The "barn"

 

I remember---fondly!

 

Home is where the heart is; for a ragtag kid intent

on living every instant, each nuance, new dawn,

mid-morning, noon, afternoon, evening, full moon

night, mid-night dreamin', wild fantasy-times the

big wide world opens wide---in a small venue.

 

We weren't "poor"; I always had more than I needed;

much more than I deserved. All "good" things like

food, shelter, clean clothes, school, church, love.

No kid could have desired more. From my earliest

memories, somehow, I found Faith! Family! Freedom!

 

Home was my castle, refuge, harbor, redemption, salvation.

 

We lived in a small mid-western town, everybody knew

everybody; if I transgressed, even a little, somebody told

my dad; he well-knew how to discourage "delinquency".

 

Outside of "home", I had two more "safe" havens:

a fishing club, Fox Lake, and, my grandparents farm.

 

I learned to fish at the lake; to hunt at the farm.

These experiences spawned a loving respect for

Mother Nature, her simple moods and sacred ways.

 

The barn at the farm was, indeed, my friend.

Within the confines of its seemingly huge interior,

I honed an abiding curiosity for the rhythm-of-life;

in seven decades that value has blossomed into

understanding which I often write about.

 

So? I am enamored by the life-experiences of a 

simple youthful life imparting a humble outlook.

 

Of the five human senses, smell  is alleged to be the strongest.

 

Today, any time I experience inhaling the pleasant odors

of a barn, I smile at the loving memories of my youth

spent on those many occasions at "The farm".

 

Certainly, these memory-conditions endear horses to me.

 

Yeah! I am a "hopeless-romantic" dreamer---complete!

Never amounted to much in the material-world; guess

the truth of that admission is that I never aspired to do so;

a contemplated focused purposeful celebrated conclusion.

(I've had my moments; made a few bucks; spent a lot more.

All in all, I am humble, simple---and...extremely satiated.)

 

Yeah! I'll take my memories---and, virtue...Faith! Family! Freedom!

 

Thank you! Life!

 

Amen!