August stars

When I was growing up in Iowa, we moved to the country when I was 11 or 12. We weren't farmers, but we lived about 10 miles out of town, about a mile from the country church we attended. I loved living in the country. At our first country house, I had a favorite abandoned hog feeder. It looked a lot like the one below except it was all silver. I liked to climb on it and sit and watch the sun set.

I enjoyed the quiet, peaceful country life. I loved the country sounds. Crickets, locusts, frogs, tractors. It took some getting used to though. It also took getting used to when I moved back into town as an adult.

One memory that is especially vivid is lying in my bedroom at night, looking out the open window at all the stars. There was very little light in the country then, and the stars were incredible. I remember seeing lots of falling stars. As I think about it now, it was probably the August Perseid meteor showers, but at the time I didn’t know about that, and it was incredibly magical to see falling stars. I spent lots of time lying there in the dark thinking about the mysteries of life, faith, and what my future would hold.

I also remember loving it when we would get snowed in. I’m sure for my parents it wasn’t nearly as much fun, although my mom tells me they made the best of it and enjoyed it. But no heat, no lights, no water (our well/pump was on an electric switch or something) couldn’t have been that much fun for them. I loved it though.

I hope my kids have magical memories from their childhood like I do from mine.

*This post isn't as good as the first one was, but it's as good as I can do tonight :)