Jesse James Helped Me Love the Country

For me the countryside with the trees, grassy hills and the winding creeks are what make me breathe deep and raise my hands up high. Nature brings so much life. Growing up in the country with the great expanse of huge blue sky there is great energy that can be felt from the dancing of the breezes! When the leaves are off the trees the patterns that the branches make against that sky appear as maps of your past and/or future. Feeling deeply rooted as a tree with my family has always been like a warm hug on a cold day. I think that is why I feel so at home in the country.

Another place that I have always loved is the very old farmhouse I spent the first part of my childhood. This was no ordinary house! This house came with built-in Grandparents and was a past hideout for Jessie James…Yes THAT Jessie James!  We definitely drew the long straw when we rented this house from such a warm, loving couple that we would ended-up calling Grandpa and Grandma.  Our Grandparents lived many miles away and these two loved us as only Grandparents can.  They laughed when you were naughty and hugged you tight enough that you never wanted them to let you go.  Lloyd farmed the land and raised livestock on the farm. He allowed us to follow him around like 5 little shadows. He was a very special man!  Nettie was an amazing hugger, had an infectious laugh and always a wise word for each of us!  

My favorite playmates were my brothers and sisters, (all 5 of us were born within 9 years), we were quite the close crew. What mischievous thing one didn’t think of another would. There were plenty of adventures to be had on the farm: mud fights in the creek, slapping pigs on the butt with a stick and bike races were just a few of our many daily activities. We were close and stuck together no matter what, after all we were each other’s best playmates!

One of my favorite stories of the farm is when the five of us brought my Mom a new “lawn ornament”. This ornament wasn’t from just anywhere; It came from one of our favorite places to disappear to. Up a long grassy path was a lonely grove of trees which we found intriguing because it was a place we weren’t really supposed to go. You know how intriguing it is to go somewhere that is deemed off limits…I still to this day find those places to be calling my name.

This day we made our way up that grassy path with our little red wagon being pulled behind as we made our way to the “treasure” we had found earlier in the day. It was a beautiful ornamental piece of concrete just sitting in the middle of the trees and corn. We were sure our Mother would love the kind gesture of a free piece of art for the garden. Now what we didn’t realize at the time was that this gift was coming from the Howard Family cemetery. At the time it was not well tended and to a kid the idea that there were beautiful broken stones laying around meant they were treasures. My Mother, to say the least, didn’t find this gift to be quite as fabulous as we five did. We were ordered to deliver the stone back to EXACTLY where we had found it.

A couple of years ago I made my way back to old farm. This property still holds so many childhood memories that it will always hold a special place in my heart.

I think much of my love for the countryside comes from these early days.

Thanks so much Lloyd and Nettie for all your love!