And it's his birthday! Happy Birthday Friend!
I was going to write tomorrow, but today it shall be. This gives me another bad excuse not to wash the mountain of laundry that is beckoning my name.
WE are back. It’s a bittersweet thing being back in the Z-land after two weeks of the stillness and quiet of the woods. On one hand, it’s wonderful to be home...all the things I missed. My niece took her first steps, my garden somehow produced dozens of juicy red tomatoes, my neighbor announced a pregnancy....all good things. Also, due to neglect, our lawn turned to beautiful shade of brown, and my flowers shriveled up on their wilted stems. I like to be home, and I am needed at home. But it was so very good to be away.
I wish my simple words could describe to you the beauty and nostalgia of that place. It would have been better to write down my feelings each day so I wouldn’t have so easily forgotten. For a few moments, I felt like a child again. We revisited my youthful memories with touchable experiences. Parts of it were sad to me; so many things have changed. Other parts were exactly the same as my wonderful memories. We swam in the icy water of a secret waterfall, we played in the park where I first learned how to ice-skate, we fished on the rivers where my dad disappeared every spring, we drove down the road where my beloved labrador was greeted by an angry bear and by the boy’s house who watched our TV from outside our window...so many great memories that easily play over in my mind and heart.
Then there are the things that are very different. My old house is different. It’s now covered in a brownish vinyl siding instead of homey white and green paint. To the right of the back door, stepping stones had marked a neat path to the driveway. They seem to be lost in the unruly yard. My perfect white clubhouse is gone. I used to play dolls and bake cookies in my pretend perfect stove, but it’s gone. The boy across the street, the one who watch my TV and walked with me through the woods, doesn’t live there anymore. He must have grown up. The rivers are so, so low. The falls used to be so much bigger and more breathtaking. The beach is gone in my favorite park. In it’s place are weeds and dirt. Instead of being caressed with the flowing water, the rocks are bear to the weathering sunshine. My memories feel insignificant to the change; this makes me cry. I must have grown up too.
Aside from the old flooding memories, I made new and wonderful ones. I was in beautiful country with the most lovely of family and friends. We swam, we ate, we laughed, we cried, we hiked, we rested, and we simply enjoyed our God-intended surroundings. It was perfect.
And I'll write more about that later. :)
Love you all lots, and I am glad to be home.
So for a little gross out before you eat dinner tonight....
