Sabbatical Days 15,16 -- Lord, I was Born a Travelin' Man

I left Mom and Dad's house just before 8am Central Time and headed to Kentucky. I decided I would stop at Green Turtle Bay on the way home and retrieve my fishing gear from Plumb Fun, Clyde and Jodi Heflin's 30' Columbia sailboat. That decision determined my route home. I would drive on I-44 (Route 66) to Springfield, MO and then transition to US 60 -- the road I live off of in Lexington.

US 60 in Missouri is nothing like US 60 in Kentucky. In Missouri it's a divided 4 lane up to par with the interstate highways except that it's not limited access. It winds through the south of Missouri through Mountain View, Cabool, Mountain Home, Poplar Bluff and Sikeston. A portion of that drive is through the Mark Twain National Forest, which has poplars, pines, oaks and rolling hills. Once you get north of Sikeston you cross the Mississippi and the Ohio rivers on two bridges that are narrow two lane. Wide loads are not allowed.

I arrived at Green Turtle Bay in the late afternoon. It was 94 degrees and I quickly grabbed my autographed copy of "Southernmost" and took up residence in the cockpit of the sailboat. It was hot, but there was a nice breeze on my face, and I read until dinner time. After dinner I took my spot again and watched the sun go down determined to sleep on the boat.

Silas House autographed my copy. Feet up. Relaxed.

Sunset at lake Barkley

 It was probably 85 degrees in the cabin, but there are fans inside and I slept pretty well until 3:30am. After a short interlude I slept again until almost 5. I got up, picked up the trash, got the boat ready to zip up and was on my way to Lexington by 5:30am.

I arrived back to the house on Hume Rd about 10:30 am, and the first thing I did was shower the sweat from the night before off of me. Unpacked. Went to Winchester, then to my doctor appointment. It was Friday, so off to Malone's we went.

Since the sabbatical began I have put about 2,700 miles on the Mustang. I really enjoy that car. While driving back to Kentucky I listened to several podcasts. I have found, and written this before, that On Being with Krista Tippett is up my alley. The conversations are always about spiritual matters, but might surprise you with the guests who talk about spiritual matters. I listened to an interview with Yo Yo Ma that was absolutely mesmerizing. I lost track of time listening to it and ended up not getting lunch until about 2:30pm. I listened to another episode where Krista interviewed a renowned physicist. Good stuff. I also listened to several episodes of an NPR podcast called Invisibilia. Some of episodes of that show were awesome and some of them left me yawning as I drove.

The podcasts are stretching my mind. Giving me new questions to ask. That's especially true of the On Being podcasts. I find myself straying in tangents of thought when listening because they provoke me to think.

For pure fun I also listened to several episodes of the David Fleherty podcast. They were all good.

Here are links to all three podcasts. If you have a favorite you would suggest, drop me a comment.

On Being with Krista Tippett
Invisibilia
David Fleherty

Peace and Love,
Jerry