My Favorite Place

I love the peace of this place, this quite shady spot toward the back of our property, my favorite place on our property. Even on a hot summer day, the breeze blows through the leaves and the shade keeps us cool. This is the go to spot for an impromptu summer day picnic. It is quiet, where time stands still and the to-do list seems to vanish. I love to hang laundry just to stand in this spot.

 

 

As I stood here hanging laundry today I thought of all the women who have hung laundry here before. No doubt they did not have a cell phone in their pocket or wireless internet inside the house. How many women have lived here? We have a copy of the deed when the property was bought from the United States government, and know the house is well over a hundred years old.   So maybe somewhere around  1855 someone called this piece of land home for the first time…

 

What was she like that first woman here?   How did she get here, no realtor showed her a fixer upper. She came by foot or horse, had no electricity. Did she hang her clothes outside on a winter’s day or dry them inside? What did this place look like when she first got here? Were these very trees here or did they grow much later? How many trees did they clear? Our house, located middle of a farm plot,  must hold so many stories… We know people gave birth, lived and died inside its walls. Did each of them have a favorite spot here? Where the world fell away for them and they just enjoyed the beauty of this place God gave them?

 

In turbulent and scary  times in our lives, this favorite place reminds me, that although most of us living now have not seen a pandemic and are deeply troubled my racial tensions, these things are not new.  It makes me wonder what unprecedented times, those who lived here before experienced during their lifetimes.  It also reminds me that God has a purpose for each and every one of us.  That we should use our time here  wisely to bless each other as much as we can.  That can be so  hard when opinions differ so widely, when our country feel so divided.   So I’ll end with a few  of my  favorite sayings,

” In a world where you can be anything, be kind. ”