So, what to do first? Once I'm all packed up, stuff put into storage, and ready to move out, what to do first?

I need to go up to Tennessee and spend some time with Jim Minniehan and George Beaver, naturally. Old friends from way back, in fact, my oldest friends. I've been too wrapped up in whatever was going on at the moment to break away and spend time with them. I owe them much.

But first, I think I'll head to the little town of Eminence, Missouri. About a two week / 15 day stay in the little town of about 600 folks is pretty much a mandatory decompression period I think. It's a small town in the Ozarks my dad's family is from. They had moved to Tucson, Arizona where my dad was born, but moved back after my dad had joined the Navy and moved away. He used to tell stories of the times they visited there and the things they did as kids. So, of course, we visited there throughout my childhood and teen years, that's where dad's mom and dad still lived.

It was a thoroughly delightful place for a kid back then. Crawdads in the crystal clear creeks, fireflies in the evenings, a real drug store with a real soda fountain that made REAL lemonade the old fashioned way, and a slow, slow pace of life. We lived there one year when dad was shipped off to Greenland by the Army. Best memories of my life, except for one, but that was the exception. We'd always make a point of going to see Alley Spring, and the old mill there. It is an icon of my childhood. It used to be so, so beautiful there, when it was a state park, but when the national park service took it over, they really didn't do it nearly as well. Mind you, it's still a great place to go, and it's still beautiful, but I have memories of it looking much, much better back in the day. Oh well, the national government does things much better, right? Right? Never mind.

So to return there for a little while, with no pressure to leave and go elsewhere until I want to, is too good to pass up. There's a little motel / cabins rental place there called Shady Lane where I usually stay, and they are great folks. Cabin #1 is pretty much known as my cabin. Jim, the owner, is a good friend and takes good care of me when I'm there. Maybe I'll even make a fire outside beside the cabin in the little open area there and just sit and sip some adult beverages and just sit. Just sit.

Mac