I think people who grew up in the city ponder what country folk do with their time. I, myself, was lucky enough to grow up outside of Larkspur, Colorado, population 104. I understand why people like being in the country, away from the hustle and bustle of busy city people.
Hanging out in rural Missouri this past week has been rejuvenating. The only way I can think to describe it is the feeling you get when you hold your breath for as long as you can and at the last second you exhale. For me, city living is holding my breath and being surrounded by the green fields is the free release feeling of the exhale.
As mentioned before, Larry likes to sit out in front of the barn and contemplate life while he watches the traffic go by on the highway. Clouds are also fun to watch and I’ve added a new twist to this old pastime: Night Sky. Night Sky is an App on my iPhone that shows where all the constellations are in the sky. All you have to do is call up the App and point it at the sky. Voila! The constellations appear on your screen as you move the phone around. Venus is the first planet I find. It appears just as the sun sets.
Last year, Larry's cousin Don had a pond dug on his property. He stocked it with catfish, bass, and bream. It takes about two years for the fish to grow to the point where they are big enough to eat. In the meantime, he feeds the fish three times a week and also spends some time "training" them. This activity appealed to Larry so much he decided it would be a good way to celebrate Mother's Day. With an ice cold beer for each of us, we set out in the pickup truck to the pond. Don says the fish now respond to the sound of his engine. I believe they do. There was a lot of activity in the pond even before Larry threw in handfuls of fish food. Once the fish were fed, it was time to train them. Larry cast a line in the water and in 4.3 seconds he had a bite. Catch and release. Since it was Mother's Day, I took a turn, too. It took significantly longer for me to catch a fish. I'm not sure who was being trained. I was concerned about the pierced lip of the poor little guy I caught, but Larry assured me he was fine. I hope I trained him to stay away from unidentified floating objects.
Last Saturday night we were invited to a homecoming party for a neighbor who has been in Afghanistan for the past year. Neighbors Tommy and Don hung up a sign by the road to welcome home SFC Keith May to their neighborhood, Lakeview Z. Keith is in the National Guard and for the past year he’s been overseeing agricultural projects in southern Afghanistan. A prison guard by trade, agricultural work isn’t necessarily in Keith’s background. In Afghanistan, the Army is working to shut down the poppy fields and reduce the lucrative drug trade. Keith’s job was to oversee the progress of farmers and to pay them to change their crops. He also paid them to fix their irrigation systems, and to plant their crops, and to take care of their crops...
This was Keith’s second year-long deployment. The first time, his son was not old enough to remember. This time, at 7, he knew his dad was gone.
The barbeque for Keith’s homecoming was great. Lots of laughs, plenty of good food (pork and beef, no fish), and stargazing. That night, we all marveled at the intensity of the Super Moon. Keith said he was grateful to be home. I couldn’t think of a place I would rather be, either.
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