Kitty cats, puppy dogs and other things I previously avoided

Although my stay in Texas was quite hurried, it was so nice to be home again, to be deep, deep in the heart of East Texas.

My flight was supposed to leave at 7:50PM on Thursday evening, however NYC being what it is & America Airlines being who they are, I was still on the ground at Laguardia at 9:15pm. So, when they announced to our fully boarded plane that 14 passengers were going to need to get off the plane and catch a flight the following morning- I was among the first off. (They said it was because the plane "weighed too much"--- to which I meanly replied, "all those fat Texans" Sorry, it is was I thought though!) I was bought cheaply- with a $500 AA voucher, free dinner, breakfast and a car to & from my apartment. (That flight didn't get to DFW until 1:15AM which would have put me "on the farm" around 3:15- No Way Jose!)

So, I left NY late & I got back to NY late. I think that is what I dislike most about living here: simply getting in and out of this place.

So in Texas I played in the dirt, grilled, picked blackberries & walked barefoot through the grass. I even managed to run a few times and even at 7:00AM, three miles was about all my lungs could take. I got a haircut, a massage & visited my favorite plant nursery- even though I couldn't buy any plants. But I loved just walking in the sunshine & touching and seeing and being with all sorts of plants. (I'm weird, right?) And, I'm pretty sure I ate my weight in yellow squash (from mom's garden)& grapefruit (from The Valley) as well.

I hated country living when I lived in the country, but now I enjoy it- just for a spell: sand everywhere, cicadas that just make it sound hot outside, yards to mow and cars to maintain & really, there's nothing to do. And nothing to do was good for me for five days, and that is about it.

I spent an afternoon with my dad talking motorcycles & I was brave enough to let my 13-year-old brother drive me around my parent's pasture in the old army jeep that I was never interested in. NEVER. I don't know if I ever rode it in before, sad as it may be. My brother totally thrived on my eeking and shrieking, as I begged him to "slow down" and "stop it" and "stay on the path." It reminded me of my first "real" date at 16 when I went over to a boys house and he drove me through his parents property in his old, beat-up truck. His parents were the overseers of a Boyscout camp- lots of land, lots of ponds, and horses- which I appreciated minimally then.

I liked just being there. Just doing whatever they were doing, grocery shopping, working on motorcycles and riding motorcycles. I can function better without the sensory overload I experience day in and day out here in NYC. My mind is a whole heck of alot less cluttered & it is good.

Sunday and Monday I spent with dear friends- just picking up our lives stories from where we left off the last time we spoke- although we email quite often. I love my girls and I'm thankful for years and seasons and being able to see God's work in their lives. To see my friend "in action" as a mother- nurturing, playing with, bathing, feeding & loving her daughter 24/7. It seems like so much work.

Her husband let me grill squash (of course), zucchini and portobellos on his grill! We visited the zoo, arriving as soon as it opened to beat the heat. We ate banana pudding & ice cold cantaloupe as we watched the swallows that had nested on their back porch. These birds kept us entertained for hours, which I think could mean we are getting older.

We watched the mama feed the babies. We created metaphors for how how the birds not ready to leave the nest paralleled our own lives. We decided that she and her husband shouldn't welcome the "bird family" onto their porch ever again and brainstormed local stores that might sell rubber snakes. We also watched and waited expectantly every day, just knowing that they would be leaving the nest that day...

I hear they got the courage to fly away two days after I left. And that little Tessa took her first steps then too.