Going Home

Before I get going, take a moment to pray for Amy. As stated in my last post, this family of God is a pretty cool thing. It lifts and heals and sometimes hurts more than expected, but it’s a really awesome thing. Even though I’ve never actually met her, we’ve shared our lives together through our blogs. Today I am mourning with her, praying for her, and aching to be near her. There is no god like OURS! Only He can connect people in such a way.

After saying all that, my weekend update is obviously trivial, but Jim (from The Office) recently learned that sometimes we need to keep working and sometimes we need to be distracted. Consider me the distraction.

I had a FABULOUS time with my mom this weekend!! I packed light and carried my super-cute travel book purse:

The trip started with a redirection. Thanks to the storm that hit the east coast, I spent five hours in Atlanta. You know, because Atlanta is directly between NYC and Indiana.

Believe it or not, I didn’t get a single picture of me and my mom together. I did, however, get pictures of us with a giant turtle. Mama chose to give him a hug.

I chose to pretend to be eaten by the Beast of Busco.

(Have I told you about Oscar? You can learn more about the legend of my hometown HERE. The retelling of this story won me a prize at college orientation and helped my husband take first note of me. I have some pretty kickin’ story-telling abilities when the occasion warrants..)

We also visited the farm where we lived before my parents divorced. My heart broke at how shamefully the property has been neglected. Here’s the house.

It all seemed a lot smaller than I remember.

My parents had 140 acres of soybeans, hay, corn and animals. Our personal garden was over an acre alone. Now much of the property has been subdivided for housing developments. Other pieces (like the one pictured below) used to be fields, but are now wasted land.

(I nearly tripped over a rather potent deer carcass getting this shot. Gross.)

I saw things I don’t get to see fifteen minutes outside of Manhattan. Like this giant … tractor thing. (Yes, Mom, I know I should remember what it’s called, but I can’t. Harvester? Wagon? All I know is those wheels were HUGE and Zach would have loved seeing it.)

Mom and I spent over three hours in a craft store! We bought nothing, but had a wonderful time.

We visited a tea house … (Here’s Mom there.)

… Amish shops (I didn’t take pictures for fear of stealing souls.) …

and one cousin whom I hadn’t seen in more than ten years. (I left my camera in the car. Doh!)

All around, it was a great weekend. And on the flight home I saw this:

Isn’t that gorgeous? Sunsets are so vast when witnessed from a plane! I love the clouds below and above.

The kids missed me. Rick missed me. And my mama comes out here in just a few weeks. Life is good.