Well, Family, I just couldn’t get enough of those Fishing Fords. We had North and Old last time, and now we pop over to the southside for a continued beautiful and Blessed Drive with the Fishing Ford Family! And that’s an important word for this drive… family. Surely y’all know how different the same walk can be with different people. A walk with my wife down those beautiful hollow valleys of the back part of our farm fill the place with laughter and smiles so big they’ll hurt your cheeks. That same walk with my father-in-law often has us eyeing fences and reveling in the grandeur of the trees. Put me with my children, and the walk changes to an adventure of much ado! Snag your family. Grab your friends. Or just come along with me. Whichever way, y’all take that turn onto South Fishing Ford Road, and let’s see what we see.

Turning left off the Lewisburg Highway onto South Fishing Ford Road hits you with that sweet Howell beauty of farms, friends, and community. Those long straight fences helped me trace the line to the ridge mountains in the distance. Those fields and views had me wondering and wanting to see how long it would take to get over there, wherever over there happens to be! Even so, that hay popping in nice and green gave a serenity to my spirit, even as my son said it in simpler way. “Dad! That’s a big ole’ field!”

Those llamas and baby donkeys and cows and chicken houses and cow farms and sheep hiding in old barns had me yearning to get my boots on the ground and do a little work. After all, there’s more to South Fishing Ford than meets the eye, Family. I’m certain there’s History and Secrets in that thick Cedar Grove. I wonder what that gargantuan pine would say if she could talk. What story would that big old bull tell by the watering hole where his girls were cooling off? What does the owl dream while she sleeps in one of those several still standing snags that refuses to give up their posts? Don’t go too fast, either, or you might miss those lovely old rock beds running through the fields, all leading to those sweet, sweet Cane Creek dreams. Stopping on the bridge and watching that water run over rock and tree was a sight to see. I felt no shame when my children expressed great regret upon feeling the van move again. I felt great regret, too.

My children hem and haw when it comes to these Blessed Drives. It’s a little too slow — a little too boooooooring, as they might say. But that’s the secret of the Blessed Drives, Family. Slowing down, seeing what you see, and seeing what that does to you means more than you might know in a world that wants you to speed up and see only what they want you to see. When’s the last time you marveled at a baby donkey? What is the childlike beautiful feeling of yearning to put your feet in the cold water of a creek? Just like that walk changing depending on who came along, my Blessed Drive this week turned into an adventure, and I’m better for it. So, whether it’s you and the birds or you plus a few, take this Blessed Drive down South Fishing Ford Road. See the Secret. Feel it, too!

— Thomas lives in Lincoln County and is a pastor in Taft.