Thirty-sixth Monday

It sure does me good to have a change of scenery from time to time.  Hence the new header, which was one of the views from the walk I took up the hill behind Erin's house the other afternoon.  With Clara in the backpack, I headed across the hayfield, cut over to the gravel road, and up the hill.  Goldenrod, red clover, and purple thistle dotted the grass and edged the field.  At the top was a wide open field with views all around.  I felt like spinning and singing!  I might have if I hadn't had a baby on my back!

This morning on the radio, I heard a snippet of The Writer's Almanac, including these lines, 

"I'm happy to be riding back into this country. It is a kind of nowhere, famous for nothing at all and has an appeal because of just that. Tensions disappear along old roads like this."

 The roads around here don't feel like nowhere.  There is a bit of Revolutionary War history, a few monuments here and there, a well known college or two, artists of note and more, but still, when I walk up the hill or down by the river, or drive to town past hayfields with gentle old rounded mountains across the way, I feel myself unwind a bit, breathe deeply, and rest.  This place is rural.  Life feels slower, removed from the ofttimes crazy pace of suburbia.  There is no mall, no interstate, and few stop lights.  It is quieter.  Tensions seem far away.

Of course, I am here with three people who are among the dearest to me in the whole wide world.  I bask in the love in this house, laugh at the smiles of the sweetest baby in the world, sit by the fire outside til late and talk.  I am very, very thankful.

1228.  Erin, Luke, and Clara
1229.  Friends who came to celebrate with Clara
1230.  Cool mornings, sunny days
1231.  The sound tracks of this house - Ranch and Reata radio and classical music
1232.  A fire in the woodstove
1233.  Seeing Luke's work in his shop, braiding rope, working with rawhide, and
1234.  Erin at her garden chores, and
1235.  Clothes waving on the line
1236.  Good food we make together
1237.  Walking along the river with Mary
1238.  A fire outside in the evening and staying up late to talk
1239.  Coty and the boys at home who urged me to come for a visit and...
1240.  A break - a very restful break