Out in the countryside
I’m about to enter overdrive – I have a gal’s trip, a silent retreat, a conference to cover, a conference to attend, a huge report to do, and let’s not even get started on moving into my new home. All of this will happen in the next six weeks – brace yourself is all I can say (to no one there).
So what has been neglected is my mom and her gravesite. I haven’t been there to change her flowers since her December birthday and the holidays and I was thinking that her white peonies were going to be looking pretty shabby. Luckily, they weren’t but she sure needed a little color and so I brought a purple and citrine splash of color. And of course, a picnic. I also found a terrific Mother’s Day card that said aside from being a loving mother, you are an amazing woman. And she was. I take after her in many ways that I never cared to admit until now. Tin drew several trains and cars on her card and signed his name – backwards – which has been his usual lately.
It was so nice to get out to the country and refresh our souls – Tin napped on the way but still was awake to see cows, horses, and birds of prey along with trees and green and big blue sky. It’s interesting to belong to a place so much and yet be there so infrequently – a young girl was pulled on the side of the road with a flat tire and so I went by my Uncle’s to see if he was there or if my cousin was, and then I pulled into the driveway of the people who bought my cousin’s house and got him to come help her. Here I was steeped in my family’s land, geography, past and present.
Tin was happy to see my aunt and uncle and his cousins. Here is some big cousin hug-a-thon going on here:
I can’t tell you the feeling of being out there with my aunt – it feels as if she is channeling both my grandmother and mother when I watch her talk and listen to her laugh. To see so much land after living in this urban density and to watch Tin run around the yard with no fear of danger zones or borders was just sheer delight.
We all need to get out to the countryside to renew our faith in nature and all things un-urban. It’s good for the body and good for the soul.
May 8th, 2013 at 10:55 am
And it certainly was good for MY soul to read
such a beautiful post — THANKS. Brought a
little tear to my eye reading about your mom.
Mine died in December 1991 and the urn containing
her ashes sits on the window sill, enjoying the sun.
May 8th, 2013 at 6:51 pm
Mudd – I was thinking about an urn as I crossed the bridge to my mom’s people’s land and home (and mine by default). She’s buried there now, a place she was always pining for but never fully ready to commit to going back to – she went back eventually – full circle. But I thought as I was driving there that on one hand it would have been nice to have my mother’s ashes in my house – close to me. I’m sure your mother is missed. Love, R