A Favorite Place…Against the Wind

     As I contemplated a favorite place this afternoon my mind traveled to many places.  It was hard to decide on one!!  Knowing that I had to decide on a favorite my mind kept traveling back to where I was…in my own yard blowing leaves.

      With a soft breeze fluffing my hair, I armed myself with my leaf blower and attacked the yard.  It was me against the wind as I forced the leaves scattered across the lawn into a neat and orderly pile.  I could smell the faint scent of leaves burning in the distance and reflected that the very leaves I was forcing into orderly piles would soon face a similar fate.

      I wasn’t ready for that yet…to much work to be done with only me to do it.  The neighborhood was quiet, and no one else seemed to be outside except for me.  I focused on my task and allowed my mind to wander to the time years ago when we lived in an area devoid of trees.  There certainly was little maintenance needed to care for that yard.  Mow and go…kind of like wash and wear hair.  I prefer nice and easy, but after having a postage stamp of a yard with no trees at all I welcomed the tender loving labor needed to make my yard as pristine as the other neighbors.

       There is a certain feeling of power that overtakes me when I can use my leaf blower to force the leaves to my will.  With the breeze, I was working against the wind at some points.  If the wind picked up…cleaning up the yard would become more struggle than it was worth.  As it is…the leaves were doing just as I wanted them to, and the yard was quickly spotless except for random  piles of leaves dotting the landscape.  The song…“who you going to call… Ghost buster” kept playing in my head.  

      I took great satisfaction in attacking my flower beds and discovering the flowers hidden beneath.  The geraniums and mums seemed to spring eagerly forth as I forced the intrusive leaves away that previously hid them.  As I thought of all the favorite places I could have described…from the snowy mountain vistas to the sparkling sands of a tropical beach to the soothing sounds of the tides rushing in and out, I came to the conclusion that there was no better place for me to be at this given moment than in my own backyard.

      Sometimes you can search the world over for favorite places and be completely miserable wherever you actually are.  I found contentment in my own backyard beneath the bare branches.  I found solace in the silence, the roar of the leaf blower, and later the laughter of my children that filled the crisp air as they stepped off the school bus and raced to greet me.  After a long afternoon of outdoor work, my taste buds craved the ice cold refreshment of a can of Coca Cola.  Settling into the comfy couch, I breathed a sigh of relief as I popped open the tab, and took that anticipated first swig.  Until next time when I give you another glimpse into the life of a trucker’s wife.