A longer distance to cover this day puts us on the Interstate system for quite a stretch through Southern Illinois, Kentucky, and into Tennessee. As we near where my parents live in Gallatin, Northeast of Nashville, we “cut the angle” and get back on 2-lanes.
Curving along what were probably old Indian trails we spot the large green leaves of Tobacco fields ready for harvest. We also see what we think is a barn on fire with smoke rising from the roof eaves. This proves to not be a calamity, but rather an ongoing occurrence as we see more barns smoking in the fields. This is part of the curing process for Tobacco, apparently. We thought tobacco air dried in big barns with lots of vertical openings as we saw last year in Kentucky. This must augment that process.
We pay a quick surprise visit to my folks and then move on to our Music City bungalow near downtown Nashville. We’ll be unpacking our pressed blue jeans and looking for the music.