Nashville or Bust

A different dimension

We start every trip with 'the picture.'

I write this from the comfort of a beautiful condo within Printer’s Alley in downtown Nashville. We discovered this place during our family trip in May and decided to come back, just the two of us, to celebrate our 20th anniversary. That was a most excellent call as we needed this time together. Our lives are changing.

This trip has been a bit slower but still magical. We arrived on Friday and headed directly to Rippy’s — hungry for a pulled chicken sandwich and in high hopes that Tom Stewart and Lyle Nordby would be playing. This has become an unspoken tradition of ”stop one”  as we stumbled up Rippy’s, the food, and their incredible musicianship on our first trip.

As we entered with sun in our eyes, we heard them and smiled. But then something caused me to smile even bigger, laugh out loud and grab Dave’s hand. Sitting between Tom and Lyle was Jake Maurer. By now, you know that we also discovered Jake on our first trip down and have been following him ever since. It was so perfect given the circumstance. The three guys we love to hear, together, in a bar that provided seating and much less ruckus. Jake was just as surprised as we were. We had an incredible ‘Cheers’ moment. And yes, they played Prine for us along with Tom’s favorite John Hartford tune, ‘Gentle On My Mind.’ Later we learned that Jake had just met Tom & Lyle that day. They had never played together before. I took great pause with this. Things happen for a reason. It was so good for us. Serendipity.

After dinner and some music we decided that we needed to get some rest. The trip was a bit rough on Dave and he was achy. We bought a deck of cards at the Legends Gift Shop across the way and settled in for an evening of bad movies and Gin Rummy. Yes, folks. This is us.

Saturday dawned beautiful and blue. I discovered the H.G. Hill Urban Market and picked up some breakfast. Oh, the similarities to our early days in Boston. I could live here. And we hope to down the line.

We had never ventured into the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum and very much wanted to on this trip. The pace was perfect and the timing just right. Over the past two years our appreciation for the bluegrass, country and roots genres has blossomed. We were better able to relate to the history in front of us. And, I know someone who wants an internship in the archive room!

After hours of wandering and gazing, we bypassed busy Broadway for lunch back at the condo and the UT / LSU football game. (An awful ending!) More cards, more quiet more getting ready for things coming our way. We set out in the early evening to check on the garden project we assisted with in May. Traffic near Vandy got us to the B.E.L.L. a little later than planned but again, all things happen for a reason. The work had been done for the day but one of the garden’s caretakers was still on the site. She walked us through the plot and quietly told us about all the growth that took place during the hot, dry summer. She also showed us the new plantings that just went in including raspberries and blueberries. Standing there in the dark, it felt good to have been a piece of that project. We’ve rooted a bit of ourselves in this place. We helped people create something that can sustain many for a very long time. Four months had passed since that laborious day in the sun and many things have happened. But life continues, right?

And that leads me to where I am now. Watching the sun rise over the city, listening to Dave sleep and mentally preparing for the next journey. This one is going to be tough. It is going to be a fight. It will test us like nothing else we have encountered but it will not win. We will. And you know the first place we are going to go to celebrate.

I am now turning this space over to documenting our travels into territory unknown. I will state the facts, chart the progress and knowing me, therapeutically rant. (I can filter those!) Being able to start this part of the blogstream in Nashville — a place that has come to mean so much — and to celebrate, question and adjust is a nod to universal design.

Namaste. We begin.

October 3, 2010 - Posted by daveandjacqui | Dave, Everyday