I got dumber and dumber. Finally I decided I would need to give up and I got off at a Bob Evans. I thought, I'll have a bite and see where I am, and if I'm near the meeting point (even tho it's much later than the agreed time), I'll get off again and see if they're still there. But the waitress said I was more like an hour from the spot. I assumed I'd messed up and that it was behind me. But an hour after I got back on the road I PASSED it.

I had phoned Mary in Kentucky asking her to get a message of regrets to Spaw. God bless that woman. She was to be my stop for that night, and I was SO far away. Even after lunch I felt pretty lousy, so I said I might not get there that night-- she said it would be about 4 hours, if I recall right. I said, "Tell you what, suck me in on a prayer line. Just pray me there." She giggled and agreed, and you know, the rest of the trip there was like rolling down a gentle hill. I sang, I drank water, and I felt excellent. I think this was the leg where I hooked up the MP3 player to the car via FM transmitter, and a couple of good radio shows passed the longest stretch. And I got there, not TOO late at night, and found her house because she had given me GREAT directions and had indeed been praying me there.

Well, folks, let me tell you, Mary is a gracious hostess and her husband Truman is a hospitable gentleman. We sat up talking a little bit and when I told Mary my mission, darn if she didn't hook me up by phone with a close friend who had LOTS to share, right on topic. And then I sort of fell over into her spare bed, after a tour of all the available upstairs comfort options, and BAM, after her cat visited me briefly I was out, and I slept like a baby and woke greatly refreshed. We had tea and muffins, then decided to tour her town before she treated me to brunch.

Mary is one of those people who, when she drives around town, tells you who all the people are that we pass on the sidewalk, and then stops to say "Hey" and share the latest news with them. It was so special, seeing all her dear places around town, places she'd raised her kids and so on... her real world. And it was such a treat to see this sweet lady with friends and acquaintances, hear the rhythm of Kentucky life in the give and take and in the news shared... to see someone I had only known from a distance, settled in a life where she is loved all day and loves 'em all right back. (And she's so pretty, like a little bird, small but so strong!) We met church friends at the restaurant and they had things to share with me too... and GRITS, oh yes, I was back in the land of grits and ham and real fried chicken and sweet tea.

I can't recall if it was before or after brunch, but at some point Mary took me into her music room (that's what I call it anyhow), sat me down beside her at the piano and we did a verse or so of a hymn-- she said I couldn't leave till she hear me sing. It was lovely to make music with her.

The visit ended all too soon, and I set off for nearby Nashville.

~Susan