After weeks of packing, driving, and unpacking—you wouldn’t believe how many U-haul truckloads it took!—my family and I have moved back to my old home town of Princeton, Illinois. This is the town where I went to high school, and where my wife and I met and married, so of all the places I’ve lived, this is the one that feels most like home.
And, well, moving is hell! I’m sore all over, we’re still something less than half unpacked, and I haven’t had time to write anything new for you all. Nevertheless, it’s good to be back on my old stomping grounds. On Sunday, I didn’t go to church—my own work as pastor of the Open Prairie United Church of Christ here won’t start until December. Instead, I went to pray at a little park where, in former days, I spent a lot of time talking to God.
In this issue of The Merry Mystic, I wanted to share my old stomping grounds with you.
[youtube id=7A3n5H-MXkk]
Thanks for sharing Adam! A lovely place for you
Glad to see that you are happy to be in your “new” old stomping grounds, Adam. Your area shares much in common with my own. We, too, have old canal-boat locks along the Maury River that passes through the Lexington, VA, area. Our locks were built in the mid-1800s, and before “The War” (a phrase that folks around here still use to refer to the Civil War) they were used for transporting cargo and passengers. Some of the long canal boats used to be up to 90 feet long; but, as in your area, canal transportation soon gave way to rail transportation, which, sadly, was then destroyed by the trucking industry. Along the Maury River is one of our country’s many rails-to-trails, the Chessie Trail, which has been a place of prayer for me for the past 30 years or so. Often, though, as I’m walking this trail, I yearn to travel back in time, to the time of the trains, and also to the time of the canal boats. But enough about me and my area. Good luck, my spiritual brother, in this new chapter of your life!
Most sincerely, Sr. Shelley : )
We won’t forget you either Adam. Thank you for sharing your quaint new surroundings. At this time Terry and I have left our Gd. Ledge, MI home and are renting a home in Lake Havasu, AZ and very much looking forward to our first boatride of the season down the Colorado River (Lake Havasu for 40 miles). Keep them coming! Tell your sweet family we send our good wishes. Hope time flys for you so you can begin again shepherding your flock! Gwen & Terry Tisdale
This is my first experience watching a “Merry Mystic” video! I don’t know how I missed it, but I suppose a new chapter begins for BOTH of us now… Thanks for sharing, Adam.
Glad you’re out there, Jack!