Home to the hills

As we travel down the road that drives away and will follow us back home, no words can express how it feels as the mountains rise up to meet us....it has rained recently. Some highways are still wet, while other places show a few puddles. With an overcast sky, the sun only shows itself briefly a time or two. With no sun, the mountains are a richer green than they might appear otherwise....and in distant places there is a mist.

There is a mental mist that settles over me. Tears come to my eyes, but I blame them on my bangs getting in my eyes. It has been almost four years since I have been embraced by these green, green mountains of my youth.

I wonder what makes us the way we are. Of us children, I think I still feel a part of this land more than any of my other siblings that have moved away. For sure of the girls....my brother that lives close to Sarah feels much the same as me, but I am not sure it claims him as much as it does me. At other times, I think it is even more so with him.
So much has changed in some ways....in physical ways. The road by home has been paved....even the old rocky hill is paved. That is almost a miracle. Prior to paving, it was almost like trying to a car up a set of steps. No exaggeration. And if your car wasn't dirty when you turned down the road, by the time you drive a mile...it would have a thick coat of dust on it.

There are homes built in fields that I once played in...barns have burned down...fences have been removed. Other places have been taken over by a wild growth of weeds, bushes, and briars.

But the things that matter have not changed. People are still good neighbors, they are glad to see you, and willing to give a helping hand.

I must admit I hate seeing houses in fields I once was free to roam, but I still love the good hearted people that make up the majority of the population.
****************************
We have been in Tennessee the past few days....I wrote the above and took those pictures the day I got there. I have been on line a few times, but never for very long and not on my on computer, so I did not mess with trying to post it till now.

Christmas re-visited

This little yellow house is in Bridgeton, Indiana. This shot was taken a few years ago....I ran across it the other night and thought I would publish it. And yes, that is a purple house beside it. I think I have a photo of it somewhere around here, and when I run across it I will publish it. Or, better still, go take a fresh picture of it.

Blooming bushes

The bushes are blooming around here...have been for a few days but today is the first day I have taken any pictures. We were gone all day yesterday, and the day before we had enough rain to float a battleship.
It has stormed two out of the last three nights...not last night but the two before. Night before last, I just unplugged both the surge protectors that the computers, etc were on. I like having surge protectors in case we aren't here and it storms, but even with them if it is storming bad, I unplug anyway. I am lost without the computer, even for a few hours and cannot imagine if I had to wait days to replace them.

I have been busy the past couple of days and not been blogging...I plan to try to visit everyone tonight but going to be pretty busy the next few days. Blogging here is going to be hit or miss, but I do have pictures scheduled for my Time Stand Still blog. I will try to pop in here and there, but if I don't get you every day I will get back to you...