Deliver me

The post's title is part of a longer sentence uttered by my dear husband as we approached Columbia this morning in rush hour traffic. "Lawd, deliver me from this." At the moment he was definitely speaking for us both. I-20 was fully stopped in advance of the interchange with SC6 and again at US1. When traffic did move, it inched. When it moved faster, drivers tended to accelerate too rapidly, requiring panic stops when, inevitably, progress came to a halt once again. Fortunately, the heavy rain that moved through during the night had abated. I don't know if it's merely a perception on my part, but I do believe drivers operate their vehicles differently (translated: worse) in bad weather.

"Deliver me," he exclaimed. It might be a good idea to make those appointments for a bit later in the morning. Without doubt extended stop-and-go traffic like we experienced today makes us both appreciate our rural existence and Edgefield's three stop lights.

But, today wasn't totally consumed with "deliver me" moments. With another appointment for tomorrow morning and a SC Troopers Association Christmas gathering this evening at a Columbia hotel we are staying in the area for the night. While it rained much of the day (an understatement), we got in a good walk along the Columbia Canal between Tal's appointment and lunchtime.

As we walked, we talked about other time we'd walked that same path and realized we were celebrating an anniversary. Tal and I began dating after Thanksgiving in 1988 and one of our first adventures was a walk along the canal, then something of a novelty having not been open very long. The area has developed well, the walking path along the canal having been extended all the way to Gervais Street and the State Museum, and the area at the head of the Canal with a long view of the Broad River now sporting a replica of one of the four lock-keepers' houses and even a fish ladder. The canal area is now part of the Three Rivers Greenway, a 12-mile linear park on both sides of the Broad and the Saluda and along the Congaree which is formed at their junction.

So, we didn't need to be delivered from everything today. Making it into Columbia without incident brought us to a very enjoyable place and a remarkable anniversary walk. Today, by the way, we walked farther and faster and more companionably than we did 20 years ago. Pretty impressive, all things considered.