Radnor Lake

Just Getting Out

September 19, 2026 • Radnor Lake State Natural Area

Around the Lake

No real plan. Just walking and seeing where the trail went.

I had a lot on my mind this weekend. This time of year already carries some pretty heavy memories for me, and with everything coming up, I found myself thinking a lot about where I was a year ago and how completely different my life looks now.

I was missing home too. Not just the place, but the life I had there. My family, familiar places, old routines, and if I'm being truthful, sometimes people I miss more than I probably want to admit. And sometimes the people we miss weren't even part of the place we call home — they just had a way of feeling like home for a little while. There are pieces of that life, and pieces of people, that I still carry with me even though I know everything can't go back to exactly the way it was.

Some days I wonder when it'll finally be the right time to go home. I don't know the answer to that yet. I just know that right now I'm still here, and I don't want to spend this whole chapter waiting for the next one.

I want to grow while I'm here. I want to experience things I've never experienced, see places I've never seen, and keep getting more comfortable doing all of it on my own. I can miss home, miss people, and even miss parts of a life that wasn't meant to stay the same without letting that stop me from living the life I have right now.

So that day, with entirely too much running through my head, I headed to Radnor Lake and did what I knew I needed to do.

I walked.

No Rush, No Destination

Just following the trail and seeing where it went.

The Dam

Because apparently I can't just walk past something and not investigate it.

I eventually came across the dam, and obviously I wasn't just going to keep walking without going over to see it. If there's a trail, an old structure, a bridge, a dam, or pretty much anything that makes me wonder what's over there, I'm probably going to go find out.

I walked around for a while, took entirely too many pictures like I always do, and just enjoyed being out there. Nothing dramatic happened. I didn't have some life-changing realization standing beside the dam. It was just quiet, pretty, and exactly where I needed to be for a little while.

Eventually I headed back toward the car thinking I'd pretty much finished exploring for the day.

I was very wrong.

Wait... Is That a Giant Guitar?

Well, obviously I had to turn around

I was heading back toward town when I happened to look over and see what looked like a ridiculously huge guitar sticking up in the air. There was absolutely no way I was just going to keep driving after seeing that, so I turned around and started trying to figure out how to get closer to it.

And I'm glad I did, because the closer I got, the cooler it was. This thing is HUGE. Pictures really don't show how big it feels standing beside it. I had no idea what I'd stumbled across — I just knew there was a giant guitar in the middle of Nashville and obviously I needed to investigate.

Turns out, the guitar wasn't even the only thing over there.

And Then I Started Looking Around...

The guitar got me there. Everything around it made me stay.

Once I got closer to the guitar, I started looking around and realized there was way more over here than I expected. There were murals everywhere, music history right around the corner, and United Record Pressing sitting right there in the middle of it all.

So of course I started walking around.

What was supposed to be me heading back after Radnor turned into another hour of wandering around taking pictures and figuring out what I'd accidentally found. That's probably one of my favorite things about exploring Nashville. Some of the coolest things I've found haven't been because somebody told me to go there or because I had them saved on a list. I just happened to look in the right direction and thought, wait... what is that?

And apparently that's all it takes to completely change my plans.

Still Finding My Way

I started this day with a lot on my mind. Some of it was about the past, some of it was about home, and some of it was about people and pieces of my life that I still miss even when I know things can't always go back to the way they were.

I don't have all the answers about what comes next. I still don't know when it'll be the right time to go home, and I'm trying to be okay with not knowing. What I do know is that I don't want to rush through this part of my life just because it isn't where I ultimately think I'll end up.

There's still growing I need to do here. There are still places I haven't seen, things I haven't experienced, and probably a whole lot more random stuff sitting on the side of the road that's going to make me turn the car around.

Maybe that's what I'm supposed to do with this season. Miss what I miss. Love who I love. Carry the pieces that still matter to me. But keep making room for new things too.

I can want to go home someday without wishing away the life I'm living right now.

For now, I'm still finding my way — and apparently stopping for giant guitars along the way.

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