New Day - Sort of a Saga

Nashville - Jan. 13, 2010 - Ah, a new day dawns! Got the dog groomed (and me, too), car topped off with brake fluid and clothes packed in a big suitcase.

It's off to The Big Apple!

Every time I leave a place, I do so with some reluctance. I left my sister's family's place in New Jersey last week with some reluctance. I was already there. Comfortable. Settled in.

Same with the hotel in New York City. And certainly with Jan and Debbie Esterline here in Nashville (and our friend Robert). Robert and I sat and chatted this morning over coffee, a lingering goodbye.

So is this it? Is this a final goodbye to an era? Perhaps. I'm not sure. Back in my early 30s, when I moved to New York City from San Francisco, it was goodbye West Coast, hello East Coast. And it stuck.

But now, I'm feeling a little like a "bicoastal" person. They literally have a place on each coast. In my case, it's a place in the South and one in the Northeast. I'm not leaving Nashville with the kind of finality that I had back in the 70s.

Unless that's what develops.

I have these early-morning conversations with God when I walk out into the yard to get the morning paper. "Good morning, Lord," I speak aloud. "Thank you for the gift of a new day. Let me claim this day to your glory."

But yesterday, something surprising popped out of my mouth. "And thank you for this assignment in New York City."

What!? Where did that come from? I can't claim that it was prophetic. But then I can't claim that it's not, either.

I'm working the "old-boy network" all I can. I got in touch with a preacher friend who's well-connected at the national media. I've discovered that a referral from someone they know puts you right up there in the top 5 percentile. Basically, it's someone vouching for you.

So I leave Nashville today with warm memories. And a few poignant ones. Lots of Lois lingers here. But then, Lots of Lois lingers in New York City as well. When I was there last week, I walked past a hamburger joint she and I liked and got a whiff of her scent, a sense of her presence. I'm sure it was imaginary. But to me at the time, it was real.

My baggage is light. I'm moving to New York City with only two suitcases and a dog. No furniture. (I don't own any!) No big-screen TV. Just a laptop.

Anything else I need? Well, they have stores there. It's not a third-world country.

The Great Adventure continues!

Copyright 2010 James C. Lewis