When I was an elementary student, I used to spend my summers in Hazel Dell, which at that time consisted of a general store and post office on the corner, but otherwise was just farms and country houses on small acreages (think Apine, Oregon). --That description of Hazel Dell should date me, for anyone who has been there recently!!
Anyway, while the younger kids were having naps, I would often be sent to the post office for the mail, which consisted of walking down the steep gravel driveway and then down the gravel road, which was maybe a quarter of a mile long. I remember walking back one day, barefoot, choosing that strip of greenery down the center of the lane, seeing all the wildflowers (Queen Anne's lace, chicory, dandelions, buttercups) that were growing along the side of the road, apple orchard on one side, pasture on the other, and thinking, "When I grow up, I want to live down a gravel road just like this."
A few years ago, as I was walking back up my driveway, from getting the mail, choosing the softer strip down the middle to walk on, I noticed the Chicory and Queen Anne's lace, chest high, lining both sides of my driveway, and I realized that God had granted that wish, made decades earlier by a 9-year-old enjoying the freedom and rest and beauty of a summer day. I had almost forgotten that wish, but God never did.
No comments:
Post a Comment