Home.....

This morning we went to the Universalist Church for services. Today's sermon was on Michiana and the meaning of "home". The pastor, from this church, will be moving soon to Indiana. "Michiana" is the tiny bit of shoreline that Indiana has with Lake Huron and is the area where Pastor Davis proposed to his wife. The Pastor grew up in Michigan, right along Lake Huron so in a sense he will be coming home. He does not care for the southern heat, although the climate zones, familiar to those who are gardeners, have been shifting and Indiana is warmer than it used to be. He said, who knows...by the time he retires Indiana may become a Zone 7, like North Carolina.

He talked about "home" and that for everyone, it holds a different meaning. It can be a place of comfort, love, pain, security or loneliness. Home may be the place where you grew up and the place you return to. It can also change, like it has for us or other RV'ers, to be wherever you are at any given time. It's that sense of belonging that draws you in and makes you feel safe. It was an interesting topic for the sermon. This pastor grew up in the Presbyterian faith but became a Universalist in 1986 when he realized that religion was more about love than about rules. The music today was superb...the choir sang and a musician, named Steve Jones sang. He was great ! He sang Neil Young's "Deep Forbidden Lake" and played acoustic guitar. We enjoyed our time there.

After church, we got the grit washed off our car from our mountain excursion a few weeks ago and then stopped at a place called Fresh Market to see if it's the same thing as the one we saw in Baton Rouge. It is....we spent some time chatting with Benny, behind the seafood counter. He's a retired banker and we talked about how sad the oil spill is for the seafood industry. Linda and I bought a cranberry/pecan/feta cheese topped salad, some red skin potato salad and some honey mustard chips for lunch. We took Boomer to the dog park and ate a bit before going in. Not much else going on today...did laundry and cleaned the apartment. Tomorrow is our big day with the behind the scenes tour of NASCAR garages and the NASCAR Hall of Fame. We're excited...should have some pics to post tomorrow night when we get back.

Till then, I'll leave you with the parting words, as shared by the Univeralist congregation:

Let us go in peace, believe in peace, create peace. May it be so...