I blogged not too long ago about how we were stepping out in faith, moving with no job locked in for my husband.
We’re moved in, back to the mountains of West Virginia from which I sprung (–sprang? had sprung?). I never thought I’d come back. It felt like the mountains suffocated me with their trees and limited sky-scapes.
Turns out, they’ve been waiting for me to return. They comfort me. I spend at least 10 minutes a couple times a day, just sitting on my porch, watching the trees and the light. I do this whether it’s raining or sunny.
My poetic soul fills up every time I look out over my green yard. I can watch hummingbirds fight (or is it mate?), without neighbors viewing my every move. My kids can run and jump in the yard that is big enough that the doggie can do her doo-doo far away from the house, unlike our old yard. I can’t really capture how my cup is running over, job or no job. Book contract or no book contract.
West Virginia has given me perspective. It’s not all about platform. It’s about living.
And here’s a photo of what West Virginia means to me right now. This is my front yard:
****What about you? Is your muse alive and alert in the city, suburb or country? Where do you go to absorb the beauty of creation?****
You know how I feel about those mountains! I wish I could sit on that porch with you and see what you see. I am so happy that your new home has filled you with joy and is a place where you are at rest and fill full to the brim. So very happy for you.
My Muse is not happy at the moment. I would prefer enough land for a big garden, lots of trees, a stream, and a lot of wooded bottom land. I need the sound of water to soothe my frazzled nerves and nourish my soul. The city suffocates me. The sound of cars and sirens and dogs barking through the night. Maybe, with some hard work, and prayers, and luck, I will find the peace of my heart among foggy bottomland, on the banks of a creek.
My whole neighborhood is sheltered by trees, so it's a pleasure to sit on the front steps or the deck. And I always feel that mountains are good for the soul. My favorite spots to absorb nature are a few hours drive up the island coast, where I can spend hours looking across the sea to a long line of mountains on the opposite coast. That is where I recharge myself each year.
We live in the burbs of a small city. We have a fairly nice back yard. But hubs kinda runs it. The front yard is MINE. ALL MINE. I have an iris addiction and love looking out and watching the different colours waving at me. Then the bee balm will bloom and it will be hummingbird central!! But my favourite, place? Back in Vancouver, from where I sprouted/sprung/sproinged. Spanish Banks (beach) on English Bay. Google it. Pure beauty.
Gorgeous yard, Heather! My backyard is the Mississippi River and I just came in from sitting on our deck with my hubby. It's the best way to unwind together as the kiddos are snoozing and the lightening bugs are floating on the breeze. Definitely an inspiration!
No kidding? That is your front yard?! I see a hundred stories there, hidden in-between the trees and just waiting to be written. How inspiring. : )
What a lovely yard! And your initial view of mountains is new insight for me. I never thought of them that way. In fact, mountains are my muse. I have tried to follow them all my life. God sure knows it because He has used them to direct me many times.
Just replied but my ipad lost it. I loved waking up to fog burning off the roofs AND your great comments on my post! Wish I could share a cup-o-coffee with all of you on the porch! And Jennifer, LOVE irises and beebalm. Beebalm is like a firework in the flowerbed!
Heather,Lovely, and I'm so glad your soul is being restored.Blessings my friend!
I want to come visit! What a great yard. Before I moved to Georgia, I lived in Alaska for 26 years. On a lake. With a mountain view. I love the mountains.I'd go out in the morning and watch the sun come up. Ducks and eagles and otters and moose and beavers and birds. Oh, I loved it. I used to sit in the porch swing and sing to the babies. So peaceful. It's a little harder in Atlanta. Thank God we have beautiful trees here so we have gorgeous blooms in the Spring and lovely leaves in the fall.
"Country roads, take me home, to the place I belong . . ."I hope to get back there one day as well!
Yes, Sarah, that song comes to mind often…"Driving down the road, I have a feeling that I should've come home yesterday…". And Sally, ALASKA!!!! That's a place I'd love to see someday. Have you read SUBMERGED? It's set there, as I'm sure you've heard or read.And thanks, Becky. I feel like I've needed to decompress from about four years of writing/editing/querying/praying and, most of all (and still doing it), WAITING!
I've never hears of submerged. I'll check it out.