Today, the restoration tour took us by bicycle to the Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield. It’s a historical site of a civil war battle that has, in a roundabout way, played a role in our lives ever since we moved to Missouri.
Our first house in Missouri was located on about 80 acres that the landlord ran cattle on. Just to the north was the Wilson’s Creek Battlefield. If you walked straight out our back door, you would come to the boundary of the battlefield, where Terrell Creek merges with Wilson’s Creek. That was the house that was destroyed by the tornado on March 12, 2006.
The history and effects of that tornado have already been documented in this blog, but that event was the single biggest factor in the changes in myself that led to the downfall of our marriage. The fact that the battlefield was there was incidental, but it did provide the backdrop for many good hours of fishing, hunting, and exploring before the tornado.
When we moved back to Republic in 2007, we always talked about going out to the battlefield some day, but we never did. Then, last Spring, my wife got into cycling right about the same time we were splitting up. We also got interested in becoming triathletes and we heard that the trail through the Wilson’s Creek Battlefield was a good place to train because of the hills and conditions.
I got my wife her first road bike for her birthday that year, and I also bought her a pink cycling jersey. This was during the time that we still lived together, but that she no longer thought that she loved me, and things were already in motion to break us apart. I took her and her bike out to the battlefield so that she could ride the trails while our son and I ran. We took pictures of her with her bike and her jersey and I tried to be happy for her despite the circumstances.
About a month later, she bought a new bike and moved out. We only went out to the battlefield a few times together, and I went several times by myself after that. I still have those pictures, and they’ve always made me kind of sad because of the memories they invoke.
Since we’ve been back together, cycling and fitness have been, once again, a big part of our lives. We both have nice road bikes now, and during the summer, we practically live at the gym or out on the many trails near our home. During the school year, it’s not uncommon for us to cycle the 18 miles to work. This August, on the day of our renewal ceremony, we plan to spend the morning riding the 62 mile Tour De Cox.
Just recently, after much indecision, my wife decided that she does want to compete in the Tiger Tri this August. Since we really do need to step up our training, we decided that this morning, we would ride out to the battlefield, do some running once we get there, and ride back. This led to a comedy of errors, thanks to the navigator on our phones and some unmarked country roads that we may or may not have been supposed to have taken.
We did eventually reach the battlefield, and as we rode into the parking lot where we used to unload bikes from the back of the car, I realized that my wife was wearing that same pink jersey from more than a year before. I hadn’t intended today to be a restoration tour stop. I just thought it was going to be a long ride and brick workout, but when I saw where we were and the memories came flooding back, I realized that this was a part of our restoration just as much as the planned stops.
Sometimes that’s the way restoration works. Sometimes you’re just doing work that needs done, and you discover something you didn’t expect. It could be a color of paint underneath that shows up while scraping. It could be a discovery of something that was built over, but is still there and can be incorporated back into being part of the house again. The great thing is, those discoveries happen, and then you get to choose what to do with them. Whether it’s a house, a life, or a marriage that’s being restored, it will almost always end up being a combination of the things you planned to do and the things you discover along the way.
The Restoration Tour 