My little piece of heaven

There's nothing like going back home to ground you.  When life gets busy, I get so caught up in the daily worries and strife.  Recently I was blessed with some opportunities to go to both of the places I call home - my parents and the ranch/river. 

I went to my parents as a double dip kind of trip.  My church was doing a mission trip in the same community, so how could I pass up such a chance!  I got to work with a Native American church - where mostly I did landscaping stuff, man it's been a long time since I did that kind of manual labor and my body felt it!  Instead of staying with my church group, I stayed at my parents house so I got in some much needed quality time with them - without really knowing when I'd get to see them again.  We did a lot of the typical touristy things and showed a friend around the treasures of the black hills.  My favorite spot, as always, was the Badlands.  It's such an amazing and beautiful place - in a peaceful way, it makes me feel so small in such a large world.



Backtracking a little bit, I was also blessed to be able to go to the river over Father's Day weekend and see some of the "family" for a few days where we thoroughly enjoyed the water, the fires, the shade, the sun, the conversation, the games and the FOOD.  Nothing makes me as relaxed as sitting in a lawn chair, listening the the breeze and/or music in the distance and watching the water roll on by.  Lots of cousin, aunt and uncle time was had and it was fabulous.  Hm...if I had to name a favorite part specific to this year: having Jim Lee here.  He's had some health concerns the past year and I think a lot of us had doubts he'd be there, but the good Lord has blessed him and he's doing very well.  I have a new favorite piece of jewelry thanks to him...hand crafted wooden necklace with a white dove inlay.  It just happens to be super cool that the white dove is from the Tinant bone pile =)



In stressful times this summer, I've been able to look back to these trips home to see family and nature.  It helps me be thankful for the time I've had and look forward to trips to come.  I may not have anything specific planned, but when I do, I know it's going to be epic!  Life can be uncertain - but even with all the changes that it brings, I always have HOME.