Sandra Heska King

daring to open doors

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In the Yard

August 16, 2010 By Sandra Heska King

I am alone today.

I step outside to water porch plants and realize the air breathes autumn. A fresh breeze has lifted the lid on the summer heaviness. The steam has evaporated. The leaves flirt with each other–dancing, teasing.

I run inside to grab my camera. I must capture this moment.  It’s what I do lately. Try to fast freeze slices of life. And I find it hard to delete even imperfect images.

I need to swing. I head for the backyard.

And I’m a child again. I drag my feet in the dirt. Push myself higher over the garden. Feel the stomach rush and imagine I can touch the leaves with my toes. I lean back as far as I dare. Let my hair skim the ground.

The garden directly in front of me is overgrown, ripe with buried treasures. The cornfield towers beyond that.

A quilt dries on the line to my right, and the sun streams through the tree canopy to my left.

The sky is cloudless. Infinitely blue. Still. And I’m hurtling through it. A speck.

I need to lie down. And so I do. Ignoring the possibility of bugs or snakes or stains. The world takes on a new perspective from this angle. I smell the dirt and the dampness of the tall grass that tickles my cheeks. I run my fingers through it, wiggle my toes in it.

I notice details. How the trees sway. How the sinking sun is a spotlight through the open branches. How the pine cones nestle in overhead arms. A dragonfly hovers over a corn tassel, and swallows swoop and dip over the field. A plane flies north, and I wonder who is on it and where they are going–as I used to do years ago. I listen to the sounds of cicadas and birds and distant cars and trucks rushing somewhere.

But I am still. Watching. Listening.

This is my pilgrimage lately.

As I ache for simplicity. For childlike wonder. For stillness.

For rest.

I grasp at wispy memories. The gentle plip of a fish at the lake’s surface. The scent of railroad tracks. A sandwich in a fern fort.

And I so snap pictures now. To remember and savor later.

I’m drawn to white and sparse and clean. And yet I find my pictures are usually filled with color. I don’t know why.

I rise and feel the dampness of my back and behind. Aware that something must have bitten me. I itch.

I gather some treasures. Symbolic of where I am on my journey.

At this moment.

And then I go back inside. Where laundry and dishes and bills wait. Adult things.

And I smile. As I remember the past, relish the present, and dream of the future.

Four generations.

My sister, my mom, and me.

Our children.

Our children’s children.

Frozen in time.

This summer.

Linked to L.L. Barkat’s On, In, and Around Mondays at Seedlings in Stone and to Claire Burge’s PhotoPlay prompt on Freeze Framing Life at High Calling Blogs.

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Filed Under: stories and reflections, writing

Comments

  1. A Simple Country Girl says

    August 16, 2010 at 1:52 pm

    I love you tie today to yesterday and then back again with both your images and words.

    By the way, I have found that when I swing these days, my guts do more than rush…

    Blessings.

    • Sandra says

      August 16, 2010 at 4:13 pm

      You are too funny. 😉

  2. Jody Hedlund says

    August 16, 2010 at 1:55 pm

    Love all the pictures! I’m enjoying the gorgeous cool weather today too!

    • Sandra says

      August 16, 2010 at 4:13 pm

      Thanks, Jody. Isn’t it awesome? Soon we’ll be heading to the cider mills. 🙂

  3. Kari says

    August 16, 2010 at 1:55 pm

    Great post Sandra! I got caught up in a childhood moment 🙂

    • Sandra says

      August 16, 2010 at 4:12 pm

      Thanks, Kari. Maybe we need to be caught up more often.

  4. Cassandra Frear says

    August 16, 2010 at 2:30 pm

    Finding the child within is an adventure all its own. Somewhere in life, most of us lose touch with this part of ourselves. It’s good to see you are reconnecting here. And I have a feeling, this isn’t the only time you’ve done this. . .

    • Sandra says

      August 16, 2010 at 4:11 pm

      😀 And maybe, maybe not . . .

  5. L.L. Barkat says

    August 16, 2010 at 4:27 pm

    This was whimsical. And it gives me joy to see you writing about your yard!!! 🙂

    • Sandra says

      August 16, 2010 at 4:51 pm

      Wait until I settle in with the book! I need to hurry before the snow flies. 😉

  6. Maureen says

    August 16, 2010 at 4:33 pm

    Pink toe tips in jade grass: fun.

    • Sandra says

      August 16, 2010 at 4:53 pm

      With bunions artfully camouflaged . . .

      I couldn’t use the closeup. I suppose I could have touched up the polish. In the yard. 😉

  7. S. Etole says

    August 16, 2010 at 4:44 pm

    The best kind of day … the freedom of a swing … thank you.

    • Sandra says

      August 18, 2010 at 9:44 am

      Something freeing about swinging.

  8. Sandra says

    August 16, 2010 at 4:54 pm

    And alone–but not lonely.

  9. nance nAncY nanc heyyou davisbaby says

    August 16, 2010 at 9:16 pm

    fun to read about what and who is around you.

    • Sandra says

      August 18, 2010 at 9:44 am

      🙂

  10. Susan J. Reinhardt says

    August 16, 2010 at 10:47 pm

    Love your imagery!

    It’s still steamy here, but I’m not ready to relinquish summer. Fall comes fast enough. I’ll enjoy this day that the Lord has made and rejoice in it.

    Blessings,
    Susan 🙂

    • Sandra says

      August 18, 2010 at 9:45 am

      I love summer. I’m not really ready to give it up, either.

  11. Randy says

    August 17, 2010 at 8:04 am

    Life is so much better when we become a child at heart.

    • Sandra says

      August 18, 2010 at 9:46 am

      Yes! Thanks for coming by.

  12. Michelle DeRusha says

    August 17, 2010 at 8:14 am

    Sandra, This is a lovely, lovely sensory experience. I am there, resting with you in the yard. Thank you.

    • Sandra says

      August 18, 2010 at 9:46 am

      I am glad to have you with me. I’m running in to get some jasmine iced tea. Don’t move.

  13. Claire says

    August 19, 2010 at 10:03 am

    It is the dirt that you smelt that I loved most.

    Thank you for sharing you.

    • Sandra says

      August 19, 2010 at 10:17 am

      For the first time, I actually had a neighbor turn the dirt with his tractor. I’ve never felt such soft, dark dirt. Smelled delicious!

  14. Janis@Open My Ears Lord says

    August 21, 2010 at 2:14 am

    I loved the way you saw and felt everything around you. That you took the leisure of childhood and enjoyed every moment, probably treasuring it more than as a child knowing the adult responsibilities that played guilt.
    The swing was beautiful. I was there. It was all beautiful and as Darlene said, I liked the link up of past and present.

    Blessings,
    Janis

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