I live in your typical suburban town, with cookie cutter houses and a neighborhood park every few blocks. Everyone keeps their yards looking nicely manicured; flowers are abloom in the summer and snow is neatly shoveled in the winter. People are friendly and say hello, and year-round on mild nights we can hear kids laughing at the park down the street. It's a small town, complete with high school homecoming parades and over-the-top excitement when a Walgreens was built.
But my favorite part about my town is that it feels like it's in the middle of nowhere. While some might see this as a major grievance, I love it. We're surrounded by countryside and farms. I could literally drive for 10 seconds in any direction and find myself in an empty field. The majority of shops and restaurants are about 20 minutes away (save for The Walmart which is 10 minutes away; after all, I do live in America), and to get to any of them, I pass by several farms and homesteads.
And it's looking across these fields that I'm instantly taken to my happy place.
There is something so calming to me about a freshly baled field. Maybe it's the raw, primitive nature of it. Maybe it's the order of it; creating something out of nothing.
Some might think it an inconvenience to have to drive through this countryside anytime we need to get anywhere, but I think it's a gift. I treasure the drive to church, to the mall, to school.
I carry my camera with me most of the time, and sometimes can't help myself. I pull over and take a picture from the side of the road when I'm afraid the picture in my mind won't last.
Where I'm from, it's normal to be running late because you had to follow a tractor for 1/2 mile down the road.
I can be in the middle of a stressful day, but the moment I catch a glimpse of the country, my heart is calmed. I can't help but stare. With my beautiful mountains as the backdrop, the perfect rows all evenly spaced, the sun shining... I can't help but think that God's created this landscape just for me.
Kauai is another of my happy places. Drastically different, I know! Where's your "happy place?"
I love the beach...pretty much any beach...yet I have never lived near a beach!
ReplyDeleteAngie! I love these photos! My thoughts and appreciations for living in "the middle of nowhere" mirror yours exactly :) I love living out here!
ReplyDeleteMy happy place? Your blog, of course.
ReplyDelete(Sorry. It had to be said.)
Like you, my physical happy places tend to be a bit schizophrenic. I love San Diego. I left a big chunk of my soul on the 15th Street Beach in Del Mar. The surf, the grass, the sand, the smells (steak restaurant next door). It is very evocative to me.
That said, my number one happy place is the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. It's a national park made up of more water than land - lakes and islands and woods and pristine wilderness. Corey and I met leading a youth group camping trip there. It's achingly beautiful. It's the one spot on earth that I demand God reproduces in heaven.
Pretty much every week I tell Chris I am glad we moved put here- I love that fact that we are in the country. I had no idea it would mean to much to me.
ReplyDeleteAlso- Kauai and my childhood cabin are my two other favorite places. Love it!
Oh Angie, I miss those scenic drives of open land and hay bales. Thanks for posting the beautiful pictures!
ReplyDeleteLove your place!
ReplyDeletegreat pics! i love this little town, too. :) as cliche as it sounds, my happy places are the mountains and the beach.
ReplyDeleteFirst I have to say thank you for posting this and Second the pictures are magnificent! Thank you because I believe that I take the peaceful calm of the country for granted quite often so this was a lovely reminder for me!!
ReplyDeleteMy happy place definitely the beach! CDM in CA to be exact but Maui would do as well:)...
Merry Christmas!!
Gorgeous photos! What's not to love about living here - seriously!
ReplyDeleteThe other day I was driving home from Longmont and took Wadsworth the whole way. This was just about the exact view I had to enjoy, and I found myself sooo wishing I'd brought a camera with me. Now I can just steal the pictures from your blog and pretend they're mine :) So beautiful.
ReplyDeleteMy happy place is in the middle of a snow storm. I look forward to it all year round, and my whole world lights up on the mornings that I wake up to find it snowing. Light snow, heavy snow, fluffy snow, wet snow... it doesn't matter, it's all mine :)