With the 4th of July Holiday approaching, feelings of patriotism begin to bubble up inside me.
While setting out on my porch today after the morning dew had burned off, I looked across the road at the rolling fields and those amber waves of grain.
I realized just how much living in the heartland really means to me.
At times I joke about the rural area I live in and all the conveniences we lack, but by that same token I have conveniences that can never be replaced by having a 7-11 on the nearest street corner for when the gas gauge is running low or we are about to pour out our last bit of milk on the morning cereal. I may not have the conveniences of running through a drive-thru to pick up dinner on the way home, but what I do have is the convenience of opening the door and having my kids pluck a handful of veggies from the garden to whip up a nice wholesome meal.
When we lived on the farm, we didn’t have the traffic and people hustling by in such a hurry to get their next lunch date or rushing to get to their kids soccer game in hopes of catching the last 10 minutes just so they don’t feel bad and can say at least they were there.
What we had was an occasional farmer puttering down the road in his tractor getting to his next bit of spraying of plowing, but if he doesn’t get it done before his kids baseball game starts, that’s fine, he can leave it safely in the field and return to it when the more important things in life are tended to.
There are some things I have often taken for granted out here in my boring but slow life, then a friend from a few states away draws my attention to the birds and tree frog she hears chirping because the sun has decided to peak through for the latter part of this day.
It’s those times that I realize just how convenient it is here in the middle of nowhere. It’s convenient to walk out the door and let the breeze caress my cheeks. It’s convenient to listen toward the distance to my world where no one is hurried to get anywhere, because they are right where they want to be, HOME among the fruited plains.
