Dusty Roads to the Heart

The farm was a buzz! The day had come. It was August 15, the date on the calendar that we had been working toward ever since that January evening that Peter and Kate told us they were to be married under the big maple in the front yard. Yesterday, late afternoon, family and friends started to arrive, all smiles and excitement.  Someone drove the old farm pickup to town and loaded up the folding chairs out of the city hall. Someone else drove to the rental store to bring home the white lattice arch that would stand under the maple tree.  Peter's sisters, mother, Kate, and I drove up to the school to set up the reception, and put sandwiches, vegetables and fruit in the refrigerator. Jen, Peter's sister, had taken the huge responsibility of coordinating and catering the reception into her hands. And she was doing a great job of it! Peter's dad drove to town for the tuxes and also brought out pizzas for us all. Later that evening, Bret and Emma completed the famil...

It was late January.  It was one of those "stay inside" days. The temperature was a cold 27 degrees and cloudy. Mark and I had just finished giving shots to four litters of pigs. "I think that I'll spend the afternoon cleaning the house. It is really needing it," I said walking to the front room and putting away my coat, gloves, and scarf. "What are you going to do the rest of the afternoon?" "I need to grind a couple loads of hog feed. The fats are pretty close to out," Mark answered, washing out the syringe and putting it back into the drawer. "Okay, just make sure you remember to come in if you need to warm up," I said to him as he walked out into the cold. I loaded up a bucket of disinfectant, furniture polish, a rag and soft scrub, and headed to the basement. I hadn't cleaned down here for at least a month and it sounded like both Kate and Peter would be home in a couple weeks. I opened the closet door in Kate's...

I am human. Sometimes my mind gets to going down the wrong path. Sometimes my negative thoughts won't stop. They just swirl and swirl, dragging my poor mind down and down.  A lot of times this happens at night. It happens after everything is quiet around me and I want to sleep. It happened last night. It happened, but something else happened too. Something that I want to share. My husband and I was laying in bed and all was dark around us. Our bed was right up next to a window that came down to meet the bed. I was laying on the side next to that window. I was tossing and turning, trying to get comfortable. Trying to quiet my mind, my thoughts. I laid there listening to my husband quietly breathing next to me. He was at peace, asleep, I wasn't. After a little while, I was drawn to the window. It was at the foot of the bed so I turned around and laid down so my face was just inside that window. I laid there and just looked out into the dark. The vapor light was turned off. Al...

THIS DAY I WILL MARRY THE ONE I LAUGH WITH, LIVE FOR, DREAM WITH, LOVE... MY FRIEND.... I woke before the alarm sounded.  I just laid there beside Mark listening to his even, steady breathing. Kate was fast asleep in the other bed. Outside a car would rush by on the interstate and someone was taking a shower on the other side of the wall. The day was waking up. A special day. Tonight Bret would become a husband. Our little Bret. He had grown into quite a young man, if I must say so myself. I quietly got out of bed and went to the window and pulled back the curtain. The eastern sky was a glow with the promise of a bright sunny day. I stood there for a little while just thinking, then let the curtain drop back in place and went to wake up Mark. "Mark...," I whispered shaking his shoulder. "Mark...," I said again. "What?" he said with a start. "It's 7:30. I think I want to get breakfast. I need to wash my hair and take a shower. Do you wa...