While Jeff and I are naturally introverts, he has been particularly stricken with cabin fever during the last few months of our quarantine. So since he was off work today for the holiday, I planned a road trip for us. We picked up a sausage egg biscuit at Hardees (because we had a coupon) and started driving toward Stones River National Battlefield in Murfreesboro a little after 8:00 AM. It was a short drive, and when we arrived, it seemed most of the people in the area were simply using it as a greenway for biking and walking their dogs rather than learning about the history. The visitors’ center was closed, but a staff member was manning a booth outside with maps of the battlefield and the adjacent cemetery. We took a few pictures around the visitors’ center of some cannons, and then crossed Nashville Pike to see the Union cemetery. It was a sobering walk among the graves, all lined up with regimental precision, as though these men were simply waiting for their marching orders at Christ’s return. I saw many pennies on the graves as tokens for the dead from their visitors, and found it touching that every one of them showed Lincoln facing up.
We crossed back to the battlefield and began a driving tour. I had downloaded the National Parks app and read from a virtual tour at each stop on the way. We only did a few of the stops because we felt it would better to come back when it is cooler and we could walk the tour to read the markers.
From Murfreesboro, we drove to Spring Hill for lunch as a midway point on our way to Jackson Falls on the Natchez Trace Parkway. I was hoping there would not be many people at the falls, but no such luck. We wore our masks on the way down the very steep path to the bottom of the falls, where families with young children frolicked in the cool water. We were careful not to get near anyone, but there were enough people there to make it difficult. After getting a couple of pictures, we started back up the incline. While it was nicely paved, the grade was such that I had serious trouble getting back to the top. Masks are not made for exertion! We stopped about midway so I could get my breath, and then again at the top to sit on a bench. I think people in good health would not have trouble with the climb, as Jeff sweated, but did not get winded. I, on the other hand, felt nauseated and light-headed, and my legs nearly gave out.
The whole thing reinforced my fear about returning to school. My health puts me in a high risk category for a severe reaction to Covid-19, and my chances of catching it will go up as soon as work starts again, particularly if students are not required to wear masks (and in a school full of small children, I can’t imagine that they will). While I am working on being more healthy, it takes time. So right now all I can do is continue praying for God’s protection.
I had meant for us to stop at the War of 1812 memorial and hike a little of the Old Trace trail, which is a section of the original Natchez Trace footpath. However, I was spent, so I asked Jeff to bypass those and head straight for the Natchez Trace Parkway Bridge, which he was interested in seeing. We did take a small detour through Leiper’s Fork for some beautiful farm vistas and took a picture of an Andy Griffith style police car before arriving at the south side of the bridge, where we were able to walk through a field to get a spectacular view. We then took the pull off on the north side, for a secondary view. Then it was time to go home, where I pretty much collapsed on the bed. I feel some better now, but am still weak. Perhaps we can do this trip again in the autumn, when the heat doesn’t sap my strength. Here’s hoping that we don’t have to wear masks then, too.
