York Gary Loop/Nashville misc.

NASHVILLE—Wednesday night, at about 9 p.m., I ran the two-mile York Gary Loop in 19:48. Last night, after eating all day, I walked from my mother's house to downtown Nashville, walked through downtown, then retraced the route my mother and her twin sister Jean walked from the First Baptist Church to their mother's house the night of Dec. 7, 1941. They were fearful the whole way that Japanese soldiers were hiding behind trees, prepared to cut them to pieces. Afterward, I walked back to mom's from what we Crutchfield grandchildren called "Granny's." I was out for 31:53 and probably covered about two miles. I imagined walking that route again on Dec. 7, 2041, as an 82-year-old, and writing an essay about it. The clarity of my mother's and Aunt Jean's memory of that walk always interested me.