Hope Found in the Heartland

I went on a road trip this weekend. I wasn't exactly sure where I would end up other than I was driving in the direction of Tennessee. Isn't that the point of a road trip?
My final destination ended up being Chattanooga which I have visited multiple times. This weekend, though, I really took the time to drink things in. I kept my eyes open for photo opportunities. I paid attention to the feel of the air. And, I really paid attention to people. Since I was by myself, I had ample opportunity to watch how people interacted. There were visitors from several ethnicities and I heard many different languages being spoken. People of all ages walked the trails around me.
I saw a young man wearing  a shirt with a political slogan for one of the current presidential candidates but I never heard any off color comments made about it.  I heard a prop character in a park make a joke about a presidential candidate and a little girl said "hey you're voting for the wrong person", but no adult gave any feedback. I saw families of mixed race out enjoying the day together and they were not getting sideways stares. In short, all I encountered was people out enjoying a fall day.
In light of my last blog post, I believe this weekend is what my heart really needed. To spend a little time unplugged around other people who were also unplugged. While hiking at Lookout Mountian I even heard a mother telling her teenage daughter to put her phone away. I couldn't help but smile.  Maybe there is hope for us.