I spent this past weekend in Birmingham, Alabama. While the main reason for going was to attend a conference, it provided me the opportunity to stay and visit with my friend Wendy and her family. I enjoyed the conference and the courses that I attended. My favorite course was about counseling patients and families. I loved that the speaker frequently threw out mantras and I jotted them down quickly. If you should feel like I am analyzing you now when we speak...I am. I also got to see former colleagues, friends from grad school, and vendors that I have met in past. One particular vendor was a husband/wife team that branched out and started their own company. I met them about five years ago and frequently run into them from time to time. Anyway, we exchanged information. They both told me "We would love to have you as a part of our team." That networking thing really does work. Who knows, may be an opportunity.
I also got to go to Wendy's baby shower. She is expecting a baby girl soon. I am so excited to be close enough now attend special occasions like this. It was fun girls night full of oohs and aahs over the cute baby stuff.
The weather this weekend was so awesome I just couldn't stand to be inside. I decided that on my way home from Birmingham that I would take the road less traveled and set out on a adventure. I knew there was a covered bridge near Childersburg and I made it my mission to find it. I love how there are visible signs on the major highway directing you to the bridge but once you are on the back roads you are on your own. I was determined to find this bridge. After taking county road after county road knowing that I was in the vicinity, I "happened upon it." Much to my surprise, there was a grist mill near the bridge. Besides a few bikers taking a rest break, I was the only other visitor. Some would be alarmed by this, but I have learned that the fewer the people, the more questions I get to ask and the more attention I get. A little lady greeted me in the parking lot and the history lesson began. The Kymulga Covered Bridge and Kymulga Mill are listed in the National Register of Historic Places. They are the only pair of such structures in Alabama still standing together in their original location. Lynn would explain to me that at one time nearly every Alabama community had a gristmill.
Farmers would arrive in wagons with their corn to be ground into meal. In most mills the grindstone was turned by power from a large wheel moved by the weight of the water. Mills were used less after the Civil War when farmers began to grow more cotton. The Kymulga Mill still operates so that visitors can see the old way of grinding and can purchase fresh, stone-ground meal. It still has some of the original equipment dating back to the late 1800's and early 1900's. It is a three-and-one-half story frame building that once housed five sets of stones powered by four turbines. The middle bean that runs along the ceiling was from a whole tree. Alabama stone was comprised of high levels of lime which left he stones weak and proned to break. Therefore, the large stones were shipped in from all over the world. One of the stones there was from France. I also learned that the left over grain that didn't get sifted into the grits or meal was used to make moonshine. It kept the locals warm and fuzzy on Sundays. Now the left over is used to feed animals. 
They typically don't grind on Sunday, but I got lucky and was able to get some freshly stone-ground grits. I can't wait to cook them. I am thinking "shrimp and grits." So my aimless searching for a covered bridge ended up being a fun, history filled day beside the Talladega Creek.
There is a possibility that I just may get my dream job. I will know more this week about a potential opportunity in Alaska. Yeah!!! Alaska. I feel confident that I will be able to quit traveling if I could end on Alaska.
To be continued...
