Skip to main content

Trip to Nashville

Photo by: Tim Bindner

Marcie and I took a trip yesterday to Nashville, Indiana. It felt strange to not have any pressure to be home.

We grabbed our water bottles, snacks, my camera bag, and headed out around 8:30am. Our plan was to drive 98 miles to Nashville. The weather was already in the upper 60s so the sunroof was open and windows were cracked. We headed up interstate 65 passing by small towns and eventually along the John Mellencamp Way past his home town and current residence of Seymore, Indiana.

Traveling this route, we passed by large farms and huge open fields as the sunlight filled our vehicle. The open flat fields of Indiana provide such beautiful views. I had no pressure to get there at a certain time, so I set the cruise control at 74mph. It was obviously slower than the many cars than zipped by us along the route. Marcie and I talked, listened to music, but mostly sat in silence, looking out and enjoying the beauty of Indiana. Ironically passing by Seymore, a John Mellencamp song came on the radio. Marcie recognized it and mentioned it to me. I, of course, already had made the connection, but was glad she picked up on it.

We eventually reached exit 68 and turned left on State road 46 towards Nashville. From there we followed a 2 lane road for 16 miles through hills past schools, parks, old houses and new, and even camper lots. Many signs told us this is a popular tourist destination, and Marcie reminded me we came here a month before Gavin was born with my sister, her husband, and my parents. I do not remember that trip at all.

I turned right onto South Van Buren Street and immediately saw all the little shops we planned to visit. We found a $5 parking lot and started walking. The sun warmed our skin as we began walking into and out of each little shop. This is not my idea thing to do, but I knew Marcie enjoyed it, and I could watch people. This I enjoyed. Jewelry shops, antique shops, candy shops, candle shops, wood carving shops, galleries and photography shops, and heck, even a model train shop were visited by us.

The area was dotted with restaurants, leather shops, and practically anything you wanted to spend money on. We snaked up and down the roads and alleyways, visiting almost every place. Some surprised us, like the leather shop that sold mostly biker clothing. When ask if we “rode”, my response was “nope, just looking”. We had a 30 second visit to an herbal store. We walked in, both were overwhelmed with the aroma, did a quick U-turn, and headed back out.

Our spoils left us with one long sleeve t-shirt (Marcie’s), a buckeye, two caramels and some popcorn (all Marcie’s). I left with a few pictures and the pleasure out with my wife for a few hours. This 8 block square area had so many places to visit, and things to see. For her it was being with me but also looking at the shops. For me, it was being with Marcie and people watching.

As mentioned, we had no pressure to be home. The only two things positive about losing Kota was he was no longer in pain, and we do not have to be home at any certain time. Days like this help me mentally, but I still think about him and miss him every day. I hope I will again see him someday.

It was a good day.

Until next time,

Tim (Kilmer)

P.S. That is Marcie walking away in the picture above.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

A gift from a friend

Photo by: Tim Bindner Photography Recently I received a gift from a friend.  It was unexpected but it meant so much.  A simple gesture, an act of kindness, a show of love and friendship. I met Miranda via Instagram based on a recommendation from my buddy Mark.  Like most things, he recommends I seriously consider and highly respect his suggestions.  This was true to form.  I began following Miranda on Instagram, Facebook and even viewing her website.  I stuck up a few online conversations and got the nerve to ask her for an interview.  I wrote about that here . Eventually, text and online correspondence led to a few phone calls.  I admired her work and even discussed creating a book of my own and she admitted wanting to do one as well.  Specifically, I saw two pictures that I loved.  My passion for nature, especially trees is well known.  When I saw this photo (single tree) I was floored.  I even asked her if I could buy a copy.  Nothing really came of that.  I then saw another photo ...

Martin-Hogan-Long Cemetery

Photo by: Tim Bindner Today’s journey was to a seldom visited cemetery call Martin-Hogan-Long Cemetery (N38°06.621 W86°14.238). It is in Harrison-Crawford State Forest, but by the looks of the road to get there, few have traveled this way, or at least not traveled there in a long while. The bright sun made the 30° temperature feel warmer than it was. Something I would soon discover upon entering the thicker part of the forest ahead. Today’s hike was one mile one way, and I had a friend named Amanda join me upon this adventure. After grabbing our gear, we scurried around the locked gate at the end of a gravel road. By crossing the gate, we moved from a public road to the State Forest property. I was armed with a GPS and printed map showing “ overgrown, barely discernable fire lanes ” as given to me by my contact, a local Indiana DNR–Division of Forestry Resource Specialist. Amanda and I made our way downhill on the fire lane that quickly changed pitch and had us g...

Over Think?

Photo by: Mark Wilcoxson Last Friday I met with my Psychologist and as usual we had a great conversation about what things were troubling me as well as the things that were going great. One such topic I plan to discuss here. After a very emotional week for me, I discussed the three main impacts this past week held for me. While discussing the details with her, I mentioned two specific conversations I had recently. I was told by some “friends” that I am an over thinker. During our conversation, I provided the detail and the label I was given. She disagreed with that statement and diagnosis. As she described it (or I interpreted it) an over thinker is someone who harbors on a subject to where it affects them so much that it debilitates them. They will focus on a particular subject or issue and that exercise will affect other areas of their life. They may change their behavior, actions or lives because of it. She said if anything I ruminate. The definition of ruminate is ‘think deeply abo...