I love this spot.
Up on the porch in Great Granddaddy’s chair overlooking the Holler. The fabric covering it has been the same since I was a child. It’s comfortable. And comforting.
Comforting, because time seems to stand still here. And that’s how I like it. In a world full of chaos, this place remains calm.
I have made so many memories on this property and they all seem to be preserved here; as if they’re sealed away in an air-tight Ball Jar sitting on a shelf in the cellar below me.
The sun shines right where I’m sitting and I watch it warm up the land around me. The dew sparkles and steams up from the grass.
I watch a family of deer come down the hill and eat the fallen apples under the tree. I wonder if they feel my presence…. because I feel completely and utterly present in this moment.
I listen to the creek flow and the birds sing. They all sing a different tune, but it’s music to my ears. I close my eyes. I want to memorize the sound. Bottle it up in that old Ball Jar and take it home with me.
Maybe when I die, I’ll come back as a bird. Build a nest on this porch and fly over this place. I bet it’s even more glorious from above.
I wonder if occasionally my dad does just that. And his dad. And his dad, as he is the one who built this place for us all to enjoy. I am so thankful for him. I wish I had known him, but in a way I feel like I do. Because he was a part of my granddad and a part of my dad and his blood runs through my veins too.
I feel like they are all here. It’s a family reunion. I’ll put this feeling in the Ball Jar with a dash of humbleness and a heaping pile of gratefulness to be a part of this family.
Dear God,
Thank you for this place. For this family. And for all of the Ball Jars of memories. Thank you for our time here together and I pray that you always remind us to live in the moment, never take anything for granted and always choose faith over fear.
In your name we pray, Amen.
