• Jun. 29, 2007
Small Towns
Small towns-I love them :) I love taking my kids to parades (um, Summer, I have to say the Kiddie Pet Parade does not make my list of fun things to do with my kids-call me a parade snob, lol). Even though we wait longer to see the parade than the total length of our parade, it's worth it just to get that small town feel in your heart. Our town celebrates it's heritage once a year in a western type festival. I have fond childhood memories of riding my decorated bike, along with all my cousins, in the parade that kicks off the weekend's festivities. I remember doing the egg toss and watching my brothers and their nasty toads in the frog jumping contest. One year, my brother and cousins won the contests because my dad brought giant bull frogs in from the oil rig he worked on. One jumped up Margie McCandless's dress!
I was one of the people who had the attitude that our small town was worthless and we'd all move off somewhere adventurous. Funny how that fades as we get older. I love it that I have deep roots here. I was born in the hospital down the road from the house I grew up in, where my parents and youngest brother still live. There's just a patriotic feeling to living in and loving your hometown (I'm not to the loving stage yet, just the liking..maybe the loving comes in my 40s...).
A few weeks ago, we were looking at a home right outside the town my husband works in. It had 20 acres, a barn, an above ground pool, a basketball goal at the end of the driveway, a great treehouse, and a nice sized older home. He didn't tell me until it was sold, but my hubby was in love with it. I looked at it but felt it just wasn't home. I was in love with that community once, but after moving back to my hometown, I'm not interested in moving away. That shocks me, really. I would have never thought I'd get attached to living here. I'm not even in the "in" crowd and I often don't know what's going on, but I still want to call it home.
I hope you have a special place to call home, whether it's the place you go to bed each night or a destination far away only seen at Christmas. This week especially, I hope the feelings you have for "home" overflow into the feelings of pride for our country, especially for the sacrifices made for our freedoms. What stirs a heart more than love for the Lord and love for our country and the soldiers, firefighters, police and rescue workers who serve us?
Comments
• Jun. 29, 2007
In crowd
Posted by Denise
Girl, you are in the "in" crowd. Your "in" my crowd!!
Ya know, those gals that ARE in the "in" crowd, don't think that they are in it!
I made this my hometown 12 years ago and could not fathom moving away from here!!
Happy 4th!
• Jun. 30, 2007
Untitled Comment
Posted by Summer
Uhh, yeah you are so in! Just accept it. It's ok to be cool! hehehe And, you didn't see me at the pet parade...no one in the "in" crowd goes to the pet parade lol. Anyway, yea! for small towns!
• Jul. 3, 2007
Untitled Comment
Posted by Anonymous
Yeah, there's something nostalgic about going back to your roots where your footprints will always be permanently stamped in the dirt. I love to take my kids back to the places that I explored when I was their age, but I couldn't ever imagine moving back there after having resided in a large city for quite some time. Though deep inside, I have a longing for the days when life was predicatble, neighbors were "neighborly", and a traffic jam was cars stopped on the road for ducks or cows crossing!
