By Les Ferguson Jr.
Columnist

By the time you read this, my wife and I will have traveled to Nashville for a Friday night concert. From there, we will have driven to Deals Gap on the Tennessee/ North Carolina border to ride the Tail of the Dragon, an eleven-mile road with 318 curves.

Unfortunately, we will be in a four-door vehicle, not a sports car or a motorcycle. But that’s okay. This way, I can know what I’m dealing with before I go back for some one-on-one time with my Harley. That’s an item on my bucket list.

Yes, this preacher likes to ride a motorcycle, but that’s not the story here. We traveled to Asheville, North Carolina, from Deals Gap to tour the Biltmore Estate. This part of the trip is all about my wife. She has talked about a visit there for a long time. I think she wants to see how those poor, rich folks lived compared to our marvelous estate in Paris, MS.

Seriously, who needs gold-encrusted toilets and bathtub handles when we have high-dollar Home Depot El Cheapo chrome? Our luxury-painted concrete floors are fashionable and enviable. And our driveway?

It’s made of the finest gray gravel from Oxford. I kind of think our flower beds are deserving of special
acknowledgment, too!

Better yet, we also have an antique leaded window in our bathroom. I should have our palatial home put on the National Register. I’d bet a new bush hog (or even a used one) that folks would pay a dollar to tour my one-room shop and take a picture sitting on my tractor.

Who knew I’d come back with a business plan?

So, as you read this, know that we’ve spent a day touring what most would consider a fabulous estate.

And my sweet wife has endured comments like, “Our bedroom is nicer than that.” “Who needs an indoor swimming pool or a bowling alley?” ”Would you want to vacuum and mop that many floors?” “I like my closets just fine.” Who wants to cut this much grass”?

You get the picture. My wife has an interior design degree and is fascinated by such things. Her creativity and space-planning skills are formidable. I’m glad we got to do this trip – she deserves all the honor and respect I can give her.

Plus, we were able to celebrate our wedding anniversary in authentic style. I wouldn’t trade this time for anything. If I did it correctly, we stopped at the next Harley store without complaint!

“Who can find a virtuous and capable wife? She is more precious than rubies. Her husband can trust her, and she will greatly enrich his life. She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life.”
(Proverbs 31:10-12 NLT)