“So, what brings you to the mountains?” Melanie asked as we left the trailhead. We were at ground zero, meaning we started from the valley where Mountain City was established, truly a passerby town without a single stoplight along the highway that split the settlement in two. A wide path led into Nantahala Forest’s thick canopy.
“Well, I’m on a
journey that began April 1st—no foolin’. I sold my real estate,
gave away anything of value to family and friends, and donated furniture,
clothes, and housewares to the mission. All I kept was what I needed in the
coach, a storage unit with enough furniture for a studio apartment,
and another to store stuff that might be handy and, of course, my personal
memorabilia. It was quite a purge, and I feel relieved and free to travel anywhere that fancies me. A month in the swampy heat of Mississippi is enough to
keep me from ever returning to the Deep South, although I am wintering in Alabama.
I checked out the site, a straight, 45-minute shot to Gulf Shores with historic
Foley in between. With its 120 restaurants, I should find my fill of southern cuisine,
and with the tourist bars along the coast, I hope to find entertainment.”
“Entertainment,
like pickin’ up a woman at a bar? Sounds like you’ve got the rest of your life
planned out.”
“That’s a joke.
Not my life, but I never know what tomorrow will bring. The woman part is
tricky. Most women are looking for steadiness and security. I’m a nomad, a
rolling stone, wherever I park my rig is my home, and I love spontaneity. To
have everything planned out doesn’t leave room for God to guide me.”
“Unless He’s
guiding your planning.”
“True. And He has
done that. I plan to secure monthly sites because the parks
are booked on weekends during the summer with the local crowd—State Park mania.
“I hear ya. I
prefer the solitude of a weekday hike. No one will likely be where we’re going, which is a good thing because I like the shower of the fall and the pool to
bathe in. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Mind what? Seeing
you naked?”
“Ha! I meant I
hope you don’t mind giving me some privacy.”
“Oh. Sorry I was presumptuous.”
“Security has its
downside.”
“What do you mean?”
“Picture a hot air
balloon tethered to the ground. The balloon is filled and ready to soar, but it
can’t until the security lines are cut.”
“Yeah, precisely the
reason I left the quaint and beautiful town of Lil’ Nashville and the surroundings
of a beautiful park and a National Forest.”
“That doesn’t sound
like a reason to leave.”
“I meant that I had to cut what tied me down to find freedom. Everyone knows everyone’s business, and there
wasn’t anyone new to find. Imagine a western town that is settled by the
families that responded to the cry, ‘Westward, Ho!’. Imagine that you and your husband willingly uprooted from the comforts of established colonies to live your dream to stake a claim
for a homestead and the freedom it offered. But . . .” I paused
for her to reflect. “Your husband was killed by a rampaging Injun, and you were
left alone. Being independent, you established a business as a seamstress and
had endless orders from the ladies that wanted new dresses. There was no Sears
catalog back then.”
“So, you’re sayin’
when two people have the same dream, there is security in holding that dream
together, but on my own, unless I also have an independent spirit, I’m doomed
to take whatever scraps of a man are left for the pickin’.”
“Same goes for a
man looking for a woman. He doesn’t want an empty, two-liter bottle from the
recycle bin.”
“Two-liter meanin’
she’s the size of two?”
“Yep. Lonely women
eat a lot of comfort food.”
“So, what’s your
comfort seeing that you live a life alone.”
“Well, for
starters, I’m not alone and find my comfort in His garden of Eden.”
“I get it. I so
relate to God when I am doing what we’re doing right now, in the beauty of His
creation that was not created by happenstance or some Big Bang.”
“So, you do have a
relationship with God. Not some high-in-the-sky deity that’s like vapor
in the wind or a statue or symbol that you venerate.”
“Knowing Jesus
made the difference. When I was in
college, I blew off any need for a god in my life. I was the one to determine
my destiny and to figure out the best way to get there as if it was some goal
with an endpoint, a winning touchdown. But with a series of decisions of fumbles, intercepted passes, and runs blocked, I sensed something
missing in my life. So, I searched with a passion for the man that would
complete me, you know, two pieces of a puzzle that make you whole.”
“Been there, done
that.”
“How long ago?”
“Twelve. No, thirteen.
I don’t keep track anymore.”
“No way! Same
here. The dirty dozen. I thought I was the only one that hadn’t found a mate.”
“Mating isn’t the
point. Partnering is. Partners depend on each other to do what cannot be done
alone. That includes having a mate, but much more. I like to plan, but not the
administration of the details. I’m big picture.”
“It’s the details
that determine the success of the plan, and I focus on those. It’s a daily process.”
“Your right, and
once the plan unfolds, I’m thinking about the next phase.”
“You said you were
spontaneous, but you sound like you need to chart your course.”
“Plan, let it
unfold, and be spontaneous with the details. Decide only when you must decide.
That gives God room to work in your life. Rigidity restricts, flexibility
flows.”
“Hey, you ready to
do some scramblin’?” Melanie and I looked up at the boulders stacked for as far
as I could see.
“Looks tight. One
slip and—”
“I know the route.
Trust me. I wouldn’t have brought you along if it was unsafe. You said that the
outdoors is your playground.”
“No prob. I
climbed sheer rock faces back in the day.” I paused for a beat, thinking about how
best to continue. “I relied on my climbing partner to lead the way. So, lead on.”
Some say that sex
is the closest you can get to a person. I think “some say” is wrong. The deepest
intimacy between two people occurs when a bond of trust forms that cannot be
broken. A Christian marriage has the theme of a third bond—Christ—as
the head of the relationship. Consider this wise saying in the Holy Bible by none other than the wisest man
to ever live, King Solomon, “A person standing alone can be attacked and
defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better,
for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken” Ecclesiastes 4:12 NLT.
—
From
the chronicles of Jeremiah’s Journey, follow Jeremy beginning with Scene 1 –
Mountain Woman, listed in the right sidebar under June 2022.
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