The Home Stretch

Another month down.

Huh.

It seems just like yesterday that I set out on this six month sojourn. The warming breezes of Spring were just beginning to yield to the hazy, hot days of Summer. The Memphis Championship BBQ Contest was still the next big thing on the Downtown gang's radar screen.

It wasn't for me. My road led elsewhere. At that time I thought I knew exactly where it would take me.

A summary.

I set off, headed eastbound on I-40. Nashville came and went in a blur. Soon I was sailing over the Cumberland Plateau. The flowering trees dotting by the millions the darkness of the woods. Knoxville was in my rear view mirror in the next blink it seemed. A night in Bristol. Rest and some well earned beers.

I-81, I-64, Virginia Beach. Five weeks of tending to my brother. For him, rest and healing. For me, five weeks of making up for lost time since we parted company in 1977 when he joined the Navy.

50th birthday celebration for the older bro, health returning if only fleetingly, cruising down the highway for Nags Head and the beach. I'll be home in less than a week, mission accomplished.

Phone call from best friend. Trees down, damage beyond description. Help!

No Memphis for me. Something even better. Five weeks with my best friend and his family. Big trees broken. Barn totalled. Chainsaws running six days a week. Heavy lifting, brush hauling, asleep by 7:00 pm. Fishing, crabbing, boating somehow squeezed in after working and on the one day off. Primary work completed, plans made to finish job in Fall.

Finally time to go home. Hazy, hot days in full swing. A cooling stop in Asheville, NC. The dark, foreboding Smoky Mountains at dusk. Cold beer, live Irish music. A bartender named Susie I'd met on a previous trip the year before. Closing time! Let's go! Wine by the pool. Skinny dipping at 3 am. Obliged!

A "See you next time." that will never come.

*wink*

Why is it called a "one night stand" when most of it happens laying down or on your knees?

I-40 westbound. The Summer heat baking the Interstate turning roadkill into jerky.

Home. Three weeks. Friends, fun, rest. Phone call.

"Bruce has another bacterial infection.".

Back to the East Coast. Late nights of worry. Pacing, thinking, praying, wondering. Long days of healing. He responds well to treatment. Time to finish work up in New Jersey.

Barn starts coming down. Maintenance work for two weeks. The hazy, humid days of Summer get pushed aside by the brusque winds and rains of Fall. Soybeans, green yesterday, gold the next. Wood, lots and lots of wood to be split. A Phillies game and a 16th birthday. Two new puppies. Wood to be split. Soybeans brown and harvested. Some knee maintenance. More wood to be split. Healing.

Not much more wood to be split.

Whew!!!!!

Today I'll finish up the remaining black walnut here and get as much of the cherry next door as I can. Tomorrow, God and weather willing, I hope to get the rest of it finished up.

The good doctor has a follow up appointment early this week coming up.

Doc's gonna need a good wheelman again.

As always, it's my pleasure.

The nice thing about entering into the home stretch is that no matter how I get there, I always take time to enjoy it. On my last week of work I took the time to savor every last minute of it. I knew that I'd never do it again.

This week I find myself doing the same. The main reasons for this trip are circumstances that I pray will never be repeated.

Should it happen again, I am prepared to respond accordingly.

Again.

Until the next time, all y'all take care of yourselves.

Air Traffic Mike, ret.