#209 Nomad Diary. 19-25 October 2024. Week 1 of 2 in Athens, Alabama Airbnb. My 60th Birthday. Visiting Grandkids Owen and Esther. Reconnecting with Church Friends. Planning Our Next Moves.

A Sunny Morning on the Richard Martin Rail Trail in Elkmont, Alabama. We are at a Covered Bridge Walking North Towards Tennessee.

Our Duplex Airbnb on Mooresville Rd Athens, Alabama. Very Close to Eric and Erin's House.

Inside Our Airbnb is Roomier than I Expected. It's Nice.

Our Comfortable Master Bedroom for 2 Weeks.

One of My Salad Lunches at 'Home'

Darrell's Picture of the Bridge on the Richard Martin Rail Trail Looking in the Direction of Elkmont, Alabama.

Selfie at Bridge on the Richard Martin Rail Trail.

Richard Martin Rail Trail Walking from Elkmont, Alabama Toward Tennessee is Fairly Flat with Fall Colors Happening.

This Crane is in a Stream Alongside the Indian Creek Trail in Madison, Alabama.

Saturday. 19. We enjoy getting to see our son Eric’s family with our daughter in law Erin, 3 year old Owen and 1 year old Esther. Oh how they make my heart happy!

Sunday. 20. We attend and reconnect with Capshaw church of Christ. We were members here when we took off from Huntsville as international nomads in retirement. After lunch we met up with Sue from New Zealand and her friends at Cracker Barrel. Sue moved her luggage to our truck and drive her to Nashville. We all have dinner together and Sue spends the night before leaving for her home on Monday. We drive back to our Athens, Alabama airbnb. 

Monday. 21.-Friday 25. Every day that I can I go visit the grandkids both morning and evening. Darrell also goes most visits too. We play with the kids on the floor of the living room in their toys. Often we are building block trucks along with Owen or racing cars down a wooden climbing ramp with both kids. We take them on a walk around their neighborhood circle or to the local playground. Owen pedals his tricycle and Esther rides in her stroller. Once at the playground Esther likes to climb the slide barefooted, then turn herself around and slide down as she is giggling. Owen will climb the ladder up the slide to the top. If they catch each others eyes they both get so excited to be playing together on the slide. Owen will often bring a monster truck to send down the slide. We all watch the truck performance and then cheer and clap. 

Darrell and I have gone for miles of walks this week and the following week too. We have 3 favorite trails that we park at and walk 1-2 hours at a time. All of these trails are fairly flat and wide. We park in Elkmont and then walk either way through the beautiful fall woods. This is an old railway path turned into a trail. We go to Swan Creek in Athens and park behind the middle school and next to a public playground and picnic area. This path follows beside a stream. The third trail is Indian Creek Greenway in Madison near where we owned our last house and very close to where Darrell worked at DAU. We have walked Indian Creek path hundreds of times since moving here in 2008. Darrell often walked here during his lunch break at work. 

Tuesday the 22nd is my 60th birthday. I baked oatmeal banana protein muffins for my cake. Eric came over for dinner with Owen and Esther. Erin was on a business trip out of town. The day was lovely! I had time for reflection on being 60. I’m amazed and thankful to God for my life. I am loved. I have been given love and care and direction for my entire life and I’m forever grateful to all the goodness and attention and pointing to God’s truth for my good.

Nomad Notes.

Blog Pictures Note: I don’t put all of the pictures that I want in this blog. There is a glitch with getting the photos oriented properly that I haven’t been able to figure out. I wanted pictures of our grandkids in this week and next but none of the pictures were oriented for this blog glitch. I also spent more time hands on the kids and took very few pictures of them. Every time I had my phone out, 1 year old Esther wanted to look at it and hold it. It was easier for me to never take it out! Lol. Eric, these two’s dad, is a stay-at-home dad. He takes loads of pictures and posts them on a family album app for everyone to view. I downloaded some of his pictures and the orientations didn’t work in blogger for any of those pictures either. I am glad to get the pictures in this diary that I do get to copy. I am also happy that I have pictures of our 3 grands scattered through the weeks of my 500saturdays blog! 

2 weeks in Athens, Alabama seems like a vast amount of time. Time is an odd perception from different perspectives of life and my age and my personal expectations for what I can and cannot do. Then there is that false perception of control, and what I think I am doing to control my outcomes and my days. I think about these perceptions quite often. I know that by the grace of God I am here and alive now. I am glad that God allows me the day to praise him, to recognize that He is working through me in His ways. I don’t understand it all, but I accept that it is not by my power or my control that moves me around successfully. I understand that at any time, my time can be up and I or Darrell will be called on to eternity. I understand that my calendar can be altered from what I thought it would be, like our shortened Asheville house sit that had us living through Hurricane Helene and changing our stay plans after a few days. I believe that God is working in His ways to grow my heart and my faith and Darrell’s heart and Darrell’s faith to always bend to Him, to always represent Him as best I can, as best we can. 

These thoughts are an extension of the thoughts of the freedom and the relative ease that Darrell and I have had in planning and fulfilling our nomad life for the past 4+years. What we know and what we don’t know:  We are not ready to settle down. We aren’t wanting to buy a house at this time. We don’t know where our future travels will take us, who we will meet, or what our challenges will be. 

We are planning forward to keep traveling, keep renting, keep exploring and keep praising Him from whom ALL blessings flow.