It's About Time!

For most of my life, I've lived in the same rural community. I've had a couple of stints of living and working in a couple of different towns, and I spent about a year and a half in Kansas working on my graduate degree. But the greater part of my 57 years has been spent in a small corner of the world tucked up against the Ozark Mountains, where lies some really beautiful scenery.

Sad to say, I haven't really taken advantage of that fact the way you might expect a person to. A case in point is the Strawberry Bluff, which offers a nearly 180-degree view of the Arkansas River Valley some 30-40 miles away. I've lived within five miles of this awesome spot all my life and had never been to see it - until yesterday.

As often happens, we made this visit on a whim. We had gone to town for a short errand, and on the way home, my husband said, "Let's go for a drive." The day was chilly, thanks to lingering clouds, but it wasn't too cold to hike the short distance from the road out to the edge of the bluff. I don't know what's more fascinating to me - the panoramic view or the massive bluffs.

We didn't stay very long because it was chilly and Jeff didn't have a jacket. So there wasn't much time to sit and take it all in, which is what I felt that I wanted to do. I'm a slow thinker (ha!), and I need to be able to sit and look at something for a while to process it. But now I know where it is, and it's not going to be another 57 years before I go again! I need to remember that work shouldn't take over our lives and that I need to take small moments to treasure this beautiful place where I have the privilege to live.