Jack and I returned yesterday from a trip to his Mama Faye's house in Alabama. ...And while it was just lovely to be there and spend time with family... One has to admit: There's NO place like home! Going home for me is always like going to a different planet. There are no strip malls, no Targets. Traffic in rural Alabama means driving behind someone on a tractor going 3 miles an hour. Watching wind ripple across the pond is a pastime. Going to Walmart is an outing. The air is so clean and crisp and fresh it almost hurts to breathe it into my smog-acclimated lungs. And the stars at night?...unbelievable. They are so bright that they're almost intimidating. It's like the first time you've ever seen them.
Indeed, it is very different than the life I've grown use to. But there is something so wonderful about going back home, recharging my batteries, and staying just long enough to really miss my own house... I always come back thankful and happy.
For two days Jack and I went out on walking adventures. We threw rocks into the water, listened to crickets and frogs, made friends with a cat living in the barn, cuddled in the porch swing, napped, ate, laughed and loved... it was nice.
I also made some time to document the progress of the farmhouse renovation. Construction sites are always ugly and I do apologize for the lack of pleasing images... but it's coming along fast, and I just had to get some shots of things that may never be seen again.
Walking through this house is like a spiritual experience for me. The smells, the creaking boards, the light... it makes me both melancholy and hopeful. The tiniest things, like seeing this pile of bricks that once was the chimney made me cry. I just have so many memories about this house, and when you see that someone has come along and taken a sledge hammer to your memories, it's hard to take in. But at the same time, I am hopeful. This place holds such a place in our hearts. (And boy is it due for a facelift!)
I know that the old spirit will live on in the new.
By the next time I get to visit this house, it will probably be unrecognizable. Can't wait to see what happens next!
Indeed, it is very different than the life I've grown use to. But there is something so wonderful about going back home, recharging my batteries, and staying just long enough to really miss my own house... I always come back thankful and happy.
For two days Jack and I went out on walking adventures. We threw rocks into the water, listened to crickets and frogs, made friends with a cat living in the barn, cuddled in the porch swing, napped, ate, laughed and loved... it was nice.
I also made some time to document the progress of the farmhouse renovation. Construction sites are always ugly and I do apologize for the lack of pleasing images... but it's coming along fast, and I just had to get some shots of things that may never be seen again.
Walking through this house is like a spiritual experience for me. The smells, the creaking boards, the light... it makes me both melancholy and hopeful. The tiniest things, like seeing this pile of bricks that once was the chimney made me cry. I just have so many memories about this house, and when you see that someone has come along and taken a sledge hammer to your memories, it's hard to take in. But at the same time, I am hopeful. This place holds such a place in our hearts. (And boy is it due for a facelift!) I know that the old spirit will live on in the new.
By the next time I get to visit this house, it will probably be unrecognizable. Can't wait to see what happens next!
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