COVID-19 April 22 2020
Well here we are toward the end of April. We are still under a “safer at home” order but things are actually quite good. We are taking walks almost every evening. We are face-timing with family and friends.
Yesterday I had to go to a retail center in Lenoir City, TN for work. We will be handling the property management for this property. It was a 2 1/2 hour drive, straight east. I am training the new property manager for the site so I was meeting her there to do the first walk through with her and train her on what we look for. I honestly love my job so I was looking forward to this.
The drive was amazing! We couldn’t ride together (thank you COVID-19) so I left a little early and headed down the highway. Straight east on Hwy 40. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping and the sky was this amazing shade of blue with sporadic white puffy clouds. Traffic was light so I was able to really enjoy the scenery.
There were cows on the hillsides grazing on the grass. … Mountains that seemed to rise up to the heavens…. Bridges that spanned majestically across the highway and over rivers and streams. I took a break at a rest area to stretch my legs (and throw my banana peel away). The rest area was even beautiful. Everyone there was smiling. There was a couple with their dog playing in the grass. It was as if there was nothing crazy was going on with the world.
I made it to my destination with no problem. My co-worker showed up a little after I arrived and we spent about an hour and a half walking the property. We inspected the vacant spaces, walked the entire property and made lots of notes.
Once we were done, my coworker left. I sat in the parking lot and ate my lunch and just enjoyed the quiet.
After I finished, I settled in for the ride home. I had a conference call scheduled that I would need to take while driving but other than that, I planned to enjoy the ride. When it was time for my call, it was right at the time I was coming up on the same rest area I had stopped at earlier (on the other side of the highway though). I pulled in and got out of the car. I found a nice bench to sit on while I was on my call. Again, I watched all the people smiling and enjoying themselves. There was a young lady with two puppies. She was playing and running with them. As she ran, the two puppies would both follow, pouncing along with her. She would stop and they would both run into her arms. Absolutely adorable!
I got back in the car to head home. I knew I had about an hour of drive time left and was kind of ready to be home. I had Waze going – because I ALWAYS have Waze going since I moved to Tennessee. Suddenly, Waze told me I needed to get off the next exit. What the heck! So I looked at the map and sure enough, the highway was pure red. Completely stopped. So I followed the suggestion and got off the highway. I was a little annoyed because I wasn’t expecting it and was really looking forward to getting home.
Then that little voice inside my head reminded me to relax and enjoy the ride. So I did. I had to drive about 20 miles out of my way on a VERY small backroad. I saw so many wonderful sights along the way. There was a stone wall on both sides of the road in a lot of places that reminded me of being in Ireland. I saw old cars, old barns, beautiful rolling meadows, peaceful streams and children playing. I saw neighbors talking with each other, I saw dogs playing together and I saw peace. It was so nice. Even though I was sitting in traffic with other cars and tractor trailers (that I’m sure were not happy being on this little backroad), I was going so slow I was able to take pictures. As most people know, I believe in being the magic and believing in the magic. This was truly magic!
By the time I got home I was so relaxed. It was such a pleasant reminder that when you are forced to slow to a pace that you weren’t expecting…..STOP AND ENJOY IT!
Love to all!
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