I have spent many hours this week looking at a variety of maps and websites about travel--not the glamorous kind of travel, but the department of transportation kind of travel: which roads are closed, where are the accidents, which roads are gone. I stopped at the North Carolina welcome center during a trip back from Columbia to get a paper map. I was sure there must be another way to get from Arden, North Carolina (near Asheville) to Bristol, Tennessee, where I preach and preside at Faith Lutheran church. I have felt sadness in thinking about how easy it used to be, and then I have felt guilt about my sadness, because a washed out interstate is so much less than so many people need to think about now.
On Friday, I accepted the fact that our trip would be much, much longer than it used to be. We used to get to Bristol in just under two hours. Yesterday it took us five hours.
Long ago, before there was a hurricane, my church asked if I would come for their chili fest event on Saturday, October 12. They offered to pay for a hotel, and that made it easier to figure out logistics. When my stepmom-in-law said that a chili fest sounded like fun, we invited them to come and stay over for church the next day. We both bought hotel rooms that are non-refundable. And then a hurricane came and devastated the mountains.
They live on the Tennessee side, between Chattanooga and Knoxville, and they had a much easier trip. We went east and then north and then west.
We were there in time for lunch. We ate at Delta Blues BBQ in downtown Bristol and then walked a bit. There was a Tri Cities pride event in the park, which meant we couldn't park close to the Birthplace of Country Music Museum, so we'll save that for another day.
The chili fest was great: so many options, and yet I was still full from lunch. There was a hayride; I thought it would be around the parking lot, but it was across the big field that the church owns:
It was great to see everyone and to be in a place that's functioning in a near-normal way. It was great to be around autumnal events: chili, a hayride, decorations, college football.
Today after worship, I drive another 6 hours up the road to Maryland. This week is the onground intensive for two of my seminary classes. When I signed up for them, back in March, I was excited. I had a vision for the classes in the week before I left, how I would prepare my students for my week away. I've adjusted those plans.
I'm trying not to focus on all that has been lost this autumn, all that did not/will not take place. I don't want that grief to detract from the joy of all the things that will take place this autumn.
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