This weekend has been a time of rebirth in Nashville. At least to a degree.
In case you missed it, last night, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (link takes you to the episode on Hulu) was the episode about rebuilding the Lighthouse Christian Pre-School. The same one that floated down I-24 on national television. The same one that told everyone that May’s flooding was a lot worse than any of us could have ever fathomed.
I did not have a dry eye the entire episode. They portrayed the very best of Nashville. They portrayed the way the community came together to help one another. WE ARE NASHVILLE they proclaimed at one point… the phrase that became every Nashvillian’s battle cry in the days and weeks following the flood.
Today, Opryland Hotel reopens. Just in time for Christmas. I could NOT be happier to see those lights lit. It’s become a tradition to go see the lights the last five years, and I have no doubt we’ll make our way over there again this year. Especially given the flood and its reopening.
It’s been so strange to go over to that area and see all the parking lots empty. Opry Mills Mall, quite frankly, probably won’t reopen. Oh there’s no official word on that. That’s just me speculating, and I do hope I am wrong. Or I at least hope SOMETHING comes in over there soon. It’s like that last piece of town that so clearly shows the devastation of May. It’s the last little “black eye” left from that fight. It’s the last thing holding the city back any at all. Hopefully something will happen there soon.
In my gut, I feel a renewal coming my way as well, though. I’ve had a lot of my stuff lately being respected and acknowledged. Photos, writing and design stuff. Oh, none of it has made me any money (LOL!), but its still satisfying to receive the recognition. And it feeds into my feeling that there’s change in the air.
I told my husband today that I have the urge to rearrange the office. Just, move the desks around. Maybe hang a couple of the posters I’ve designed in place of photographs in there. Something.
We’re entering the holiday season, and there’s good things in the air. Watching this little rebirth within Nashville has given me hope. It’s like a light is starting to shine, even if only a little bit, at the end of a long tunnel.
